Game Category: Adventure
Developer / Distributor: Amanita Design / Amanita Design
Release Date: 16 Oct 2009
Rating: ESRB - Everyone
IntroductionFalling out of the sky just like the weird rocket ship we see at the start of the game, once Machinarium drops into your hands, you are not going to let it go. This little adventure game from independent developer Amanita Design, is a true game of distinction. It won two prestigious awards - the Excellence in Visual Art award at the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival and the Best Soundtrack award from PC Gamer (in the March 2009 issue).
I totally agree that the game deserves these awards. Simply put, the visuals are outstanding and the music is über cool. Not forgetting the light humor and ingenious puzzles that makes this game such a gem to play.
The story in Machinarium sees you guiding a poor little robot by the name of Josef. Josef has for some reason been dismantled and left for dead outside the city. You will help Josef make his way back into the city, meet many other robots - some good, and some bad, and piece together the story of how Josef got into his current predicament in the first place.
 |
| Quaint and innovative |
Machinarium is an adventure game which builds up the fun and excitement in incremental steps. You will start small with a single puzzle scene at a junkyard and are taught how to control Josef as well as to use the game's interface. Later on, you get even more trickier scenes before you are finally unleashed into a huge city where there are many scenes for you to explore and to solve several puzzles.
Our poor little hero, Josef the robot unfortunately begins the game in pieces. Luckily, the process of putting him back together again teaches you some very important game concepts that is peculiar to Machinarium:
- you can only interact with objects near Josef,
- Josef can be either extended to twice his height or shrunk to half his height,
- items can be collected and placed in the inventory,
- you may even combine two items together within the inventory to get something entirely new.
 |
| This is probably the most important hint about Josef |
First the inventory bar, this is a simple feature that shows all the items that have been collected by Josef. You won't ever need to scroll the inventory bar as items that are no longer needed will be disposed off in interesting ways. Next, the one-hit hint system gives you a singular hint to guide you along in a current scene. The hints appears as a thought bubble showing what Josef should do.
 |
| The hint system at work... there's something in the water |
 |
| I hate spiders! |
While adventuring through the city, if you get Josef to stay absolutely still (by just doing nothing), a thought bubble will appear showing a visual scene - sometimes it's about Josef when he is younger. But you will also get to see Josef's love interest (a beautiful girl robot), as well as meet the bullies from the Black Cap Brotherhood. In fact, this is how characters in the game will converse in the game - through thought bubbles filled with visual animations. It's all very nicely drawn and very unlikely that you will misunderstand the intent of the message.
 |
| When in Rome... |
The 2D background artwork is by far the most incredible vision of a world created by robots that I have ever seen. There is so much detail in the artwork that you may very well find yourself admiring every single scene in the game. The city is graced by a singular structure that towers over everything else, and it is easy to guess that this is where you must get Josef to go.
The main character, Josef, his girlfriend, the bad guys from the Black Cap Brotherhood, and other supporting cast (like the old robot and the robotic cat) in the game are all excellently hand drawn and animated. The thought bubble artwork are also great looking even though they may have likely started off as rudimentary concept sketches. I also felt that the implementation of retro games in Machinarium was an amazing job.
 |
| This arcade game actually gives me money for winning |
There is absolutely no voice dialog whatsoever in Machinarium, but you do hear to hear little pips and squeaks now and then. The sound effects in the game are clear and crisp and rather interesting. From the muted tin footsteps of Josef to the wonderful sounds coming from a robot dog and cat, you'd be pleased with the effort put into making this game feel realistic as possible.
The music in Machinarium is outstanding. Composed by Tomáš Dvořák, you'd be surprised by how much life he has breathed into the pieces. They sound so rhythmically modern and yet at the same time, rather futuristic and filled with a mystic atmosphere. Here are some samples of the music from the game for you to listen to.
My review copy of the game comes with the Machinarium soundtrack CD as a bonus. I have been popping the disc into my car stereo system and listening to the wonderful music to and from work. And really, I just can't get enough of the wonderful tunes from the game.
 |
| The Black Cap Brotherhood guys are real bullies |
- The artwork in Machinarium is outstanding. A lot of love has gone into the visual design of the game. There's lots of tiny detail to enjoy, and even opening the walkthrough book to reveal the solution rewards you with a detailed and lovely storyboard type sketch of what you should do.
- Here's an interesting concept for an adventure game - there are some scenes that have been compartmentalized into several rooms. Only the required rooms are revealed at first and as Josef peeks into or gets access to the other rooms, they will be revealed to the player.
- The music featured in the game is a true work of art that is worth listening to.
- The story in Machinarium teaches you some good lessons, so this game is also appealing to kids as well.
 |
| Compartmentalized rooms are a great concept |
- The game is rather short. I think this is expected for games from independent companies, after all they don't often have the resources to create a game that allows you to play for hours and hours. To be fair, for the amount you are paying, I think the game's length is just about right.
- If you accidentally right click on the screen, you will see an irritating pop-up menu which tells you the game is written with Adobe Flash. A minor nit-pick if you ask me. Just don't right click in the game.
- Another minor nit-pick (thanks to Adobe Flash) is that the screen can't scale to my monitor's maximum resolution, hence that is why you see all the black space in the screenshots.
- There have been two places that I found myself stuck in the game (in a tube crawlspace below the prison, and at the arcade). The solution? Exit the game and restart, and you should find yourself able to continue.
 |
| The city looks truly outlandish |
It is a foregone conclusion that Machinarium deserved to win the prestigious accolades lauded by IGF, PC Gamer Magazine, and others. It is definitely one of the better adventure games that I have ever seen and played, and I cannot stop admiring its beautiful graphics and praising the catchy tunes from the lovely soundtrack.
I suggest you get your hands on an official copy of Machinarium (through my website or Steam). This way you will also help support independent developers like Amanita Design who have really done a great job of telling the gaming world that we don't always need to buy a AAA title to get quality gaming fun.
PS - A triple 'A' (AAA) title is a game of distinction that is the equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster like the Lords of the Rings Trilogy. It represents the best of the best in terms of gaming development, and are usually published by big game companies like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, or Activision.
Daily PC Game Review Score: 9 / 10
Review Date: 15 May 2011
0 Yorumlar