Small Puzzler Wrecked by Poor Controls
Man, this was disappointing...
Looking at the screenshots and videos, one might get the idea this is a first-person puzzle/adventure game in the style of [i]Myst[/i] or [i]The Witness[/i], promising rich, lush landscapes and underground complexes to explore. But, no. This is largely a third-person point-and-click adventure game in the style of [i]Syberia[/i] -- developer Microids' other, far better puzzle/adventure.
Even so, puzzle/adventures can be quite good -- even small ones like this. Unfortunately, [i]Subject 13[/i] is let down by the terrible controls. The game was clearly designed for use with a gamepad, and keyboard/mouse users (such as I) were given short shrift. Navigating through the environment is a chore. Finding areas of interest is the standard wave-the-mouse-around-until-the-pointer-changes affair -- except that sometimes a changed pointer means nothing. But it's examining areas and items of interest where the game face-plants. Entering examine mode changes you to a first-person(-ish) view, then you start waving the mouse around again. Sometimes a crucial area is out of direct view [i]and can't be brought in to view except by noticing the pointer's changed and selecting 'examine' again.[/i] I often found myself clicking the wrong button, as I couldn't tune in to which button did what and when.
The puzzles themselves hardly bear mentioning, as they are either too simple, tedious (sliding block puzzles), or absurdly obtuse (finding which way is north).
I can't seem to shake the notion that [i]Subject 13[/i] was an experiment -- an attempt to use a full 3D engine to create a old style point-and-click adventure. Sadly, it just does not work -- not with the current UI, at least. The gimmick of being able to pan around each scene and shift perspective slightly added very little to the experience.
All in all, I regret to say this is well below the mark Microids' past work has established. Unless it's on sale, I'd say skip it.