Similar to its deceptively cunning problems though, Unmechanical’s hidden depths can be glimpsed in other aspects of its craft. The issue though, is that our protagonist’s tractor beam can only snag one item at a time and with five or so rocks to pick up at some distance from said body of water, the process can get tedious pretty quickly indeed. One such example is a scenario that requires the player to raise the water level by dropping rocks into a pool. While some are well-thought out puzzles, others tend to be frustratingly obtuse and worse still, they so often require a fair whack of back and forth exploration to sort out. Where the puzzle-solving element comes unstuck however, is in the inconsistent quality of the numerous conundrums that the player will face. Thankfully, for those who struggle with some of Unmechanical’s more difficult problems, a visual tips guide is occasionally available to nudge folks in the right direction. Sure, there isn’t really anything here that hasn’t been done before but what is present is challenging and whether you’re a new or veteran puzzle solver, Unmechanical certainly taxes the brain in a way that belies its initially simplistic seeming, single-button approach.
Sure enough, fleeting glimpses of other robots and characters occur but the player never gets to interact with them as they seem just out of reach, or flee as you approach, thereby cementing a palpable feeling of loneliness and isolation rarely seen in puzzle games. Thrust into an alien subterranean realm of discarded scrap, jagged rock and rusty tubes, our robotic, propellered protagonist (who is never named), must escape its current predicament with all due haste. The first thing players will immediately notice is that there is no sort of narrative set in place. Still, you shouldn’t hold that against it as beneath its distinctly po-faced veneer and single-button inputs is a game that’ll provide a decent challenge for anyone who fancies straining the old grey matter a bit. A prettier and somewhat lengthier take on the PC game of the same name, which released back in the mists of 2012, Unmechanical Extended is as much a straight-up, relatively no-frills puzzler as you’re liable to get these days.
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