Monochroma Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: Monochroma
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
  • Reviewed on:
Monochroma

Monochroma is yet another indie puzzle platformer, which pretty much amounts to saying that rain is wet. Developer Nowhere Studios attempted to give its creation a dash of style and a lot of soul in order to set it apart from the zounds of similar titles, so it's time to see whether or not they succeeded.

The game is set in an alternate history, during the 1950s, exploring a popular fantasy of that time, of a company mass-manufacturing and distributing robots to the entire city population, that would make people's lives fantastic.

You are cast in the role of one of two siblings who are out and about one night, and, after your smaller brother falls through the roof of a warehouse and injures himself, you take it upon yourself to guide the both of you to safety.

You're caught in a storm, at night, seeking help and trying to take care of your little brother, and, as you make your way through the warehouses and industrial behemoths of the city, you stumble upon an awful secret.

But that comes much later. One of the first things about the developers' stylish approach is that the game is rendered in a dark and almost monochromatic visual manner, with occasional splashes of red to break the monotony.

In addition to this, there are no words, no text, no speech, nothing, just you and your brother, silently exploring the night and the underbelly of the massive city. This technique is both a godsend that prevents clumsy writing from detracting from the overall dark atmosphere, and the game's biggest pitfall, because it also ends up making you feel a bit disconnected from everything that's going on.

In the least, it's something that's different enough to pique your interest, which is just what a small game such as this one needs.

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I was waiting for it to say "ET phone home."
Carrying his brother prepared him for a stellar NBA carreer

Gameplay

The actual gameplay is what you would expect in such a title, with the mention that the puzzles are physics-based and are not about insane reflexes and twitchy, impossibly timed jumps, but instead flow naturally from the environment, achieving a much more organic overall feeling, as the puzzles are not there only for their sake, but are simply means for you to progress and get your brother to safety.

Speaking of the brother, at first, it seems like a very strange decision to limit the player's potential for platforming all the way home by having him carry a silent sack of potatoes around. But, as time passes, you come to realize that the fact that you can't run as fast or jump as high when you're carrying him doesn't make your brother a burden, it only makes you his savior.

He's also afraid of the dark, like any small child, and so you have to find well-lit spots in order to put him down, when you want to reach places that you wouldn't normally be able to access with him strapped on to you.

That also means that, whenever you see a spotlight casting a cone of boogie man repellent on a section of the floor, you know it's a dead giveaway that you have to put your brother down.

The protagonist's determination not to leave his brother behind can be interpreted as a gameplay gimmick, especially since he doesn't do anything and doesn't talk, but it also offers you a stronger emotional pull than if you were simply running around alone, which slowly creeps up on you as you progress through Monochroma.

It strangely feels like it's all very neatly tied up, with the dark urban vistas and the heavy-set dystopian atmosphere, and all the dead silence, but it's also broken at times by the wonky controls.

It's all fine and dandy that the game isn't dexterity-based like most platformers, but that doesn't mean you won't get frustrated when you encounter various control issues such as your character not jumping at the right moment or taking too long to play the landing animation after a jump, adding a hitch in the flow of movement.

This becomes particularly evident in the few areas where you do need to rely on dexterity and precision of movement, where it becomes clear that not having a smooth control scheme is the game's biggest fault.

Visuals and Sounds

The game's graphics are very interesting, because the very stylish noir technique utilized to display the backgrounds adds a ton of atmosphere, in addition to looking great. The fact that everything lies in a dark shroud is not due to the fact that the visuals are poor and your eyes have to be shielded from them. On the contrary, everything looks great or at least decent, and the city would also look gorgeous, were it in color.

This greatly enhances the entire experience, as there is plenty of detail and the game is far from being minimalistic, it sets out to achieve a deeply visual and emotional journey and it succeeds, primarily through the art direction but also through the subtle aural cues.

The sounds you will hear the most will be those of your own footsteps and of the rain outside, interspersed from time to time with the various moans of the colossal machinery you're infiltrating and with a bit of music that's usually amplifying the tension you're experiencing on screen.

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No dystopia is complete without a giant mall scene...
...or without the mandatory rollercoaster ride
Conclusion

Monochroma is undeniably a good game that's worth playing, but there are several issues which mark the experience down. Having a cohesive storyline, for one, would have made it much better. I know it's a matter of choice and some people prefer the mystery to knowing, but I would have liked to hear characters talking and to explore the relationship between the two brothers, as well as the relationship between the dystopian city and its inhabitants a little more than just at the visual level.

The silent protagonist approach might work in games where you're just a slab of meat that shoots stuff, but in games that do have a story behind the action, especially a down-to-earth one, that you can easily relate to, not exploring it at all seems like renouncing some of the title's potential.

You'll experience a lot of tension while playing Monochroma, as, even though its gameplay is more laid back and its puzzles are based more on physics and less on parkour, it also offers enough mechanical variety so as not to feel like you're just progressing through a series of sudoku levels, as well as some high-speed moments that will make your heart race.

Apart from the few places where the less-than-stellar control scheme will get in your way and may even end up severely frustrating you, Monochroma feels very organic from a gameplay standpoint, adding a great deal to its compelling atmosphere.

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story 0
gameplay 8
concept 9
graphics 8
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 7.5
Editor's review
good
 
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