From the first launch, the informed player will detect the signs of a particularly neat game. Thus, the Machinarium logo that welcomes us is interactive. Each of its letters animates and deforms when the mouse cursor passes over it. Better still, the main and animated menu to which we are entitled thereafter corresponds in fact to the first scene of the game. Once you click on “new game”, the transition with the gameplay is then necessarily smooth. These little details not only prove that the developers love a job well done, but also allow us to enjoy the game's graphic style, as specific as it is attractive, without delay. The pastel tones of this "hand-painted" 2D can only charm aesthetes. Moreover, they fit perfectly with the robotic, melancholy and partially disenchanted universe that serves as the setting for the game. We play a robot there, ready for scrapping, and violently separated from his girlfriend. The first enigma will also consist in recovering and reuniting the different parts of our body in order to be able to progress more serenely. By itself, this initial table is enough to become aware of the many assets of Machinarium. We thus discover a relatively unique gameplay, since there is no point in scanning the screen in search of interactive areas. No question either of displaying them all thanks to a dedicated command, as is now the norm in adventure games. The developers have chosen a totally opposite path, and rather realistic, since it is only possible to interact with what is within reach of the robot. To know if such an object can be picked up or activated, you will have to approach it! This system could have been particularly laborious but, in use, it is not so. The interactive objects are however not particularly highlighted graphically. On the contrary, they are perfectly integrated into the decor. But, oddly, we never hesitate long on what it is possible to do or not. This tour de force certainly comes from the great coherence of the universe represented and a meticulously thought out level design.
Help ! I need somebody
It must also be said that the two-level help system is particularly well done. In the event of a blockage, you can first ask for a visual clue. A comic bubble then appears above the character and illustrates with a simple drawing what he expects of us. And if this is not enough, then it is possible to claim the complete solution of the table. But everything has been done so that those who cannot resist the temptation cannot spoil the adventure too quickly. This solution is indeed in a book held closed by a very special padlock. To open the latter, you have to emerge victorious from a small rustic shoot'em up sequence. In side-scrolling, a key is directed there in order to avoid stone walls and shoot a few placid spiders. At the end of the path is a symbolic lock, which gives access to a real little comic strip explaining step by step the procedure to follow to solve the enigmas of the area. The principle of explanation by drawing is a constant in the game, which does not bother with any description of object or sequence of dialogues. When two characters meet, their communication is once again presented to us using speech bubbles comprising small drawings, sometimes animated. The universal language par excellence! When it comes to puzzles, there's a good balance between using inventory items and solving more formal puzzles. It should be noted that the telescopic body of our robot can be enlarged or shrunken, in order to access otherwise inaccessible places. We then touch on one of the rare small faults of the game since, once enlarged for example, the charming android moves very slowly. You must therefore be careful to restore it to its initial size before ordering it to move, otherwise you will have to wait long seconds for it to finish its walk, which you cannot always interrupt. In truth, you get used to it quite quickly. More annoying, however: the game being made in Flash, it does not allow the use of the right click. To put an object back in the inventory, you have to put it back yourself in the upper area of the screen. Nothing insurmountable, but years of playing adventure games don't fade away in a few hours. We therefore constantly activate the right click automatically, which has the effect of displaying the austere Flash menu and slightly breaking the immersion. Finally, note that the adventure is not necessarily very long, especially for those who tend to use the help system a little too much. Fortunately, the selling price is very reasonable. The boxed version is indeed sold for less than thirty euros, even though it contains a sixteen-page color manual, a double-sided poster (Machinarium on the front, The Chronicles of Sadwick on the back), fifty minutes of happiness in the form of an audio CD and even the full version of Samorost2, Amanita Design's previous production.
