A Minimalist Puzzle That Reels You In?
I may be ‘of an age’, and I may well be well into my fifth decade of gaming, and fast approaching my twentieth anniversary of writing about games, but it constantly saddens me as to how the vast majority of the gaming community are happy to pass certain games by.
Whether that be because they are ‘not on Game Pass’, or not in the AAA bracket of gaming, ignorant to anything but a Call of Duty, a GTA, or the fanciest of racers, there’s no doubt that an absolute ton of games fail to even register a second look from many controller-holding players.
What surprises me most though, is that of those games, a good number of them come to market – ie the Xbox Store – with a super low price point in tow. Surely if something is available to purchase and play for a couple of quid (or bucks depending on where you are in the world), that should pique interest levels? What if that game offers up 160 odd stages too?
Simple Hooks, Deep Addiction
Well, it’s that which Hook: Complete Edition looks to deliver. A simple, minimalistic puzzler from the Ultimate Games publishing team. And without beating around the bush, it’s very good too. Repetitive, but very good.
Crafted by the mind of one Maciej Targoni, Ultimate Games obviously saw potential with this relaxing little puzzler from the get go. And should you pay up the £3 asking price, we’re pretty sure you’ll fall in love with it. At least for a good few hours as you kick back on the sofa and work your way through the simple, yet occasionally complex, puzzles.
Unraveling the Lines: Hook’s Core Puzzle Mechanics
Those puzzles are easy-to-explain affairs too. A series of hooks and pins await, each connected to a fishing line, which in turn is linked to a power button that reels things in. That’s our take on it anyways, with the player being required to reroute lines, operating switches and wireless connections, to ensure that all the pins and hooks can be removed from the playfield safely. The key is in discovering where to start, and which pieces need removing first, to unlock further removals and so on.
If you have previously played SiNKR or SiNKR 2, then you should be well at home here.
Black and white visuals will do nothing to grab the attention of many gamers, but for us, the minimal feels that this gives off are great; there’s even a Dark Mode if you need it. Whatever, it allows for a super relaxing time, as your focus and gaze is set on the task at hand, never distracted by unnecessary gumpf.
The same goes for the serene soundtrack that plays throughout your time in Hook: Complete Edition; many may just switch it off and stick their own tunes on, but we kept it running throughout, fully immersed in the vibes.
A Hook for Completionists
With Gamerscore on tap, pinging away pretty much for the completion of every single level (only changing up in the much later stages), there’s some real joy to be found in understanding how to best clear these stages. And with this being the Complete Edition of Hook, those stages are plentiful too, with both Hook 1 and Hook 2 combining to deliver a puzzling dream.
Consider the sheer number of levels and the stupidly low asking price of Hook: Complete Edition, and it’s easy to see how this one is a game that is high on the old content to cash ratio. And whilst that may mean that some of the levels feel repetitive, and others are over in a matter of literal seconds, there’s enough variety and scale of stages to ensure that interest levels stay high.
Rotating Challenges: New Mechanics in Later Stages
And power through those levels into the latter moments of Hook: Complete Edition, and some new mechanics come into play too; like utilising the thumbsticks to rotate 3D stages. We’ll admit that it was around that time where our interest started to wane; not because Hook fails to continue to, um, hook, but because the slow camera adjustment could have done with a bit of a speed boost; a lot of a speed boost, in fact. Thankfully there’s no timer or pressure to complete stages, other than doing so in your own sweet time, but you will need to keep a beady eye on the limited ‘lives/mistakes’ that are allowed before a puzzle resets.
There’s also very little in terms of replayability to Hook: Complete Edition. Once you’re done with a level, you’re fast moving onto the next, and whilst you can pick and choose to repeat past stages, we’re not really sure why anyone would consider that a good use of their time.
A Minimalist Puzzler That’s Easy to Recommend
For the vast majority of our time with Hook: Complete Edition though, we’ve become slightly addicted. The minutes fast turning into hours, and whilst a little fatigue does creep in near the end, there’s no doubt that this does the job intended of it – to provide a humble, minimalistic puzzler full of content for a low price.
If that’s your gaming vibe, or you’re looking for something to tempt you away from the bangs and booms of the triple-A scene, then you could do a lot worse than pick up a copy of Hook: Complete Edition fairly swiftly. The low price near demands you do.
Important Links
Unhook Your Mind: Bargain Minimalist Puzzler Hook: Complete Edition Arrives on Xbox – https://www.thexboxhub.com/unhook-your-mind-bargain-minimalist-puzzler-hook-complete-edition-arrives-on-xbox/
Buy Hook: Complete Edition on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/hook-complete-edition/9NJ1821XM8S4/0010
