PSVR, 2017 by Tarsier Studios.
Hmm, it’s tricky to talk too much about the mysterious virtual reality puzzle game that is Statik without giving away its secrets.
The premise is very original: you’re strapped to a chair and are unable to move – playing the role of some sort of human lab experiment – with both hands locked inside a box adorned with various buttons, switches, levers and other gizmos, which correspond with controls on the PlayStation pad.
Your goal is to figure out how everything works then use what you’ve learned to unlock the contraption by solving its puzzle in a series of steps – all while being watched and apparently judged by a man in lab coat, the elusive Dr Ingen, and his robot Edith.
While initially head-melting, you soon figure out how to get the better of each challenging box by using your dexterity, smarts and a lot of experimentation, before being thrown into the next brainteaser which inevitably proves even trickier than the last.
Statik makes clever use of VR – you really have to pay attention to the environment around you to succeed – while some puzzles have you listening to sounds to find clues, others test your reaction speeds and so on, and there’s plenty of awesome moments along the way.
I did find it hard to think clearly sometimes while sitting with the PSVR headset on, for some reason, but the puzzles genuinely are quite difficult and there’s a lot of them – though they’re so satisfying to crack, and when you do crack them you feel like a code-breaking genius.
There aren’t many characters in the game but the ever-present Dr Ingen really steals the show, cutting a disinterested and unimpressed figure watching on as you struggle, with his annoying mannerisms such as clicking his pen and slurping his tea serving to belittle and frustrate you, while offering no help whatsoever.
Sometimes the game portrays a humorous tone, at other times it’s sinister and foreboding, but this world is always mysterious and intriguing, with the player simply a helpless and clueless spectator inside it.
It harkens back in many ways to Valve’s classic Portal, which clearly provided a strong inspiration, but that’s not to take anything away from Tarsier Studios’ work, which is equally inventive and mind-bending and feels like entirely its own thing.
Anyway, hopefully this review isn’t too vague in detail to put you off going and trying Statik, it gets two big, box-concealed thumbs up from me.
FINAL GRADE: [B]
Zeexlash 