Lasting First Impressions of Primordia
Developed by Wormwood Studios | Published by Wadjet Eye Games
» Primordia is a point and click sci-fi adventure game that begins with our main characters Horatio and his side kick Crispin. They are both robots and live in a post-apocalyptic wasteland on a ship called Unnic. They are attacked by a menacing robot that steals their ship’s power core and they must find a way to get the backup generator running or they too will lose their charge and “die”.
The game is pretty straight forward right off the bat. It’s very much surrounding the search for anything that you can use to solve various puzzles. When hovering over objects on the map, the cursor will show the name of an item if it can be picked up or examined. Without this feature, it would be next to impossible to find anything because they did a great job at blending important items into the map. You also have to get very crafty when it comes to solving the puzzles. You can observe the items you pick up and attempt to put them together, provided you have all the pieces. If you get stuck, your trusty side kick also helps you out to a certain extent, or should I say, until he’s tried of repeating himself. I managed to get stuck a few times because I didn’t realize I hadn’t explored a certain area. Just my luck that those areas contained all the necessary items I was looking for to continue on my quest. I was grateful that this was another adventure that has challenges which aren’t easy to solve. I enjoyed exploring the surroundings in search of items to complete my missions while also listening the witty banter between two robots that are very human in their interaction with each other.
The game’s design is stylistic with very minimal use of straight lines, which makes it different from most science fiction environments. I was confused by the graphics at first, thinking that I was playing in the wrong resolution, but the game is purposely designed in a lower resolution and it makes it feel as if it is not from this decade. Although I would have preferred seeing these gorgeous backgrounds and characters in HD, I still think it adds softness and comfort to see a game that’s not crisp and defined by today’s standards. I do love seeing small games rise to the foreground because of the time they dedicate to the design elements.
The game also has a considerable amount of sound design and dialogue. All the lines are recorded and the actors deliver their performances with purpose and meaning behind the words. The script is very well written to allow for that and, when I listen to the conversations and ideas that are being discussed, I really get a sense of Phillip K Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”. This is no ordinary point and click; there is a great deal of creative story telling and plot development at play here. This game would be difficult to enjoy by a younger audience but I’m glad that it was made exactly how the developers wanted rather than dumbing it down to satisfy everyone. They did a great job at setting the mood with their music. The details and the choices offered truly made me feel a part of this world which made the game quite immersive.
Wormwood Studios, I gave you an hour and I am IMPRESSED.
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