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Quantum Conundrum
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Graphics & Sound:
Quantum Conundrum may look cute and cartoonish at first, but there's some seriously fiendish puzzles lying below its colorful exterior just waiting for people to get fluffy, heavy, time-twisted and topsy-turvy.
Developed by Airtight Games and created by one of Portal's lead developers, Kim Swift, Quantum Conundrum takes puzzle-solving into a different dimension: four of them, to be exact. You play as the 12-year-old nephew of the mad genius Professor Fitz Quadwrangle, voiced by John de Lancie (better known as "Q" from Star Trek: TNG). During a visit to the Quadwrangle Manor something goes awry, and the Professor is blasted into a pocket dimension while the player is left behind trying to tame the Fluffy, Heavy, Slow, and Reverse Gravity dimensions in order to fix the Manor and get the Professor back.
Each dimension in Quantum Conundrum has a unique look and purpose. In the Soft dimension, everything is fluffy and light and can be easily picked up, thrown, or blown around. In the Heavy dimension, everything is steel-plated with hints of rust, is much tougher and weighs far more than it used to. The Slow dimension has a strange, stretched quality like a reel of old film as objects float through the air, while the Reverse Gravity dimension tinges everything with a green cast. The last two dimensions get the short end of the visual stick, with nowhere near the visual change as the first two dimensions, but they make up for it with exciting new additions to your puzzle-solving arsenal.
The Manor in Quantum Conundrum is a peculiar place, much like the Quadwrangle family. As you explore the mansion looking for the generators necessary to turn the power back on, Professor Quadwrangle gives hints (and some sarcastic comments) to help you get the hang of things: he also narrates the family's history as you find portraits of him, his cat (and its clones), and other members of the Quadwrangle clan. For an added bonus, check out the portraits in every dimension: a sweet granny in a rocking chair looks like a leather-and-spike riddled punk rocker in the Heavy dimension, or goes floating off-frame in the Reverse Gravity dimension.
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Gameplay:
From a gameplay perspective, the objectives in Quantum Conundrum are similar to those in the Portal series: navigate a series of rooms using the tools you're given to hit switches, avoid hazards, and reach inaccessible places in order to get out of the room. The dimensions provide several useful tools and lessons, from riding Fluffy safes up currents of air to Slowing time long enough to leap between moving obstacles or between the blades of a giant fan. There are also collectibles to find along the way, either blueprints to more challenging puzzle rooms in the Research and Development Wing or small robots called Awkward Noise Generators. You can usually hear the ANG's before you see them: if you catch tiger roars, toilet flushes or other out-of-place noises in the background that usually means there's one nearby.
The story of Quantum Conundrum isn't as robust or mature as Portal, but is still compelling and definitely more accessible for younger audiences. The Professor is both entertainer and guide, giving hints one minute about exactly when to jump in order to solve your current puzzle, and in the next describing his eccentric relatives or the curious dimension he's landed in (which appears to be filled with lost items such as keys and cell phones). There's also something important he's forgotten, but he just can't seem to find his memory in order to tell you what it is... |
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Difficulty:
Quantum Conundrum's puzzles aren't terribly difficult to solve, especially once players learn whatever lesson the room was trying to teach them (like couch-surfing using the Slow or Reverse Gravity dimension), and once players complete a room or level, they can go back and try them again to solve them at a faster time, try for missed collectibles, or use the fewest numbers of dimensional shifts possible (think Portal's challenge rooms which only let you use a handful of portals per room). The Research and Development rooms, on the other hand, can be very tricky: I'm no slouch when it comes to puzzles, but the first room kept me stumped for more than an hour. It also opens the door for potential DLC levels or even player-created rooms later down the line.
I did run into a bug halfway through Quantum Conundrum that stopped me dead in my tracks. Something messed up the timing of a machine which spits out safes, and I found the level impossible to complete after a half-hour of trying and dying repeatedly. After taking a short break and reloading the game, I found the safes were spit out at a more manageable rate, and solved the room with no trouble. It was the only bug I came across in this very physics-heavy game, but the reliance on precise timing later in the game means even one bug can create tons of frustration.
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Game Mechanics:
The key to Quantum Conundrum's puzzles is managing all the different dimensions you're given access to. Only one dimension can be active at a time, and bouncing back and forth between dimensions can sometimes be required in order to reach your objective. The first two dimensions, Fluffy and Heavy, start as simple crate-and-switch puzzles, but later ones integrate lasers, fans, and other objects that both challenge you and broaden what's possible with the dimensions at your fingertips. One room early on stumped me for a few minutes until I realized that when the Fluffy dimension was active, a large fan in the room blew objects against a wall with such force I was able to use them as steps up to the exit door. It's these kind of epiphanies that puzzle games are built for, and there are enough of them sprinkled throughout the game to keep you rushing toward the end, looking for that next challenge or opportunity to use what you've learned.
Quantum Conundrum may not be as groundbreaking as Portal or have the same cultural impact, but it's achieved something almost as important: a challenging, rewarding experience built with a fun and accessible story and setting. The ending also sets up the possibility of a sequel, with players possibly taking the reins of Professor Quadwrangle himself. If that is the case, I can't wait to see what the team behind Quantum Conundrum comes up with next. |
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-Dark Lantern, GameVortex Communications AKA Russell Jones |
Minimum System Requirements:
OS:Windows 7 SP1, Processor:Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 Ghz / AMD Athlon x2 64 3800+, Memory:2 GB RAM, Graphics:GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB / ATI Radeon HD 2900 512 MB, Hard Drive:1.75 GB HD space, Sound:DirectX9 compatible sound card |
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Test System:
OS: Windows 7, Processor: AMD FX(1)-4100 Quad Core / 3.61 Ghz, Memory: 8 GB RAM, Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7700 series, DirectX: 11, Sound: Integrated |
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