QUBE 2 | Xbox One | review

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Puzzles are designed to make you think. Everything from putting together a 1,000-piece snowy scene with loved ones at Christmas, to collapsing into a heap as the clock ticks down in that escape room challenge your friend Dave insisted would be fun.

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​by James Michael Parry

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​@james_parry

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Developer: Toxic Games
Publisher: Trapped Nerve Games
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Steam
Players: 1

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In gaming, puzzle games have some of the greatest variety of any genre, thanks to the weird and wonderful ideas developers come up with to vex us, and QUBE 2 is no exception. The original game had you completing a series of physics and, to an extent, platforming puzzles to get out of an unknown facility and the sequel is no exception, equipping you with a pair of gloves which manipulate different brightly coloured objects.

Time to get the elephant in the room out of the way: if this is all sounding a bit like Portal, the Half-Life spinoff from Valve which came out a staggering ELEVEN years ago, then you are not alone. The original QUBE came out in 2011, coincidentally when everyone was hyped about Portal 2, and attracted plenty of comparisons, but was criticised for its lack of personality.

In QUBE 2, atmosphere is established from the word go, as your character (archeologist Amelia Cross) struggles through an otherworldly storm before ultimately ending up inside a facility with no memory of how she came to be on the planet in the first place.

As the game continues, breadcrumbs of story are fed to you through BioShock-esque radio voiceover from scientist Emma Sutcliffe, who was sent to shut down the facility some time before but seems very chatty and strangely willing to help you escape. The presentation definitely lends some intrigue, though the disbelief does begin to stretch a little when Amelia reassuringly confirms to herself your objectives from time to time, though the voiceover work is solid and lends a lot to the premium look and feel.

​​Tackling the challenges requires use of a special pair of gloves which allow Amelia to manipulate her environment by placing and interacting with coloured blocks. You’re introduced to the different colours one by one, with each behaving slightly differently, but it’s when they start to interact that things really start to get interesting.

The game’s 80+ puzzles ramp up fairly gradually, reaching what may feel like a natural conclusion around half way through, only to open up to a far more colourful and interesting environment, though to share more would stray somewhat into spoiler territory.

The visual style is stunning, taking mechanically impressive creations and fleshing out the world with sleek design and quality textures.

Unfortunately, thanks to a lack of ability on our part, a single puzzle got the better of us, stopping our progress dead in its tracks - despite feeling like we were on the right track, our usual font of knowledge (the internet) wasn’t able to offer a way out ahead of release day. As a result, we weren’t able to discover the “devastating truth” hinted to lie at the journey’s end, but the mid-game twist alone takes the narrative side of the game up a level, giving an experience which would be perfectly serviceable without the extra flourish.

Particularly compared to the first game, the visual style which Toxic Games have delivered here is quite stunning, taking mechanically impressive creations and fleshing out the world with sleek design and high quality textures - certainly up to the high standards of current console heavyweights - made even shinier with full Xbox One X support.

While the game undoubtedly still owes some inspirational cues to Portal, with this sequel the team have more than moved past such obvious comparisons to deliver something with character and intrigue as well as solid, compelling gameplay that’s well worth your time and the somewhat chunky asking price of £19.99.

Pros
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• Addictive gameplay built on very clever but simple ideas
• Visually stunning & a huge leap forward from part one
• Story adds layers of complexity you might not expect from a puzzler

Cons
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• The best visual treats are left for late game
• Amelia’s external monologue can feel out of place
• With no in-game hints, getting stuck leaves you nowhere to turn (curse you Chapter 8…)

9/10​