Q.U.B.E Director's Cut | Wii U

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I say old chap, is that Portal over there? No? It’d be too easy to get pulled in by Q.U.B.E’s sparse visuals and first person view and scream impostor, but there’s more here than initially meets the eye.

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​By Rob Holt

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​@acousticmagic

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Platforms: Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, PS3, PC, Mac, Android.
Developer: Toxic Games
Publisher: Toxic Games
Players: 1

Created by the folks over at Toxic Games, this Director’s Cut is the latest edition of Q.U.B.E, or Quick Understanding of Block Extrusion for those fatigued with life’s endless acronyms. Originally a project created whilst the team were at university, this version is now available across all formats. 

The basis of the game is simple: make it through each section of the cube you are imprisoned in, by completing the various block and physics based puzzles contained within. You have the power to command the blocks, using push, pull (left and right triggers control these) and jump (A button) to solve the 3D conundrums in front of you. Blocks of varying colour litter each section of the game from floor to ceiling, the keys to cracking the cubey code.

Red blocks are one cubed square, and can be pulled out to a maximum height of three cubes. Blue blocks can be pushed in and then jumped on, acting as a trampoline firing you into the air, much like Quake’s boosters for anyone with a memory that long. Yellow blocks are three cubed squares long, and can be manipulated from either end to create stair-like structures to climb on. These three block types form the majority of the puzzles, but are embellished later on with pink arrow switches - they rotate parts of the cube in the direction of your choice - and green blocks, which require the player to manoeuvre them into green beams of light, resulting in the opening of doors.​

It’s a lovely system, and one that is easy to pick up. The opening section’s simple pull-out-blocks-to-make-stairs puzzles are quickly ramped up, to include the aforementioned pink floor switches, green block to green light puzzles and ball based examinations. They all work really well, the acid-test of this being that we never really felt frustrated during the five hours it took us to play through the game. There is a small issue here with a slight lack of a difficulty curve, as the puzzles feel longer rather than harder some of the time, but that’s a minor gripe that could be easily rectified.

The ball based puzzles were a particular highlight for us here at PTC, especially in the later segments of the game. These effectively turn into a game of pinball, where you chase the rolling ball through the cube, commanding blocks and switches to raise and turn, ensuring your orb makes it into the desired location at the bottom of the trough. It’s not the most original concept in the world, but it really is satisfying, and that’s what puzzle games are about first and foremost.

"It’s not the most original concept in the world, but it really is satisfying, and that’s what puzzle games are about first and foremost."

Unfortunately though, the game does have quite a few B-sides doing their best to sour the experience. This edition of the game comes complete with a story (this wasn’t present in the first student made version), and it’s a bad sci-fi one, complete with amateur dramatic society voice acting, and the kind of rancid scriptwriting that’s blighted the games industry for so long.

The beginning sees you “waking up” from a fifteen day coma. You’ve been sent to space to solve the mysteries of the floating cube, before it - and hold your breath here, folks - crash lands into earth, destroying everything and everyone ever! This stunning narrative contains two main characters communicating with your voiceless avatar; Commander Novak (your conduit with the space station), and an unknown (until the ending at least) man screaming about how Novak is a liar. It all plays out very predictably, but we won’t spoil it, just in case some of you have never watched a B-movie before.

It’s a shame as the vegetables of the story play on the loneliness of space travel, and what it can do to the mind - stronger writing and a better ending could have made this game a real contender, especially as mental health hasn’t really been used to drive a story in video games to this date.

The visual style of the game works well and fits the alone in space vibe, with stark white floor and ceiling panels juxtaposed nicely with the colours of the blocks. This scheme gets flipped on it’s head in later levels, as the white turns into dark shadowy corridors and rooms. The comparison to Portal is a given here too, but I really felt the influence of the Metroid Prime series too. Some of the corridors also reminded me of the Zelda series, with the way they curved, reminiscent of the wonderful Forest Temple from Ocarina of Time. The simple, reserved synth-heavy soundtrack aids in creating and continuing the feeling of being very alone, and Toxic Games should be commended for that.

To close, what you’re getting here is an interesting first game from a company pooling some major influences. Here’s hoping Toxic Games find a decent story, and simmer their gameplay ideas long enough to reduce the obvious similarities to Portal et al. There’s not a huge amount of replayability here, aside from a time-trial mode for each section, but if you see it on offer definitely give it a crack.

Pros

• Beautifully simple concept
• Art style sets the mood perfectly
• Puzzles rarely feel unfair
• There are the beginnings of a great game here

Cons

• Narrative is B movie tripe, with a weak ending
• Puzzles often feel like they are just getting longer, not harder
• Nothing to really warrant replaying
• Doesn’t feel very original

Score: 6/10