Magnetic:Cage Closed

It’s like Portal, but with magnets. That might sound like a lazy comparison, but the game makes it so easy. You wake up, discover that you’re a prisoner/test subject, and are  hastily equipped with a magnet gun that has the power to manipulate objects such as a magnetic cube that has to be placed on big, red switches to open doors, allowing you to progress into chambers with dodgy-looking water and yet more cube-related puzzles. There’s also a sinister, slightly hammy disembodied voice narrating your antics, and we admit we’d not be entirely surprised if this turned out to be a bad guy.

We’re not saying that similarity to Portal is a bad thing being compared to one of the most inventive puzzle games in recent history is hardly unflattering but Magnetic just seems a little too happy to borrow the ideas of a game it clearly used as inspiration. obviously the magnetic mechanic is something a little bit new, and we’ve seen it used in interesting ways such as propelling yourself through a room by repelling yourself from an object. but the dank, dim setting and the lack of any significantly weighty physics dampen our expectations slightly. Perhaps the game will redeem itself, but unless it can find some original thoughts, it’s going to polarise. Heh.