It’s time to take a stroll round Davy Jones’s locker room (his precise locker is method deeper than you need to go). The title right here tells you the fundamentals; you sink after which restore energy. Easy, actually, however removed from straightforward…and that’s the place the enjoyable begins.
As standard, I’ll begin with the entire “sights and sounds” stuff. On this entrance, the audio in Energy Sink is a bit subdued, however that is fairly applicable for a sport set underwater. The audio you get for actions sound correct, and the background music helps preserve you current within the second with out distracting you from fixing the puzzle earlier than you (and beneath you, and above you—extra on this later).
The visuals are even higher. Sure, the colour pallet is restricted; all the pieces is underwater, so be prepared for many blue and inexperienced. The sport does have some good yellow highlights if you activate the lights. In any case, you’re there to revive energy to areas which have gone darkish. The visuals lean somewhat to the cartoonish with the characters, with a wholesome dose of technical realism for the remainder. Total, it’s a very fascinating look.
Now for the gameplay. As hinted at above, Energy Sink might look a bit like a platformer, however it’s a, dare I say, immersive 3D puzzler. The controls are restricted and simple. The one issues it’s essential to bear in mind to get round are: proper joystick is the digital camera, left joystick strikes you, A button jumps, X button works levers, and Y button picks issues up/places issues down. Straightforward, proper?
Whenever you get began, the sport supplies tutorial with a pleasant NPC tutor. The directions and ideas are all textual content, however the sport will wait so that you can hit the A button earlier than going to the subsequent chunk of textual content. As you wander round every degree, there are massive “step on me” buttons. Whenever you step on them, they may flip inexperienced—these are save factors, so use them properly. In the event you fall off a platform by chance, you drop into the abyss. Don’t fear, the sport will reset to the final save level on which you stepped.
Whenever you enter a degree, there might be a number of platforms. A few of them might be on the identical degree, however some might be a lot increased or a lot decrease than the place you begin. Once in a while, it’s possible you’ll need to step again and go searching to maintain your bearings (it’s possible you’ll have to cross via an space greater than as soon as to finish your mission, so it helps to know the place you’re).
After you full the tutorial, it’s possible you’ll be tempted to suppose, “That is too straightforward.” Maintain your seahorses; when you begin the actual sport, issues shortly get extra difficult. The steps it’s essential to take to finish your job might not all be apparent or intuitive, so be prepared to make use of some lateral considering. The final word aim on every degree is to resolve the environmental puzzles—flip the precise lever, the transfer the orbs to their correct location, and so forth.—with a view to restore energy.
When you’ve finished so, the sport will present you your experience all lit up. This implies you’re good to return to your submarine shuttle and head off to the subsequent degree to get them powered up.
Once I first obtained this sport for the evaluation, I used to be intrigued by the premise. As soon as I began taking part in, I actually appreciated the appears, the sport mechanics and the puzzles. There’s a lot to love about Energy Sink, and I actually needed to present it a glowing evaluation. Nevertheless, I encountered some issues which gave me severe pause.
First, you may’t skip or quick ahead via the intro sequence. Granted, it’s cool to see hammerhead sharks, however I don’t like being pressured into it. Second, the background music appears to vanish for no motive. You will get it again by going to the menu (+ button) which appears to pressure the music to play, then return to the sport along with your music in tow.
The third problem is de facto discouraging. Through the textual content messages from our pleasant neighborhood NPC tip giver, the sport froze when beginning a specific degree. The one resolution was to make use of the house button and to shut the sport utterly. After restarting twice, I used to be lastly allowed to play via.
Lastly, if I need to exit the sport, there isn’t a button I can discover which takes me to an exit display. Now, I’m again to utilizing the Residence button on the Swap and shutting the sport down the onerous method. I’ve seen the intro section too many instances, and I’m beginning to resent the hammerhead sharks.
I searched on-line for different tales of woe with this sport, and didn’t discover a lot. Maybe that’s as a result of that is nonetheless comparatively new on the Swap, or maybe my points had been remoted. If the previous, the glitches must be addressed. On the time this evaluation was written, that hadn’t been finished.
Energy Sink is an excellent wanting sport with good mechanics and difficult puzzles. I used to be drawn in in a short time and actually loved my time taking part in it when issues had been working proper. On this case, I’d gladly fee this sport an 8/10. With the problems I confronted—a few which had been important—I’ve to drop {that a} couple factors. We’ll actually need some assist from the builders on this one.
