In October 2007, Valve did something that I don’t think we will ever see again. They delivered The Orange Box.Â
Inside this compilation were the Half-Life games, Team Fortress 2, and a little game called Portal. Little did we know back then that this brilliant little puzzle adventure would spawn not only a superb sequel in Portal 2, but a whole genre of games, trying to fit into a similar template.
In fact, since those 2007 days, tons of games have used the formula of a test facility with a story, giving a series of puzzles for you to complete. Re:Touring is the latest one to arrive. It’s very moreish.
Presented in the first person, Re:Touring puts you in charge of a teenager coming across the Luoni Energy Competence Center; an abandoned facility. Here you get to find out the history of the place, a bit about the world, and what they were trying to do there. It’s a nice setup and the person you are playing has some low-level commentary about what they are experiencing. You get to examine things along the way, like newspaper headlines or ancient artifacts; you know, like a mobile phone. There are also delightful book covers relating to the facility and science – all are wonderfully designed. But the main crux of the game is to try and solve the puzzles, taking you over 26 levels before letting you leave.
The gameplay works with a quite simple premise. You have a room with a console, complete with buttons. If you can manage to press the right ones in the right order, then a door will open to the next room. But the tricky part is working out which of those buttons you need to press.
Let me try to explain things without spoiling efforts. Each room has a machine that operates a series of levers and mechanisms; it is that which will open up a door, allowing you to get out. You have – in each room – a console that is colour-coded. There is also a colour code for the machine, so you have to match one of the consoles to the one in the room, gather up the right instructions and get the hell outta there. It sounds so complicated, and it’s difficult to explain, but Re:Touring sort of makes sense. Even if it does get very hard in places.
With every few levels new mechanisms or mechanics get introduced, helping to keep the gameplay fresh, introducing a new challenge. For example, battery cubes are chucked in, capable of being picked up or thrown about by the machine or unlocked to open doorways. And don’t expect to be found concentrating on one thing – multiple different codes need to be used in one space, or there will be timed objectives added, as you look to move platforms or lifts, programming them into the console so they can be utilised at the right time.
Honestly, Re:Touring can be frustrating. But this is a game that never talks down to you, giving options as you are left to try to work things out and experiment. There isn’t ever anything trying to kill you either, and so it is nice to be able to take time. And better still, you can also just sit down and face the challenge, as Re:Touring looks to give a hint, gently pointing you in the right direction.
Re:Touring looks nice as well, with the cleanly designed rooms you would expect in a science facility. Yet it is the extra features, like drinks machines, museum displays, and little nature atriums, which are a pleasant touch throughout. And whilst the machines themselves are inventive, I have particularly liked how the rooms are put together.
Re:Touring is like sitting down with a good puzzle book, with no worries about time constraints, nor rushed to come up with the right answers.
It can become challenging, but feels very reasonable in terms of the price; that in itself means Re:Touring may just be worth taking a punt, especially if you like games such as Portal and The Turing Test.
