Review for QUBE 2. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 13/03/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 21/02/2019
After having depopulated on almost every platform of the last two generations, QUBE could only deserve a sequel. Produced by Toxic Games, QUBE 2 lands today on PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One. We played and finished this last version in 7 intense hours, it was worth all the effort dedicated to get to the end, puzzle after puzzle.
First-person shooter (fps) have not always been called this way: for years, before this acronym was coined to define the genre, any first-person action game was simply called "Doom clone", referring to the Original Doom from Id Software - the first game of its kind to achieve global popularity. It is therefore not surprising that many have defined QUBE "Portal plagiarism" since it is a first-person puzzler game, although the gameplay was very distinct: instead of the portal gun, the protagonist used gloves to control colored blocks with different effects, in order to overcome the arena / puzzle he faced.
QUBE2's opening sequence is confusing: The player finds himself in the middle of an apocalyptic landscape in the role of Amelia Cross, an archaeologist unaware of what is happening around him. Dragging himself against a sandstorm, the player enters an alien structure that seems abandoned over the centuries and (obviously) composed of cubes. Lots of cubes. Its purpose? To get out, of course, guided by the radio voice of another survivor, lost somewhere inside.
Those who have played the first chapter will immediately notice that the scenarios are much richer in detail and "dirty", losing that air of aseptic perfection in favor of more colorful textures and even biological elements. There is also a lot of technological advancement with the move from Unreal Engine 3 to Unreal Engine 4, making the game look absolutely decent even on a standard Xbox One.
Solving puzzles always revolves around controlling the cubes through the character's gloves, but in this sequel the type of usable blocks is not pre-determined by what the room offers. Each level / puzzle will in fact have white squares in which you can activate a specific cube: the red ones will transform the cube into a parallelpiped able to lift the player or other cubes, the blue ones will create a platform to catapult Amelia or any other object that slams into it. against, the green ones will simply create a cube (yes, in the end there is a real cube). The whole game is built with these elements: by combining them in the correct positions and with the right timing, you can unlock new passages and puzzle elements to reach heights and places that are otherwise unreachable or activate certain elements that allow you to continue the adventure.
The game structure is semi-linear: continuing with the adventure you will reach the central areas that the player must complete by unlocking the puzzles connected to it in the order he prefers. Of course, the more you continue with the game the more the complexity of the puzzles increases: you start from using the right cube in the right place, to continue with multiple combinations in the correct timeline, passing from capturing cubes on the fly with magnets attached to movable surfaces and ending even with physics-based puzzles of oil and flame and more. Inevitably, some of the more advanced puzzles will be complex enough to have to stop and take a pause for reflection, but nothing that is insurmountable or compelling to use a guide - after all, we did it too without any video walkthrough in existence. on YouTube at the time of review.
In addition to graphic improvements and the re-enactment of the control of the cubes, QUBE 2 prides itself on being able to simplify the puzzles without making the game less complex. One of the main flaws of QUBE was the inherent difficulty of some puzzles, which relied too heavily on the perfect timing of certain operations. The window of opportunity for these actions was incredibly small, and if you ran into one of the frequent floating object bugs, failure was assured. Let's not talk about the fact that, inevitably, the console versions ended up being more frustrating. Fortunately, Toxic Games has learned from the past, and in this sequel we have not at any time felt the lack of a mouse and keyboard.
Unfortunately, once the adventure is over you realize that you have seen everything that the game offers: there is no additional mode besides the story and the only reason to go back to the adventure is to reach the end again to unlock the second final.
QUBE 2 follows a path of maturity similar to what happened between Portal and its entourage: the game environments are richer in detail, the narrative has greater importance, the puzzles have more variety, the game is longer. Unlike Portal 2, however, QUBE 2 offers an experience that ends together with its ending: there is no post-final content, there is no arcade mode, there is no multiplayer. Despite this limitation, we cannot say that we did not enjoy ourselves: we enjoyed QUBE 2 in its entirety, without frustration and without noticing anything that could make us turn up our noses. It will not be an unforgettable experience, but Toxic Games cannot be denied the merit of having created a game that is objectively beautiful, well-finished and very enjoyable.
► QUBE 2 is a Puzzle type game developed and published by Toxic Games for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 13/03/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 21/02/2019
