Review Date: August 26, 2010
Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
Publisher: Wadjet Eye Games
Platform: PC
Genre: Adventure/Puzzle
If there's one thing that can make just about any game more interesting, it's robots. And if those robots just so happen to be tiny and adorable, well, all the better. Puzzle Bots stars a delightful cast of miniature robots on a mission to save a factory from certain doom. It's funny, cute, and absolutely packed to the brim with puzzles to solve. But more importantly, it's just plain fun. This is the type of game that will have you smiling from beginning to end.
Everybody Loves A Robot
Dr. Hugo's Factory For Making Robots is unique in many respects. First of all, it's a factory that makes teeny tiny robots who will supposedly do all of your chores. And secondly, despite being a rather large factory, it has a total of six human employees, including Dr. Hugo himself. The rest of the staff consists of a team of young inventors, each of whom has created their own unique little robot. But when Xander, the most clueless employee of all, comes across a strange metal box in the woods, things take a turn for the worse. Only the humans are too wrapped up in their own personal drama to notice something isn't quite right, so it's up to the robots to save the day.
The story is very well written and packed full of plenty of jokes, some subtle, some not so much. The juxtaposition between the human world -- which tends to be focused mostly on who likes who -- and that of the robots -- who just want the best for their owners -- is great, and the when the two conflict it almost always results in a laugh. The dialog and voice acting is absolutely wonderful, and each character, both human and robot, has their own distinct and likable personality. From the tragically clueless Xander right down to his robot Hero, who doesn't seem to be able to say no to anything.
A Robot For Every Job
Puzzle Bots is essentially a point-and-click adventure game, albeit one that is almost entirely focused on puzzle solving. You don't actually play as any of the human characters, but instead take control of their robotic companions. Each of the five robots has its own unique ability. Hero, for instance, is the only one who can actually pick up objects, while Kelvin wields a very useful flamethrower. You can switch between the bots at any time, and the majority of the puzzles will require you to utilize all of their different abilities to succeed. Many of the solutions are, like the rest of the game, a bit silly, but they're not particularly difficult, with a few exceptions. If you do get stuck there is a helpful hint system that usually does a good job of pushing you in the right direction.
In addition to the clever puzzles and funny writing, a lot the game's charm comes from its visual style. Puzzle Bots looke like a Saturday morning cartoon brought to life. It's bright and colorful and features plenty of charming detail. Because the robots are so small, everyday objects become something different. A coffee maker is a spaceship and a toaster is an angry robot. The world around the robots is huge and terrifying and exciting, and the game's art does a great job of showing that. The only real negative with the graphics is the animation, which isn't as smooth as you'd like. Other than that, though, it's a wonderful game to look at.
The Bottom Line
Some games manage to coast by on charm alone, but this isn't the case with Puzzle Bots. Its fun sense of humor and endearing characters are backed up by solid and engaging gameplay. And unlike most adventure games, it never gets overly frustrating and the puzzles are never completely unintuitive. It's fun, funny, adorable, and challenging, and it has robots. Robots who love to dance.