Primordia

Also really unforgiving for a point-and-click there are mistakes you can't undo

primordia takes the idea of a ruined, apocalyptic landscape, populates it with robots [some funny, some quite serious] and then proceeds to take you on a journey the likes of which you're not likely to see in aaa gaming. horatio nullbuilt and crispin horatiobuilt live together in a broke ship called the unniic. when their power core gets stolen, they attempt to get it back, slowly unraveling some of the mysteries surrounding this dying world. it's a point and click game that is wonderfully executed with beautiful, ambient music and a wonderful voice cast to carry it along. the story is a masterstroke of careful plotting, the game slowly revealing itself in slow layers. i have two issues with this game: firstly, the graphics are fairly drab as a result of the colour palette used. i /do/ get the choice of colour palette, but i feel like the designers went a little overboard. secondly, not all crispin's hints are especially useful. very occasionally, i had to break from the game and give the puzzles a good, long think, because while crispin is helpful, he isn't always helpful enough. [and sometimes vague to the point of distraction.] but this game is well, well worth your time for it's story alone and for the banter between crispin and horatio. i am very much looking forward to the next wormwood studios project if they're going to keep producing slow, methodical, thoughtful games like this one.

I'm not a fan of point and click adventures, I tend to give up when I feel too frustrated by impossible puzzle logic. On the other hand, I can forgive this frustration if the game has a great story, great characters and a surprisingly deep message. Primordia is one of those games: I felt rewarded as I gradually discovered the hidden plot; nothing as revolutionary as Planescape Torment, but still an interesting tale that deeply reflects the troubles of modern society. The writing is excellent and the game has some memorable characters. The browns and greys add a lot to the atmosphere, though I believe the retro huge-pixel-graphic is a little excessive. Most puzzles can be solved with common sense (like using a crowbar to open things) but some are really tough, so I kept a walkthrough handy (not a fan of frustration as I said). TL; DR: I recommend playing Primordia rather than watching a Let's Play video of it.

Wadjet Eye has done some great stuff, and this game might be the best of the few that I've played. I know I'm late to the party with this review, so I'll just quickly sum up my feelings about the game. The story, while not very original, was very well told from beginning to end. I loved it and I think it's the strongest aspect of this game. The puzzles are confusing in an old-school adventure game way, but still a step up from the sheer insanity of old Sierra games, or things like them. The main complaint I have is the same one I had about Gemini Rue: the voice acting. There were some performances that were really quite good (the big buried robot in the desert), but most of the main actors were not quite up to it. My recommendation is the same as for Gemini Rue: It's a great game if you like the genre, well worth the money, but turn the voices off and just read it.

Primordia is yet another good, solid adventure game from Wadjet Games, which is shaping up to be the new Lucasarts. Set in the future after an unseen apocolypse, the world is a desolate wasteland, inhabited by Man's Children, sentient machines. The game follows the adventure of Horatio, a particularly human looking robot and his assistant robot, Crispin. While they are working on restoring a crashed aircraft to working condition, a large, threatening robot steals their power core and takes off with it, towards Metropol, one for the few remaining cities left. The pair follow in hopes of recovering their power core, exploring the wasteland and the decaying city of metropol during their quest. The plot isn't amazing but it's solid and somewhat interesting and is supported by some good, if occasionally obtuse, puzzles. The characters are varied and diverse, helped by some good dialogue and voice acting. The concept of a world run by machines after humanity is gone is well realized and adds some good atmosphere, especially since the the almost mythical status of humans to the machines makes some question if they ever existed at all(There is a religion that worships Man as a race of Gods). Notable among point and click adventure games is the possibility of several different endings, depending on how many and how you solved the puzzles over the course of the game. At least one puzzle, done the wrong way, can lock you out of some of the endings but it''s generally pretty forgiving otherwise. If you like adventure games, especially of the Lucasarts/Sierra vein or like dystopian sci-fi, you'll probably enjoy Primordia. If you've played and enjoyed the other games made by Wadjet, you'll like this.