Machinarium is almost perfect. It is pretty as hell, it's got GREAT music (I even bought the LP) and it's got a wonderful world. As far as point and click games go, this one is extra honest about what they really are – puzzle games with a story. In this case there's no written dialogue, and it works so well you'd almost wish more games did away with endless dialogue and just focused on the core of the experience. Some of the puzzles are somewhat obscure, but Machinarium isn't in any way unique here (remember the monkey wrench puzzle from Monkey Island 2?), and in the end it's so well put together that I really can't say anything negative about it.
I am married, I have a kid, I have a full-time job, I spend 12 hrs/week sitting on a bus to get to that job, and I have three cats and a dog. That means I have basically no time for computer games anymore. And I am glad I decided to spend those few precious hours on this game. It has pretty much everything I need in an FPS – it is a very fast, pretty, and dumb game. Dumb as in silly jokes and crude gestures, and I love it. No need for taking notes or drawing maps – just run and gun and slash! Extra points for the photo mode (I wish all games did this) and the fact that this game was made for PC – lots of options and possibilities for tweaking the game to my liking. Plus it runs like a dream on my Pretty Good Computer™ so I have no complaints here.
All I’m going to say is that this is a brilliant game, absolutely one of the best RPGs out there, and well worth every penny and every minute you’d spend on it.
