Etherborn by Altered Matter is a gravity-altering puzzle game with light platforming elements. Its unique spin on puzzle-solving and traversal is that gravity always pulls you downward relative to your orientation. You’ll always fall when you walk off edges, but walking over slopes changes which direction is down. You must use that mechanic to figure out how to navigate floating, multi-layered environments of increasing complexity. You’ll also have to collect glowing orbs that act as keys that allow you to advance.
However, the most disappointing part of Etherborn is that the gravity mechanic plays more like a prototype than something found in a completed game. There are so many unused ideas, and you mostly perform the same tasks repeatedly without any meaningful change or new spin on the core mechanic. It makes the game an underwhelming experience, with very few moments that invoke awe or intrigue.
Check out our full Review in 3 Minutes for Etherborn, by Jesse Galena.
Review copy provided by the publisher. Reviewed on PC.
Published: Jul 18, 2019 09:00 am