Metrico+, the sequel to Digital Dreams’s Metrico, avoids the technical missteps of its predecessor whilst introducing a few new ones.
Metrico+
Developer: Digital Dreams
Price: $13.99
Platform: PC/PS4
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
Reviewed with an i5-4690k & GTX 970 with 16GB RAM
Metrico+ is a puzzle-game through and through. There’s no violence, no extraneous story elements or collectibles. It’s a game that’s barebones and serious about its puzzle-elements.
Initially the puzzles seem easy and are solved solely through intuitive movement. However, after a short amount of time with the game the puzzles became incredibly difficult, and I mean bang-head-on-desk difficult. There were moments during my playthrough that I was thoroughly convinced that there was a bug or that I had reached some point of no return that playtesters had inexplicably missed. On Metrico+’s Steam page, developer Digital Dreams writes “Welcome to Metrico. We hope you have what it takes.” and I can shamelessly admit that I do not have what it takes to complete this game unassisted.
In Metrico+ there are 6 distinct game worlds, each with their own art and puzzle style. One world may be focused on vertical movement while the next may be about shooting targets. The first 2-3 worlds are quite self-explanatory, and left me feeling good about my puzzle-solving capabilities. Near the end of the 3rd world is where things take a sharp nose-dive into the extreme. To beat Metrico+, at least according to its developers, you need to think outside of the box. Boy is that an understatement.
After the first few lessons in running, jumping, shooting and using reset points the game’s puzzles open up. Suddenly the formula transitioned from utilizing known tactics to get to the other side to performing random keystrokes and actions until something happened. These puzzles were admittedly quite genius, but their mechanics were so unprecedented and obscure that the frustration of finishing a puzzle overrode any sense of joy I’d previously had from completing them.
My favorite example of this is a seemingly simple puzzle in which you must build a staircase at the other end of the hall out of four columns, one of which raises each time you reset your character. The other three took me a solid fifteen minutes before I determined how to raise them all. The answer was unprecedented, and hadn’t been taught or utilized in any of the prior puzzles. There’s no issue with introducing new mechanics for players to figure out, but this challenge was immediately brought to an extreme without teaching the player how to correctly utilize this strategy. In a different segment of the game I was seemingly stranded in a blank blue space. With no logical solution I eventually began to spam my keyboard until suddenly the actual puzzle appeared. I’m still not sure if this encounter was intentional, but I have no idea how it would work if it were.
Fortunately, Metrico+’s one-track mind in no way impacts its artistic beauty inspired by info-graphics. In the background of nearly every world is a gorgeous, complex and dynamic world that feels like artistic math. When aiming, your reticle is represented in terms of angles and everything follows percentages or ratios. Some puzzles track the number of jumps you make and as you move about, the world around you changes in a way that only procedurally created art appears. Sometimes the minimalist design can impact UI and menus, but I imagine most people would be able to figure things out.
Unfortunately, Metrico+ is a bit on the low-side for content and replayability. There’s no real plot or story besides some incredibly vague artistic messages that are beyond my interpretation and there’s no way of tracking efficiency. There’s no score system or anything to do on the side, and the entirety of the game can be completed in under an hour, maybe two if you’re as incompetent as me with some puzzles. The game’s structure, in its length, style and simplicity reminds me more of a cheap, or even free, mobile puzzle game than a $14 Steam and PlayStation release.
The Final Word
Metrico+ fares better than its predecessor but still falls just a bit short. The puzzles are engaging and challenging, but are more frustrating than enjoyable at times and can make it hard to even want to continue. The visuals and sounds are beautiful, but are little more than smoke and mirrors in a game that can be easily completed in under an hour with no real incentive to play.
– MonsterVine Rating: 3 out of 5 – Average
