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Review: The Cube
Author: Nick Smith
Added: 05/01/2002
Overall:
Average:7.67/10

Although it doesn't actually aknowledge it, this game is quite obviously based on the film of the same name, with the idea being exactly the same - you have to get out of a maze of cubes by deciphering the codes on the doors. I really liked the film but this game shows that the idea doesnt translate well into one.

The best thing about this game is the graphics. They are very nicely rendered with some nice touches and the menu is also very professional looking. The sound is good if a little repetative.

The basic problem with the game is that the gameplay is pretty lame. All you get to do is make a 1 in 4 choice of which door to go through in each room. You have to figure out what the pattern is for the codes on the doors in order to escape. Basically there is one thing which means the next room will kill you and one that means you are heading towards the exit. Once you read the help screen in the game, these are quite easy to figure out, making the game very easy. However, if you don't do this and just work it out from scratch this will make it very hard and unenjoyable.

Some other reviews claim that the game is "scary". Somehow I don't think so. The sound and some of the graphics work well to create a good atmosphere but there are not many sounds or animations and once you have died a few times, its just a case of trying to solve the puzzle and you forget about the "scariness"!

Making a game of the Cube film may have seemed like a good idea but the problem is that the puzzle in the film is a very simple (as in there is one thing to do) but difficutl to solve. This doesnt make for exciting gameplay in a game and the solution is actually much more simple in the game as well.

The film was also actually more about how the characters coped with the situations than the puzzle and this element of it obviously doesnt appear in the game. The fact that every room looks the same also doesn't make it very interesting.

It is clear that time went into the graphics and navigating around the cube (I think the cube is not random, but you start in a random room). There are some nice touches such as you can hear the wind when in one of the outside rooms and if in that situation you go out of a door that is not the exit, the room moves to a new random position in the cube. This deserves some praise, unfotunately it doesnt make for a very good game experience. It could be improved by giving the player more to do (such as side-puzzles, a way to escape traps, other characters etc) and having more animations & traps as there weren't many.

Well done to the maker for trying but I think it was a bad, if interesting, choice for a game.

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