Master Reboot

An exceedingly high-concept explorative puzzler, Master Reboot's subsequent execution leaves a lot to be desired. Hobbling its lofty ambitions with poor presentation, inconsistently designed puzzles and a distinct lack of atmosphere, Master Reboot gives us a peek at a grander design that it sadly fails to realise.

60%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

gameplay, stability

75% User Score Based on 653 reviews

Critic Score 55%Based on 5 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $2.42

Buy NowGet on Steam$14.99

About

"Master Reboot" is a psychological thriller adventure game set in the Soul Cloud, a digital afterlife. Players explore memories, solve puzzles, and uncover the truth behind the mysterious cloud, where death is no longer final. The game features a unique art style and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, providing an immersive and memorable experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

75%

Audience ScoreBased on 658 reviews

story172 positive mentions

gameplay36 negative mentions

Interesting premise exploring human memories through a server-based environment.
Unique art style and atmospheric visuals that create a surreal experience.
Engaging story that unfolds gradually, encouraging players to piece together the narrative.

Gameplay can be frustrating due to clunky controls and poorly designed puzzles.
Inconsistent quality in graphics, with some areas feeling rushed or unfinished.
Over-reliance on jump scares that detract from the overall experience.

story
508 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
59%
7%
The game's story is a mixed bag, with many players finding it intriguing yet poorly executed. While some appreciate the unique narrative structure that requires piecing together memories through collectibles, others criticize its lack of clarity and coherence, leading to confusion and frustration. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a strong point for some, but it suffers from inconsistent presentation and gameplay that detracts from the narrative experience.
- “The story is intriguing and mysterious, the gameplay is greatly varied, puzzles are intuitive and the visuals are quite something.”
- “The story is great and hidden throughout the levels are more bits of information, this way of feeding you the plot bit by bit and allowing you to piece it all together is very engaging.”
- “Master reboot delivers an artistic experience with a story to match that leaves you eager to play each section and find every secret.”
- “The story is confusing and heavily lacking the beginning, middle, and end part, which is about the only thing you gotta pay attention to - you had one job.”
- “The exploration is weak, the horror is weak, the story is poorly told, and the puzzles are terrible.”
- “The story itself is rather poorly told, with many of the important plot points feeling forced, and much of the rest of it as completely unrealistic.”
graphics
258 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
67%
9%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players noting a clash between the simplistic 3D environments and the poorly executed 2D cutscenes, leading to an inconsistent visual experience. While some appreciate the unique art style and vibrant color palette, others criticize the outdated graphics and technical issues, such as glitches and a lack of detail. Overall, the visuals are described as having character but often detract from the gameplay experience, with some players finding them overwhelming or distracting.
- “The graphics are simple but manage to impress; all in all, the game harkens back to the 'golden era' of video games with its crisp design and simplistic gameplay.”
- “The art style is very pretty and well suited to the game, and although it's fairly basic geometry, it doesn't take anything away from the game.”
- “While graphics are substandard and puzzles are dull, the game is an immersive travel through a beautiful void of surreal landscapes and abandoned places.”
- “The game itself is genuinely painful to play at times, when it gives you migraines from the cheap jumpscares and even hurts my eyes from all the flashing lights and overwhelming, not thought-through visuals where it skips through images at a very fast rate. I don't even want to imagine what that's like for someone with a seizure history.”
- “The graphics are horrible except for a few effects. Graphics are awful (I mean from the technical standpoint - this could have been done in the year 2000 using the existing technology without any problem); saying they're like that because that was the artistic intention, etc., makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.”
- “The graphics have a definite style, but a lot of it looks really amateurish, like it came out of my beginning level design class with more complete functionality, but about the same level of graphical capability.”
gameplay
178 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
65%
20%
The gameplay of the game is largely criticized for being clunky, simplistic, and monotonous, often reducing to basic exploration and puzzle-solving with minimal challenge. While some players appreciate the atmospheric elements and artistic design, many find the mechanics frustrating and poorly executed, leading to a lack of engagement and enjoyment. Overall, the gameplay feels unfinished and fails to deliver a compelling experience, overshadowing the potential of its intriguing story.
- “The gameplay varies a little between every level so it never feels samey.”
- “The story is intriguing and mysterious, the gameplay is greatly varied, puzzles are intuitive and the visuals are quite something.”
- “It's a fresh breath of air with its slightly slower pace and atmospheric puzzle solver gameplay; the game does an excellent job conveying emotion to the player.”
- “The gameplay is extremely weak.”
- “Gameplay-wise it is horrid and don't get near it if you are not going to give a fight against a lot of clunky design choices.”
- “The gameplay is dull for the most part, the puzzles simple, the mini games frustrating or unfun at best, the horror isn't frightening - basically, they tried for everything and succeeded at nothing.”
atmosphere
165 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
41%
7%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its eerie and immersive qualities, combining elements of horror, surrealism, and emotional depth through effective use of lighting, sound design, and artistic style. While many players appreciate the unique environments and the tension they create, some note that gameplay issues and repetitive level design can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game successfully evokes a range of emotions, making it a compelling choice for those who value atmospheric storytelling in their gaming experience.
- “The atmosphere was wonderful, managing to be horrifying at some parts and serene at others, all while maintaining that underlying level of how disturbing this world really is.”
- “The music, environments, and atmosphere all combine for a disturbing and horrific reason to stay up until 3am.”
- “I really enjoyed this game; at its heart, it's a puzzle game, but the atmosphere is brilliant.”
- “The atmosphere doesn't achieve what was intended.”
- “It all damages immersion into atmosphere badly, constantly reminding you that you are interacting with a simulation of a simulation.”
- “Hobbling its lofty ambitions with poor presentation, inconsistently designed puzzles and a distinct lack of atmosphere, Master Reboot gives us a peek at a grander design that it sadly fails to realize.”
music
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
59%
5%
The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to enhance the atmosphere, creating a chilling and immersive experience that complements the visuals and story. Many reviewers noted the soundtrack's effectiveness in building tension and contributing to the game's eerie ambiance, although some found certain sound effects repetitive. Overall, the sound design is considered a strong point, with the music playing a crucial role in establishing the game's unsettling mood.
- “The music and ambient sounds are top notch.”
- “This game has a fantastic sound designer that manages to create a wonderful eeriness that is ever-present wherever you go, and the music when it comes is spot on.”
- “The music itself is really great, and adds tension in all the appropriate places, and doesn't stick out while playing.”
- “Many times, the game would attempt a jump-scare, or the soundtrack would freak out in such a way as to indicate that a jump-scare was supposed to be happening somewhere, but they forgot to do the work of making me look in that direction first.”
- “A minor complaint I have was the 'bell' puzzle in the last level; this is a musical puzzle and I'm basically tone deaf.”
- “The second complaint is musical puzzles; I am tone deaf and these puzzles were pretty much impossible for me.”
stability
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, including significant graphical issues and occasional crashes that require a reboot. While some players find the gameplay enjoyable despite these problems, the overall stability is a major concern, leading to frustration among users who feel that these issues detract from the experience.
- “Are we supposed to just accept that their games are filled with bugs and glitches that will never be fixed?”
- “All in all, this is a gem of a game that's covered in bugs and glitches.”
- “However, there are some glitches in this game that cause it to crash, forcing me to reboot the game (not the OS, but just the game). Even so, I can't get over how ironic that is considering its title; maybe this was supposed to be part of the fun!”
emotional
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
90%
10%
The game is praised for its engaging and emotional narrative, effectively evoking a wide range of feelings such as tension and elation through its atmospheric design and music. Many players found the story to be touching and impactful, particularly in its exploration of themes related to the digital age and transhumanism. However, some critiques mention a lack of depth in certain story elements and puzzle mechanics, suggesting a mixed reception regarding the overall emotional engagement.
- “There are several really intense emotional moments, and it's refreshing to see a work all about the digital age and transhumanism that actually has a point it's trying to make.”
- “The story is simple, but well presented, and the overall experience is deeply touching.”
- “Very good game, just finished it myself, it's very touching with a touch of darkness as well.”
- “Boring story, easy puzzles, generic dumb flashbacks, 'spooky' girl says something and pops in sometimes not even scary.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
38%
50%
The game's optimization is notably poor, particularly on Mac systems, where users report significant performance issues, bugs, and clunky controls that detract from the overall experience. Despite its strengths in building tension and delivering scares, these technical shortcomings severely limit its potential for success.
- “I even tried lowering the resolution, but some parts of the game are just too convoluted and need to be optimized better.”
- “Though this game does well to build tension, deliver jumpscares, and create a sense of dread, performance issues and bugs, combined with clunky controls, really hinder this game's chance for success.”
- “Horrible performance on Mac!”
- “This game doesn't seem to be optimized for Macs.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be largely negative, citing the overly simplistic and repetitive puzzles as tedious and mind-numbing. The lack of variety in horror elements, primarily relying on the same jump scare, further contributes to the feeling of monotony and frustration during gameplay.
- “While the puzzles are very simple (too simple), they still manage to make the game feel very grinding.”
- “The puzzles themselves were mind-numbingly tedious, and the only horror element was the same jump scare over and over again.”
- “While they facilitate environmental exploration, as a gameplay mechanic, I found them very tedious.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted through its clever riddles and whimsical design, reminiscent of classic platformers like Super Mario 64. Players appreciate the blend of horror and comedy within a vibrant, minimal neon world, making for a unique and entertaining experience.
- “A fantastic minimal neon world filled with funny riddles and awesome unique styles.”
- “It's a horror adventure game, which - funny enough - reminded me a little bit of Super Mario 64, in the way that you navigate through the soul village which acts as a kind of overhead map screen, from which you can enter the different levels.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers some replayability primarily for the unique experiences it provides, though many players may not feel compelled to play it multiple times.
- “I don’t see myself playing it again; it would only be replayable for the 'experience'.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy is generally considered acceptable, with ads being present but not overly intrusive, allowing players to enjoy the game without significant disruption.