Unknown Fate review

There used to be a time when Xbox titles lacked a puzzle adventure element to them. Xbox game’s use to focus on war, sport, and action adventures with all guns blazing. Fast forward to the present and the catalogue of games available to the gamer is wide and vast, full of variety which is a fabulous thing to have. Sometimes you crave a different kind of experience, sometimes you need an adventure that requires a thought process, something that stimulates the brain by solving puzzle, to solve a mystery.

Unknown Fate is a game that intends to offer you an experience full of mystery and splendour. A game that works the brain, as you look to solve puzzles and unlock memories that have been lost. Unknown Fate takes you on a journey, as you look to piece together fragments of memories, forming a stimulating adventure.

MarsLit Games Srl have produced a surreal puzzle-adventure with a mysterious story flowing throughout. Play in a first-person format travelling through incredible worlds, whilst appearing to lose your mind. Using problem solving to unlock and collect Richard’s (your character) lost memories as you try to put the pieces together and figure out just who you really are and what this foreign world is hiding.

In Unknown Fate you play the role of Richard, who has woken up alone in a world that is completely alien to you. With no memories of how you got there, it’s like a complete transformation. One minute your going about your daily routines and the next you’re in a world that you fail to recognise, with no past memories to form any real conclusion’s as to how you got there.

What does anyone do in this situation? They explore of course. Take Richard through a puzzle-adventure, with a mystifying story that unfolds the more you explore, and although you new found surroundings may appear to be friendly at times, that is not always the case, with strange creatures lurking in backgrounds, hiding in the elements, often In plain sight.

Richard Is guided by a giant insectoid figure, who looks to inspire and help you gather your wits in an enchanting world, often dark but filled with ore and wonder. This giant figure acts like a light through the tunnel, as you look to solve the puzzles defeat enemies, and make sense of your discoveries. Your memories are scattered around the unknown world and it’s up to you to collect and reconnect them to your mind, as you look to make sense of the story that is unfolding. All paths lead to lost memory fragments, with a chance to uncover the truth about Richard’s journey and his unknown fate in this bewildering experience.

“The puzzle-like adventure is a thought out approach and fits the game’s ethos perfectly.”

Unknown fate is all about exploration, with four unique worlds to experience. The worlds are graphically quite something, full of colour, vibrant at times with key changes to a dark pallet which help to build an atmospheric world of the unknown. Add to that some excellent black and white mono chrome memory segments and you really are in a surreal experience, keeping you on your toes as you look to uncover the hidden elements and their dangers.

The puzzle-like adventure is a thought out approach and fits the game’s ethos perfectly, as you look to problem solve and discover what is on offer, delve a little deeper and unlock a new memory which forms part of the story as you look to sew the pieces together and form the story as to why Richard is indeed in this predicament. The game is really a journey that unfolds the story, which is excellently revealed as you progress. Full of wonder in a perfect setting for a mystifying experience, unknown Fate story telling is breath-taking.

Control wise the mechanics are nice and simple, perfect for an exploration adventure, not too many button combinations are needed. However, the controls do feel a little clunky at times, and are not always as responsive as you would like, but maybe that lends to the whole experience of a unknown fate.

As a whole, Unknown Fate is nicely put together offer a story that is unveiled as you travel further into your adventure. I do love how the game draws you in and connects you with Richard and his plight, I just feel that overall the story needs more in terms of gameplay to capture the player and keep them coming back for more. The story is great, but the game feels like less of an adventure, but more of a story telling experience with stabilisers on, having said that i enjoyed the play through and the way Richards Memories were unveiled, and how the story is formed.