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Q.U.B.E is one of the fresh games on the market, but even if its release data is recent, many people will find it difficult to praise it for novelty. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last decade, you must have heard about Portal and its fantastic puzzles, something that Q.U.B.E draws inspiration from. This is in fact an euphemist for saying that the resemblance is uncanny and without being a cheap Portal rip-off, it is still way too similar to be impressive.
If something works, improve it
This doesn’t automatically make it a bad game and those who like the idea of finding their way out of a maze by solving smart puzzles, will have a lot of fun with Q.U.B.E. Blocks are the cornerstone of these riddles and need to be altered in such a way that they will open your way to the next stage. They come in different shapes and colors, with each block being handled in a distinct way, with physics, magnets and other blocks being used in the process.
The environment itself can be altered when needed and this is what purple blocks are good for, as they have the ability of rotating the entire room. The first person view makes it a bit more personal, but with just a pair of fancy gloves to represent the main and only character, it is vey difficult to get immersed into the atmosphere. Speaking of which…well, there is none. It is strange how the sterile environment seems capable of snuffing out the enthusiasm as well and in the absence of a villain or any kind of character to interact with, you are simply cruising the way to the exit.
Alone in the maze
Puzzles are somewhat repetitive, but this is not something to blame the developers as there are only a handful of things that you can perform with a couple of blocks. While replicating Portal, Q.U.B.E fails to add that twist that made the original so popular and I couldn’t help but miss GLaDOS and her malevolent but amusing presence. In Q.U.B.E, you are all alone against a system that doesn’t care about your existence and it almost makes adversity desirable.
I am not going to condemn Q.U.B.E for its lack of originality, as for an imitator it does a pretty good job, but it is just as difficult to strongly recommend it. If you like puzzles and want to spend some quality time solving them in a videogame, give Q.U.B.E a chance because it is one of the few worthy titles on the market. Those who didn’t play Portal yet, should forget about Q.U.B.E and play both the original and the sequel, before even considering this new release.
If this trailer looks familiar…welcome to my world!
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I am an avid gamer and a passionate reviewer, with three years of experience in this line of work. I’ve worked for Games32 and during those three years, I’ve written hundreds of previews and reviews for both PC and console games. The website was unfortunately revamped and now offers casual games, but some of my articles still exist on the developers’ websites.
Before working as a game reviewer, I’ve played competitive Starcraft. I won the Romanian Championship 4 times in 8 editions and I won the Balkanic Cup with the national team. I know what gaming is and I can relate to both rookies and pros.