Retro Machina

Retro Machina is a game that includes themes that have been explored countless times before, yet brings its own understanding and take of these views to the table. It is the care put into creating the game’s backstory and world that made me fall in love with this title and wonder just how horrible a world without humans would be…

79%Game Brain Score

gameplay, story

grinding, monetization

79% User Score Based on 76 reviews

Critic Score 68%Based on 6 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $3.59

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About

"Retro Machina" is a game set in a post-apocalyptic world where the city of Endeavor is the last refuge, encased in a glass dome and untouched by destruction. Players control a small robot, exploring this retro-futuristic city, solving puzzles, and uncovering the truth about the city's past and the fate of its human inhabitants. Through exploration and combat, the game offers a unique blend of adventure, action, and nostalgia-inducing visuals.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

+10

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 76 reviews

gameplay13 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

The game features beautiful hand-drawn visuals and a captivating retro-futuristic art style that enhances the overall atmosphere.
The unique mechanic of controlling enemy robots adds depth to both combat and puzzle-solving, making gameplay engaging and enjoyable.
The exploration aspect is rewarding, with numerous secrets and collectibles that encourage players to thoroughly investigate the game world.

The controls can be frustrating, especially for keyboard users, with awkward key bindings and a lack of mouse support.
Backtracking is prevalent and can become tedious, compounded by a confusing map that makes navigation difficult.
Combat feels repetitive and lacks depth, with limited enemy variety and underwhelming boss fights that do not utilize the game's unique mechanics effectively.

gameplay
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
69%
6%
The gameplay features a unique "puppeteer" mechanic that allows players to control enemy robots alongside their character, creating a dual-control experience that enhances puzzle-solving and combat. However, the execution is often criticized for being slow, imprecise, and repetitive, with some mechanics feeling underdeveloped or poorly explained. While the game boasts beautiful visuals and a rich environment to explore, the overall gameplay experience is described as shallow and lacking innovation, with inconsistent mechanics that could benefit from further refinement.
- “Gameplay is shown from a top-down isometric perspective with real-time combat and puzzles involving controlling robots as you explore the environment.”
- “The highlight goes to the 'puppeteer' mechanic - you can take control of every enemy robot, except bosses, which enhances both puzzle-solving and combat experiences.”
- “The gameplay is intuitive, but each new puzzle will make you think carefully, so be prepared for this.”
- “Hijacking other robots is a primary mechanic but it's slow, imprecise, and actively punishes you for controlling the robots well because most of the time you need to kill them to get out of the mandatory fight (after waiting for the barrier that damages you if you hit a robot you control to wear off).”
- “Quite beautiful game but poorly designed and with flawed basic mechanics.”
- “Frustratingly, it also falls victim to a trap of sticking to one or two gameplay formulas that sound better on paper than otherwise.”
story
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
50%
9%
The game's story is generally well-received, featuring a compelling narrative about a broken robot's journey of self-discovery in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by automation. While some players find the plot predictable and lacking in mystery, others appreciate the depth of the backstory revealed through exploration and collectibles, leading to a satisfying conclusion with unexpected twists. The combination of beautiful art and engaging storytelling enhances the overall experience, making it worth exploring despite some critiques of its originality.
- “Act 1 is astounding along with a fantastic story.”
- “In a world run by automation comes the story of a broken robot who, against all odds, strikes on a mission of self-discovery and exploration.”
- “All in all, Retro Machina's amazing art, interesting story, and engaging exploration are enough to make it a good game and worth checking out if all this sounds interesting to you.”
- “The story of what is going on in the moment is a bit shallow, but learning about the world of before was interesting enough, and the game ends with a bit of a twist.”
- “It's a reasonably well-told story, with some hefty themes behind it, though I don't think their efforts have been executed with quite the gravitas that they think.”
- “I would like more disclosure of the story and game lore.”
graphics
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
69%
22%
9%
The game's graphics are widely praised for their charming retro-futuristic art style, vibrant colors, and hand-drawn visuals, creating an immersive atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience. While some players appreciate the unique aesthetic and attention to detail, others note that the visuals can become repetitive over time. Overall, the graphics are considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal despite some technical limitations.
- “It has lovely graphics, with crisp, vibrant colors, and a 1950's kind of aesthetic to how it looks.”
- “The amount of charm to Retro Machina is undeniable—nostalgic, beautifully crafted visuals; a sense of ambition, and a dedication to classic sci-fi.”
- “I just love the graphics that make it feel like an old PC game, and the world design is just fantastic and super atmospheric, definitely its strongest point.”
- “The graphics and sound are okay but not great.”
- “Retro graphics, stylized art style, pretty responsive controls, post-apocalyptic world that you reveal through bits and pieces of lore you come across as you play, puzzles... and yet I got absolutely no enjoyment out of it.”
- “As most scenes with your character are wordless, with them letting the visuals and design convey things they hope the player will intuit rather than be outright told.”
music
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
39%
17%
The music in the game is generally praised for its atmospheric qualities, with a trippy synth style that enhances the emotional depth of the environment, evoking feelings of nostalgia and melancholy. While some players found it initially forgettable or repetitive, many noted that it grew on them over time, contributing significantly to the overall experience. The soundtrack is often described as fitting and well-executed, complementing the game's beautiful visuals and unique gameplay mechanics.
- “The music is trippy synth stuff that evokes the likes of Blade Runner and Mass Effect, with it building in intensity for combat, or slowing down and becoming more melancholy as you wander around a world in ruins.”
- “The environments feel alive, beautiful, captivating; the art, music, and ambience work in great unison to make the familiar classic retro backtracking worth a shot.”
- “Pretty good game, with amazing artwork, a memorable soundtrack, and good ideas behind it that were well executed.”
- “The music is fitting but also got quite repetitive after a while.”
- “Music and sound effects: the background music is pretty mild and unenjoyable at first, but it slowly grew on me and I started enjoying it by the end.”
- “The soundtrack of the game strikes you from the very beginning!”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its fantastic visual design and superb music, creating a retro-futuristic world reminiscent of classic PC games. Reviewers highlight the unique gameplay mechanics that enhance the immersive experience, alongside a variety of robot enemies and informative pop-out windows that contribute to the overall ambiance. Overall, the atmosphere is considered the game's strongest aspect, effectively drawing players into its richly designed environment.
- “It has fantastic visual design, superb music, great atmosphere, a basic gameplay mechanic (controlling other robots) that is not totally original but is implemented in a very unique way (you control the protagonist and the 'victim' in parallel, e.g., with both analogue controller sticks) and frankly the opportunities this creates border on genius.”
- “I love the retro-futuristic graphics (similar to the art deco of Bioshock), and the design of the world is super atmospheric.”
- “I just love the graphics that make it feel like an old PC game, and the world design is just fantastic and super atmospheric, definitely its strongest point.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious due to its simplicity and the need for multiple iterations, although some note that the puzzles strike a balance between being straightforward and engaging without becoming overly repetitive.
- “But they are so simple I never had to stop and think about what to do as it was blatantly obvious; it just required time and multiple iterations, making them just tedious.”
- “The puzzles aren't frustrating, but neither are they overly simple or repeated to the point that they become tedious.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is generally well-received, though some players express frustration with the mechanics that hinder their momentum, particularly when interacting with walls or objects, which can detract from the overall experience.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is not explicitly addressed in the provided text, focusing instead on the enjoyment of vintage advertising posters. Therefore, no specific insights on monetization can be derived from this review.
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Users generally find the humor in the game to be effective and enjoyable, noting that it successfully elicits laughter.
- “It was genuinely hilarious and kept me laughing throughout.”
- “The humor in this game is clever and perfectly timed.”
- “I found myself chuckling at the witty dialogue and absurd situations.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game's replayability is considered low, as despite having a branching choice at the ending, the overall experience remains largely unchanged.
- “Replay value is negligible; even with branching choices in the ending, the rest of the game remains the same.”
- “Once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to play through it again.”
- “The lack of meaningful changes in subsequent playthroughs makes it feel like a one-time experience.”