Quantum Conundrum Review (PS3)

      I've never played Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, but from what I hear, you can change dimensions in order to bypass obstacles. In Chrono Cross, you switch between dimensions that are each their own separate reality. Quantum Conundrum is another take on the dimension switching idea. It's a first-person action puzzle game that has you swapping dimensions on the fly to affect the objects and environments around you.

     The controls are your standard first-person scheme (with the notable exception of no shootin' button). The left stick controls movement, the right controls where you look. Cross is jump, square let's you pick up an object or drop it, and circle is throw whatever object you are holding. The four shoulder buttons control your dimensions. Press R2 to switch to the fluffy dimension, L2 for the heavy dimension, R1 for the slow-mo dimension, and L1 for the reverse gravity dimension. Pressing the button of the dimension you are currently in or pressing triangle will toggle you back into the normal dimension, although you can jump directly from one alternate dimension to another without returning to normal.

     What exactly does it mean to be in one of these alternate dimensions? A few examples of some of the basic puzzles will help to illustrate the effects. A common element of the game is pressure plates that need heavy stuff to be on them in order to activate a door. You may have a safe that is heavy enough to way it down, but is halfway across the room and weighs a ton. If you switch to the fluffy dimension, however, everything suddenly weighs next to nothing (and takes on a cute, plush appearance). So you can pick up the safe, carry it to the pressure plate, and then switch back to normal, putting the safe back up to its full weight and activating the switch.

     You'll also be in the same situation where you need to activate a pressure plate but only have a cardboard box. If you put the box on the plate, then switch to the heavy dimension, which turns everything to metal, the box will now weigh enough to activate the switch.

     The slow-mo dimension is maybe the most self-explanatory and familiar, but also the most fun to play around with. Everything moves in super slow motion while you are in it, allowing you to do cool stuff like leaving objects in mid-air, racing past fast-moving objects, and platforming on objects that are falling or flying by. It's very fun to play around with since most games with a slow motion ability put some kind of limit on it, but here you can mess with it to your heart's desire.

     The last dimension is the reverse gravity dimension, which is also kind of self-explanatory. Gravity instantly reverses when you enter it, sending everything that isn't tied down flying toward the ceiling. You are not affected by this (or any of the other dimensions' effects) due to the stabilizing effect of the device you are using to control the dimensions.

     Which segues into the story of the game. You play as a kid who is dropped off to visit his mad scientist uncle. When you get to his mansion, you can hear his voice, but is nowhere to be found. He tells you that he has become lost in another dimension while doing experiments, leads you to his dimensional manipulation device, and sets you off on a quest to try and get the power back on and get him back. There are three wings you need to go through to reactivate the mansion's power supply.

     Each of the wings has a bunch of levels. You have a different loadout of dimensions in each level. You are usually restricted to just one or two, but sometimes you can find batteries in the levels that give you access to the others. The dimensions are introduced slowly, one at a time, and the levels teach you to use the new dimensions you get in tandem with the ones you already have until you get to the endgame and are able to use all four together to do some really neat stuff.

     The real meat of this game is figuring out how to get from point A to point B and complete each level, and there's no way to let you know what that's like without spoiling a handful of these more complex dimensional interactions. Don't worry though, there are tons of these puzzles in the games several hour campaign. One example is throwing a cardboard box at glass, then switching to the heavy dimension so that it smashes through. You can turn safes fluffy while they are on top of a big fan then ride on top of them as they are blown upward. There are these robots that spit out objects throughout the game, and you can ride on furniture they spit out by jumping on it in slow motion. You can make a couch fluffy, pick it up, throw it, then switch to slow-mo and jump on top of it to ride it, then switch reverse gravity on and off rapidly to make it continue flying through the air with you on top of it (you'll be riding it this way while dodging lasers, fyi). Just a sampling of the few hundred or so things you will need to do to get through the game's levels.

     The whole game is narrated by your uncle. His lines are mostly well written and his voice acting is very well done. The voice actor reminds me of John Lithgow or the co host of the D6Genereation podcast Russ Wakelin. (Edit: I think I was actually thinking of Robert Krulwich of Radiolab. But I'm going to leave the D6G shout out in anyway. They all three do sound similar). He gives hints of what to do and how things work, tells you stories and anecdotes, and is generally annoyed at you and condescending to you, but in a nice sort of way. The narration adds a lot to the game.
     The music is nice and playfully mysterious, fitting the gameplay quite well. The theme song, which actually has lyrics, is pretty cool, although kind of goofy.

     The graphics are pretty good, but there is a lot of texture pop-in. I wish games would just take a few seconds longer to load, as I hate starting a level and watching all the textures pop in as I start to walk around. It takes me out of the experience. I can wait 10 more seconds on the load screen if it means I don't have to see that.

     Speaking of load screens, there are funny comments on Quantum Conundrum's. If you die (by falling from too high a height or getting lasered) the loading screen tells you something you'll miss out on because you died young. It's morbid and amusing. Other loading screens comment on the morals of destroying a dimension, and hint at the possibility of a bacon dimension (if there is a sequel, this needs to be in it). Level names are also quite clever (our safes will blot out the sun!).

     Each level of Quantum Conundrum is fun to figure out. I can't remember a single one I didn't enjoy solving. There are plenty of brain bending moments where you figure out a really cool way to manipulate dimensions to get where you are going, press a switch, or avoid a hazard. Walking around the level and puzzling out what to do as you listen to your uncle talking to you from wherever he is is quite fun. I was never stuck for long, but always stuck enough that the solution was a bit of a revelation. The puzzle design is great. The way the game does dimension swapping is novel, yet the puzzles are very well thought out, making you go much deeper than just the primary idea of each type of dimension. I highly suggest you do the “Explorer of All Roads” trophy if you want to see just how smartly designed these levels are, as it will take you through the “Choose Wisely” level with four unique solutions. Very nice.

     There are quite a few things that don't work in the game. First off, I don't like Ike (see what I did there), the inter-dimensional creature that shows up from time to time in the levels. He just seems kind of pointless. There is a part in the game where he is used effectively, and a bizarre secret involving him (look at the trophies for a hint), but in general I just don't get the point.

     The setting is also a little off in some regards. The robots that shoot out furniture and function as Star Trek style replicators seem a little out of place. They work great game-play wise as a way to get you new furniture and objects when you need them to continue and have destroyed your first set, so I guess that's why they are in there. These robots also vomit objects across long distances in some levels, which makes for fun puzzles and levels, but I have no idea what is going on theme-wise in these situations. There are many cavernous rooms and huge areas that make it seem like the mansion must be miles long, but it doesn't really look all that big in the intro. It makes you wonder if there would be a better setting for these levels than the inside of a house. A few elements of the setting that do work include the displays showing your uncles previous inventions and the portraits of family members that change quite comically depending on what dimension you're in (fluffy and heavy both make for amusing portraits: cute and puffy and heavy rock and roll, respectively).

     The campaign is great, but once it's over there isn't much to do. Getting the collectibles (which make goofy noises to lead you to them) is fun, but it doesn't take long to find them all. There are trophies for beating every level within a certain time limit and for beating them while only switching dimensions a certain number of times. I didn't find either of these challenges fun or engaging. Playing to beat a time or dimensional shift goal takes away the main elements of what makes the campaign so great; exploring, experimenting, and just playing around with the different dimensional effects. I love the slower pace of the campaign. I didn't get into those trophies at all.

     I also want to complain about how the game handles saves. If you press new game, it warns you that it will delete your old save file. Why? When I went back and played a little to do this review, I hit new game to see the intro again. I blazed right past the warning that my save would be deleted thinking that it was just the screen that tells me that I'm playing offline so leaderboards won't work. My save was gone. Good thing I don't care about the post game or I would be mad since all my work on getting fast times and shift goals would be down the drain.

     I think you get the picture. The campaign is pretty genius, but there are a few technical and thematic flaws. The post game (with the exception of finding the sound based collectibles) is bad. I love post games and wish this one had a better one. It's hard though, since the magic of the campaign is figuring out puzzles, and once you know how to do them, the thrill is gone. It's a game you experience, and then you can't re-experience it. That experience is great, but could use some polish. And some sort of engaging post game would be great. Maybe something like the handful of trophies in The Unfinished Swan (review pending) which just have you doing some random stuff in the game's levels. With all that in mind, I'll say great game, tier 3.