Machinika: Atlas

77%
Game Brain Score Based on 111 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • stability
Machinika: Atlas Game Cover
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In Machinika: Atlas, find yourself stranded on Saturn's moon, Atlas, inside a crashed alien ship. As a museum researcher, solve cryptic puzzles to navigate the labyrinth of the mysterious vessel and uncover its secrets, even if you haven't played the preceding game, Machinika: Museum. Engage in a captivating sci-fi adventure that challenges your logic and observation skills.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

77%
Audience ScoreBased on 111 reviews
story9 positive mentions
stability17 negative mentions
  • The game features a variety of puzzles that are fun and challenging, providing a satisfying experience for puzzle enthusiasts.
  • The graphics and ambiance are well-designed, creating an engaging atmosphere that enhances the gameplay.
  • The ability to move around freely in small areas adds a new layer of exploration compared to the first game, making it feel more immersive.
  • The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including soft locks and unresponsive puzzles.
  • Some puzzles are overly simplistic or confusing, leading to frustration rather than enjoyment, and the hint system is often unhelpful.
  • The dialogue and story elements feel poorly written and detract from the overall atmosphere, lacking the charm of the previous installment.
  • story28 mentions

    The story continues from the previous game, offering a fun and engaging narrative that unfolds through letters and a new walkie-talkie feature, although some players find it lacks the whimsy of its predecessor. While the plot is not groundbreaking and has moments of dissatisfaction, it effectively ties into the first game and provides a competent backdrop for the puzzles. Overall, the story enhances the gameplay experience, making it enjoyable for fans of the series.

    • “I dig the story, especially how it continues forward from Machinika Museum.”
    • “It's a laid-back game that pulls you into its story without holding your hand too much.”
    • “The plot picks up where the last story ends and is mostly followed via letters and the walkie-talkie, which is a new feature.”
    • “The plot also lost a lot of the whimsy that the first game possessed, instead exchanging it for a wispy visage that's trying to be a 'humanity is inherently barbaric and always shoots first' plotline that resolves extremely unsatisfyingly and with no true sense of stakes, even when the ship is supposed to be actively bombarded by missiles.”
    • “The wrap-up of the story at the beginning is quite bad.”
  • graphics22 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the unique art style and overall aesthetics, while others criticize the visuals as outdated or glitchy, resembling a mobile port or a game from the early 2000s. Although there are moments of impressive design, many players feel that the graphics lack the polish expected from a modern title, with some key visuals appearing flat or untextured. Overall, while some players appreciate the graphical improvements over the original, others find them underwhelming and marred by technical issues.

    • “The art style is slick, pleasing, and unique, but I wish they had used more advanced rendering techniques to create it.”
    • “Love this game! It has awesome graphics and the puzzles are great; I would highly recommend.”
    • “The space and futuristic themed visuals left a nice impression and the puzzles didn't leave any boredom.”
    • “It's not graphically much better than the first game, still looking like it's either a mobile port or decades old, but you know that just from the store page, and that's not where the meat of the game is anyway.”
    • “Graphics: so basic it will appeal to those cryogenically unfrozen from the year 2003.”
    • “Despite what the trailers show, even on the highest settings, there are some key visuals that appear flat and even untextured; the tools at your disposal are different in lieu of not being in the same environment as before, but it feels like an afterthought in the face of the prior game.”
  • stability17 mentions

    The game's stability has been widely criticized, with players reporting numerous bugs, softlocks, and glitches that disrupt gameplay, even after multiple patches. Issues such as non-responsive controls, problematic puzzles, and visual glitches are common, leading many to find the experience frustrating and unstable. While some players note that the developers are addressing these problems, the overall consensus is that the game remains too buggy for a strong recommendation at this time.

    • “Even today, after multiple patches, the game is still a pain to get through, softlocks, glitches, non-responsive UI, and so on.”
    • “The game glitches out every chapter or so, mostly during chapter transitioning animations, softlocking your game.”
    • “The last chapter glitched out, wasting 45+ minutes of my life trying to solve the buggy puzzle.”
  • atmosphere10 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players feeling that the introduction of dialogue and living characters detracts from the eerie charm and mystery established in the previous installment. While certain moments and sound design have been praised for their immersive qualities, many users noted a significant decline in the overall atmospheric tension, particularly in comparison to its predecessor. However, a few players found the atmosphere to be surprisingly deep and unique, highlighting the developers' effective sound and visual choices.

    • “The sounds and atmosphere worked and felt perfect.”
    • “I found this game interesting and surprisingly deep in terms of its atmosphere, which is quite unique and a strength for this genre.”
    • “The atmosphere of the game has been preserved and even improved thanks to the sound and visual decisions of the developers.”
    • “While the letters and notes from the previous game provided a lot of the unique charm and mystery while contributing to the somewhat uneasy atmosphere, every time there was dialogue or notes in this game it took me out of the experience completely.”
    • “That's right, there's dialogue in this game, with other living things, which seems totally out of genre and spoils the atmosphere and tone.”
    • “The environment is severely lacking in atmosphere.”
  • gameplay10 mentions

    The gameplay in "Machinika: Atlas" expands on the escape room style introduced in its predecessor, offering a mix of casual and ambitious puzzle-solving experiences. While the introduction of a walking mechanic adds a new dimension, it doesn't significantly alter the core point-and-click gameplay. Overall, players appreciate the challenging puzzles and engaging story, despite some concerns about repetitiveness and minor bugs.

    • “From puzzle boxes to puzzle rooms, The Room 2 and Machinika: Atlas expanded the gameplay to now be an 'escape room' style of puzzle/adventure.”
    • “The casual gameplay is maintained, but the scope is a bit more ambitious.”
    • “If you played Machinika Museum and enjoyed it, buy Atlas; it's a great continuation with the addition of free movement. The game is relatively short but charming, gameplay is interesting, and the puzzles are challenging.”
    • “That's another issue I have with Atlas... the mechanisms are no longer completely indecipherable, and look more like 19th century steampunk technology; lots of gears, pistons, electrical conduits, etc. Why does this hyper-advanced alien spacecraft still use gigantic gears to transfer mechanical energy?”
    • “Might be because of the introduction of the walking mechanic instead of just clicking to move.”
    • “But besides chapter 7, I do like this game a lot; it's almost like The Room series of games, but you can personally walk around in the area. Now sadly, this doesn't affect the gameplay much, as you're still allowed the usual point-and-click style, which also means that there's nothing that inherently takes advantage of the ability to walk around.”
  • optimization5 mentions

    The game's optimization is mixed, with some users noting fast performance and the ability to run on lower-end hardware, while others report various performance issues, lack of polish, and stretched textures. Comparisons to the first game highlight that it is not as well-optimized, despite achieving high frame rates, leading to concerns about smoothness and overall world-building logic.

    • “Performance is fast, though!”
    • “A more optimized, polished game, which will run on almost any hardware in high quality (the first part itself ran at 30-50 fps due to the lack of a discrete video card), which can not help but please.”
    • “Various performance issues.”
    • “It is not optimized like the first part 'Machinika Museum'; even with 144fps, there are some issues with smoothness.”
    • “A more optimized, polished game would run on almost any hardware in high quality, unlike the first part which struggled at 30-50 fps due to the lack of a discrete video card.”
  • replayability3 mentions

    The game has been criticized for its lack of replayability, with players reporting only about four hours of gameplay and expressing disappointment in its short length and buggy puzzles. While the first game in the series offered enjoyable replay value, this installment does not meet those expectations, leading to recommendations against its current pricing.

    • “I played the first game several times and enjoyed its replay value.”
    • “The variety of choices and outcomes keeps me coming back for more.”
    • “Each playthrough feels fresh, thanks to the different paths and strategies available.”
    • “I got about 4 hours of play from this with no replay value.”
    • “As of now, I can't recommend the game for its current pricing. It's short, has no replayability, and while the museum was fun, it seems clunky and poorly thought out. Some puzzles just don't work properly and are bugged, which led me to check an online walkthrough and see that I did exactly what was supposed to be done.”
  • humor2 mentions

    The humor in the game's ending script is noted as amusing, despite feeling somewhat rushed. While the cutscene timing may be abrupt, it adds to the comedic effect without detracting from the overall experience.

    • “The ending script of the game felt a bit rushed, but it was funny.”
    • “It stops when the cutscene is supposed to stop, so it's not game-breaking, but I just found it funny.”
  • music1 mentions

    The music in the game is highly praised, complementing its excellent graphics and enhancing the overall experience.

    • “Excellent riddle game with very good graphics and a captivating soundtrack.”
  • grinding1 mentions

    Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and boring, indicating that it can detract from the overall enjoyment and engagement.

    • “Some of the grinding feels tedious and boring.”
    • “The repetitive nature of grinding makes it feel like a chore rather than fun.”
    • “Grinding for hours without any meaningful rewards can be incredibly frustrating.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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