Very Good Brain-Teaser With Potential
There are games that truly deserve that rare 10 out of 10. Games that push the boundaries, are perfect in almost every way, that deserve to be on top until the next one comes along to knock it off its throne. Sadly, Interlocked is *not* that game. Not to say this isn't a very nice game, with well-thought out puzzles. It could very well be a contender for runner-up, but there's a feeling that this game hasn't quite reached its full potential. It's yet to be the best it can be.
It's presented as a puzzler, based off of puzzles of interlocking blocks that seem impossible to take apart. It's a basic concept, but one that goes far. The graphics are, as such, simple -- they're blocks. But they're 3D -- you can rotate them any which direction, bring the pieces closer or pull them away. Deceptively simple, but brilliant -- no need for an extravaganza! The music does a nice job too; it's pleasant, relaxing, never overwhelming but never quite memorable. You could be taking a bath.
The controls are simple -- you can either rotate the puzzle in any direction or angle, or you can try to move a single piece. Space bar switches between them, the mouse uses them. But the difficulty can deceive you -- especially when you're struggling to move a piece but the angle you're at won't let you. It's not as smooth as desired, but perhaps that's a part of the puzzle. And you'll still feel a tiny bit smarter after solving these puzzles, which is always a postive.
There's something about this game, though. It's very creative, but it feels incomplete. There are still a few bugs to work out -- after trying one of the early puzzles, the blocks started to phase and jerk around into each other. The controls seem like they could be smoother, though they still work well. And despite the hints given out, this game seems like it'd only attract fans of puzzling games, people with a large amount of patience. Not very accessible.
If you're looking for a good brainteaser game, I highly recommend this particular one. It's great, but not excellent; there *are* better puzzle games out there. However, they are so few and far between that it's completely excusable to think this is the best. It's very good, yes. Very deserving it its front page status. But it could always be better -- and the real puzzle is how to improve on this next time.