The easiest way to have an experienced gamer turn their attention elsewhere are the words “steampunk dystopia”. Bioshock aside, the games which typically utilise these buzzwords fall short or are trying to latch onto a craze or easy visual gimmick. Mechanism is one of a few exceptions, as it pushes to use the genres as a vehicle to tell its story without being reliant on them. Its visuals, story and basic aesthetics actively avoid the oversaturated and misused steampunk look which has devolved into little more than a top hat with cogs welded on.
The story follows an unnamed robot who wakes up to find the world as he knows it is gone. The city he once called home is in ruins, and the mechanical beings who still dwell there are infected by mysterious black tumorous masses. It’s up to the robot to uncover the truth behind the disease, and decide the fate of the place he once called home.
A major point in Mechanism’s favour is its use of visuals, both in terms of design and storytelling. Little to nothing is conveyed verbally, and the player is required to interpret clues hinting at the city’s past. Many of these are hidden away or disguised, and the developer took the Dark Souls approach of leaving only scattered hints and minor mentions to offer up answers to players. This ambiguity means that the meta-narrative carries more weight, and the story benefits from layers to tale.
Unfortunately, once you move beyond the visuals and the complexities of the story, there isn’t much to the game. The majority of what you end up doing is walking from place to place and solving logic puzzles. These typically only require either basic physics knowledge or problem solving skills, and they serve as little more than speed-bumps as you continue through the story. In fact, the greatest challenge stems more from the game’s roughly finished state, with a particularly frustrating camera always being in exactly the wrong place.
Overall, Mechanism is a game which manages to offer some basic points of interest but never rises to fulfill its full potential. The gameplay works fine and the atmosphere borne of the environments and lighting does give the game a more distinctive look than the more generic steampunk releases. However, its mechanically barren nature and rough-around-the-edges elements mean it can be unsatisfying for anyone used to playing a more active role in video games. If you can enjoy a game for its story and atmosphere then Mechanism is worth a look, but otherwise save this one for the sales.
MECHANISM / DEVELOPER: ALEXANDER GOODWIN / PUBLISHER: ALEXANDER GOODWIN / PLATFORM: PC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
