The genre of puzzle games is a genre devoted to trying to screw with your brain in any way possible. By creating extremely confusing and convoluted situations that you must overcome in the shortest or easiest way possible. Portal began what was a slow trend of first person puzzle games back in 2007 thanks to its mind bending physics puzzles presented in the style of an FPS. However I have never played anything that even begins to compare to Antichamber, its difficult to even know where to begin but just to give you a faint idea of where this is headed. Take the rulebook of video games, shred it, burn it, eat it and then set yourself on fire because this game, well it just makes up the rules as it goes along.
Antichamber is a game of inconsistency, about never doing the same thing twice and being able to approach mind bending situations several different ways to in turn gain several different outcomes. There is however one constant in Antichamber and that's the starting area. A large black room with the controls, graphics settings, map of where you have been & your collectibles projected onto the four walls. Once you venture outside of this black box of safety you enter a world with different rules to our own, and ones that never stay the same in your two hour playtime. Antichamber will only last two hours as you are given a countdown clock, so whether you do everything available or not, you will only have two hours or less to do it in. This pressure of a time limit, on top of having to consistently adapt to new rules and new objects with no explanation as to what they are or what they do, nor where you should be going may leave you stumped for a good two or three playthroughs, maybe even longer.
But it is this fact that you are never doing the same ting twice, that you cannot apply logic from one puzzle to another and ultimately, that the game is controlling you rather than you being in control of it that gives Antichamber a sense of awe and excitement rather than confusion and frustration.
There is no story, nor are there any solid gameplay mechanics to talk about as what you are doing has no context and the mechanics never really stick around long enough to be considered vital.
The game never feels impossible and the further you get into it the more you can to apply a minor logic to certain things such as motion sensors & building blocks that you can stand on in order to climb previously inaccessible areas; its these glimmers of hope that keep you going even when you are truly stumped.
Antichamber's visual style is just as unique as its gameplay. Extremely minimalistic employing use of basic colours and mostly relying only on white environments with black lines for edges of scenery. Coloured areas are a great way of being able to carry logic from puzzle to puzzle as each colour has certain properties to it and will only react to blocks of the same colour in later puzzles.
What's most impressive though is Antichamber's use of level design. Each individual puzzle is connected by corridors that are themselves puzzles to navigate, some of them will loop infinitely, some of them will take you to a puzzle that is on the other side of the world according to the map in the black room and the environment is constantly changing in some puzzles. For a game to manage this and not fall apart at the seams amazed me, some of the cleverest level designing I have ever seen.
The sound is sparse, mostly silent with occasional environmental shifts triggering a sound cure, some areas will have the sound of water on the floor and some may have rainforest sounds, it makes the game so much more atmospheric, though are not overly complex nor anything special outside of the game.
Antichamber is mental suicide, not a game to be taken lightly nor something to play to relax yourself. Its confusing, stressful and at times deeply unsettling as it twists and contorts your mind to understand its rules...or lack of them.
For hardcore puzzle enthusiasts and people who are looking for something to really test their capabilities, Antichamber is a must own, however for those of us who aren't quite as mentally skilled as some its probably best to stick with Portal.
Antichamber – 8/10
+Plays By its Own Rules
+Complex Level Design
+Mind-bending & Unique Puzzles
+Visual Style
-Can Be A Bit Too Difficult At Times
