Space: the Warp Frontier. An out-of-this-world point-and-click voyage that boldly explores sci-fi concepts.
Warp Frontier is Brawsome’s first game in over ten years, but they definitely didn’t rest on their laurels in the interim, delivering a masterful science fiction creation in the point-and-click genre. The game is probably the best of the genre that I have played this year, worthy of inclusion in any point-and-click fan’s library and a great jumping off point for those wanting to experience what the genre has to offer.
Game Universe
Following a cataclysmic event called the Reset, humanity expanded from Earth, and people are divided based on their planet. Vince Cassini, COP (Cetus Orbital Police), nicknamed Tin Man for his mechanical heart, has spent the last ten years searching for people who went missing after an interplanetary war. His intense focus on this task has complicated his family relationships, and he realizes he’s forgotten his stepdaughter’s birthday just before his ship’s hull is breached by two fighting ships flying by. As Vince investigates this occurrence, he gets pulled into a discovery of massive scale and must navigate the far-reaching consequences of what he’s learned along with his personal life.
Although more realistic and serious in tone rather than comedic, there are enough jokes and puns to keep the mood from getting too dark. Since Vince has chosen not to be chipped or augmented, he operates alone out in the field except for his MAC (Machine Assisted Controller), and the recurring joke poking fun at the fourth wall that MAC makes about Vince thinking out loud is my favorite. There’s also a fun homage to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in one of the puzzle solutions.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2619810958
Gameplay and Mechanics
In many ways Warp Frontier is a traditional point-and-click adventure game. Vince picks up inventory items, and those items can be used with characters and objects to progress the story. Rather than having Vince select from actions to look at or use an item, the player must use the item with Vince just as if they were combining two inventory items. One nice feature is that if the player hovers over an object, it will display the flavor text or available actions without needing to click on it, so the player can get worldbuilding details without needing to click on objects that aren’t going to be used.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2619811741
Warp Frontier manages to avoid the idiosyncratic puzzle solutions that are often a feature of classic point-and-click games. Most puzzle solutions are logical, although it was tricky at times to figure out how to cue the game to move forward. It’s nice to have many items be utilized in multiple puzzles rather than having to find similar items or items with similar functions multiple times because the character abandoned a functional multi-use tool. Sometimes this meant that the game created a third inventory item when the player combined two items. For example, if the player had Vince use glue on an item, the glue and original item were still separate in the inventory, as well as a new glue+item object. It took me almost to the end of my first playthrough to get the hang of checking my inventory for the newly created combination item.
Whether or not Vince picks up certain items and has them available to use at the right times influences the outcomes of different parts of the game, as does which dialogue options are chosen. Some dialogue or action options will time out if the player waits too long to make a choice, and unfortunately there’s nothing that lets the player know a particular sequence is time-sensitive other than the dialogue options disappearing or the story moving forward in a decisive way.
In addition to working with MAC, Vince’s ship plays a role in many puzzle solutions. I loved how immersive and realistic it felt to use different functions of the ship. The player needs to consider whether the cargo ramp is up or down, the atmospheric pressure outside compared to inside the ship, and other engineering and mechanical considerations. There was so much great technical attention to detail!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2619812000
The game provides many ways for players to get clues if they are stuck. Hovering over Vince shows the current goal, and talking to MAC gives additional details on the current objective. The player can use a button to show hotspots and whether they are merely flavor text (e.g., just a dot) or an action can be performed (e.g., a speech bubble or a hand icon). If all that fails to get the player’s creative juices flowing, there’s a well-designed and robust leveled hint system. If the player does need to click on the hint button, it starts by providing a very basic clue, then the player can click the right arrow to get increasing details if they’re still stuck, ensuring the player gets enough help to get unstuck but avoids spoilers as much as possible.
Art Style and Graphics
The feel of the art style and graphics will probably seem familiar to point-and-click veterans, but although they aren’t particularly innovative, the realism is exceptional. This can be seen in the technical appearance of the ship’s dashboard and airlock control and the detailed paintings in the backgrounds of some scenes, but can sometimes be disturbing depending on the content. The dark color palette is well-suited to the sci-fi world of the game. If there is one flaw in terms of aesthetics, using all capital letters in the text for location names and certain reports would be it. While the font itself is in keeping with the sci-fi ambience, the lessened readability can detract from immersion. The font for the more critical dialogue is just fine, so the all-caps is a minor annoyance.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2619812581
Sound and Music
The majority Australian voice acting cast is solid, and the sound effects enrich the details of each scene (e.g., breathing when Vince is using his space suit, alarms). The music evokes the ambience at every part of the game, from mysterious to noir to eerie, although it doesn’t cross over into memorable.
Extras
Warp Frontier offers Steam trading cards and 69 possible achievements. Since there are multiple choices and endings, a player won’t be able to get all achievements in a single playthrough, but there is a manual save function in addition to an auto-save. On Oct. 4, 2021, the developer increased the amount of manual save slots from four to fifteen, which will make it easier to explore the possible narrative branches while avoiding repetitiveness. The game also offers a commentary feature I’m excited to use in my next playthrough to get insight into choices made in the game design process.
Verdict
At $14.99 at the time of review and approximately 7.5 hours for an initial playthrough, plus extras for replayability, Warp Frontier provides great value at full price. Brawsome has built a detailed and immersive sci-fi universe. Although Warp Frontier perhaps isn’t the most artsy of games I’ve played in 2021, it is superb craftsmanship when it comes to worldbuilding and point-and-click gameplay. While the first ending I unlocked surprised me with how quickly it wrapped up, I hope the other endings resolve my lingering questions and plot points that seemed like loose ends in my initial playthrough. Hopefully it won’t take Brawsome as long to release another game, but if it takes place in this game universe, I’m in.
Note: This review has been condensed from its original at SaveorQuit.
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