Ah, the world of point-and-clicks:
pointing, clicking, wondering if the genre is dead,
wondering if any genre can die, getting all meta and
hating yourself for it. A title such as Shifter's Box
can bring us back down to Earth: pure, unadulterated fun
wrapped up in what can definitely be described as an
underrated genre, with a nice chunk of teleportation and
crazy aliens to go with it.
The tale of young Sally finding herself sucked into the
titular object is a short one. Although the creator
obviously doesn't have the resources of a bigger
development studio, as it stands there are some problems
in that Sally seems to believe she has spent days
warping between boxes - when the total game time to this
point is at most an hour. It’s not a major complaint,
but it is counter intuitive to suspending the sense of
disbelief.
What is certainly without fault, however, is the
structure and logic of the puzzles that make up the
majority of the game itself. While not the most
challenging of encounters present in the genre, their
design is as good as any from the 90s series of Lucas
Arts masterpieces - probably a clichéd compliment, but
an honest one. However, they really are quite easy. I am
by no means a point-and-click master, but I had no
difficulties after those initial problems of my own
stupidity. Not that that's a bad thing; it just means
that for the experts of the genre among you, the journey
will be a quick one.
.
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"a
nice chunk of
teleportation" |
However, your audio
receptors during this journey will be lovingly tended to
by a brilliant soundtrack created by Erdbeertelefon,
which is freely downloadable at that website. Although
each piece is relatively short, they are perfect for the
situations in which each is employed, composed of
exactly the right amount of creepy, jazzy tones to
compliment the setting.
Sadly, this awesomeness is not accompanied by voice
acting, something that seems to detract significantly
from the experience. The dialogue itself, with the
exception of the narrator's caricature of the Olde
English Gentlemen, is uninspired and dull - particularly
that of Sally. Perhaps I'm spoiled by our modern
blockbuster stylings, but surely it cannot be that hard
to procure a voice for a game as short as this and
integration no harder than that of music.
These really are minor gripes though. There simply isn't
a reason not to play this. Its free, its fun, its got a
decent plot. Enjoy yourself - but remember it's not a
commercial release.
70%
Boxes
inside other boxes - what isn't to enjoy?
About
our scores...
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