It’s time to take a stroll round Davy Jones’s locker room (his precise locker is method deeper than you need to go). The title right here tells you the fundamentals; you sink after which restore energy. Easy, actually, however removed from simple…and that’s the place the enjoyable begins.
As normal, I’ll begin with the entire “sights and sounds” stuff. On this entrance, the audio in Energy Sink is a bit subdued, however that is fairly acceptable for a sport set underwater. The audio you get for actions sound correct, and the background music helps preserve you current within the second with out distracting you from fixing the puzzle earlier than you (and under you, and above you—extra on this later).
The visuals are even higher. Sure, the colour pallet is proscribed; every little thing is underwater, so be prepared for plenty of blue and inexperienced. The sport does have some good yellow highlights if you activate the lights. In spite of everything, you might be there to revive energy to areas which have gone darkish. The visuals lean somewhat to the cartoonish with the characters, with a wholesome dose of technical realism for the remaining. General, it’s a very fascinating look.
Now for the gameplay. As hinted at above, Energy Sink might look a bit like a platformer, however it’s a, dare I say, immersive 3D puzzler. The controls are restricted and easy. The one issues it’s essential to keep in mind to get round are: proper joystick is the digital camera, left joystick strikes you, A button jumps, X button works levers, and Y button picks issues up/places issues down. Straightforward, proper?
While you get began, the sport supplies an excellent tutorial with a pleasant NPC tutor. The directions and ideas are all textual content, however the sport will wait so that you can hit the A button earlier than going to the following chunk of textual content. As you wander round every stage, there are massive “step on me” buttons. While you step on them, they may flip inexperienced—these are save factors, so use them effectively. In the event you fall off a platform by accident, you drop into the abyss. Don’t fear, the sport will reset to the final save level on which you stepped.
While you enter a stage, there will probably be a number of platforms. A few of them will probably be on the identical stage, however some will probably be a lot greater or a lot decrease than the place you begin. On occasion, you might need to step again and go searching to maintain your bearings (you might must go by means of an space greater than as soon as to finish your mission, so it helps to know the place you might be).
After you full the tutorial, you might be tempted to assume, “That is too simple.” Maintain your seahorses; when you begin the true sport, issues rapidly get extra sophisticated. The steps it’s essential to take to finish your job might not all be apparent or intuitive, so be prepared to make use of some lateral considering. The last word objective on every stage is to resolve the environmental puzzles—flip the suitable lever, the transfer the orbs to their correct location, and so forth.—as a way to restore energy.
When you’ve performed so, the sport will present you your trip all lit up. This implies you’re good to return to your submarine shuttle and head off to the following stage to get them powered up.
After I first obtained this sport for the assessment, I used to be intrigued by the premise. As soon as I began enjoying, I actually appreciated the seems to be, the sport mechanics and the puzzles. There’s a lot to love about Energy Sink, and I actually needed to offer it a glowing assessment. Nevertheless, I encountered some issues which gave me critical pause.
First, you’ll be able to’t skip or quick ahead by means of the intro sequence. Granted, it’s cool to see hammerhead sharks, however I don’t like being compelled into it. Second, the background music appears to vanish for no cause. You may get it again by going to the menu (+ button) which appears to drive the music to play, then return to the sport together with your music in tow.
The third problem is absolutely discouraging. Throughout the textual content messages from our pleasant neighborhood NPC tip giver, the sport froze when beginning a specific stage. The one resolution was to make use of the house button and to shut the sport fully. After restarting twice, I used to be lastly allowed to play by means of.
Lastly, if I need to exit the sport, there isn’t a button I can discover which takes me to an exit display screen. Now, I’m again to utilizing the Residence button on the Change and shutting the sport down the exhausting method. I’ve seen the intro phase too many instances, and I’m beginning to resent the hammerhead sharks.
I searched on-line for different tales of woe with this sport, and didn’t discover a lot. Maybe that’s as a result of that is nonetheless comparatively new on the Change, or maybe my points have been remoted. If the previous, the glitches have to be addressed. On the time this assessment was written, that hadn’t been performed.
Energy Sink is an excellent trying sport with good mechanics and difficult puzzles. I used to be drawn in in a short time and actually loved my time enjoying it when issues have been working proper. On this case, I’d gladly fee this sport an 8/10. With the problems I confronted—a few which have been vital—I’ve to drop {that a} couple factors. We’ll actually need some assist from the builders on this one.
