LogiGun – Not a Review

LogiGun – Not a Review

In 2007, there was a little free game released very quietly on a few of the sites I frequented, and it was referred to as Logi-Gun. Fresh from the mad-cap Portal, I was immediately drawn to the concept – puzzles, thinking, and novelty guns that weren’t for killing. A blurry screenshot did it little justice, so I downloaded, started playing, and lost four hours of my life without even noticing.

Fast forward to the present day. A mail arrives in my inbox, talking of a new indie puzzle game involving guns. It was called LogiGun. The name seemed so familiar…

Yes, that chap who cost me half a work-day had went off to Uni, learned a thing or two, and returned to give his little game the “dark and brooding” remake that’s all the rage at the moment. Gone are the mushy little sprites, gone are the guns that looked like Super Soakers, and in their place – a dark, sharp-angled world of purpose, and you’re now a red-head in dungarees.

Wow, didn’t see that coming.

Okay, NOW I’m stuck…

In all seriousness, a defining feature in LogiGun is without a doubt it’s broody atmosphere. Sparse though it is, it feels solid and maintains the less-is-more mentality of the original Portal. Of course, it’s 2D, so that’s pretty much where the comparison ends. Puzzles are the name of the game, and the pace of the original has been preserved well. Look around, play with your gun for a bit, and eventually the pieces slot into place – both figuratively and literally.

The difficulty of LogiGun is there – a harsh, sharp edge to the simple graphics. On more than a few occasions while playing, you could find me sitting with both mouse and keyboard untouched, scratching my head. But it’s the mark of a good puzzle game that allows you the feeling of achievement as the solution presents itself, and I certainly never found myself completely flummoxed. At least, not at first… but then, I had a few special problems.

What the hell is THAT?

Each area/stage centres around a particular gun/device. Early on, you only have a strange wrist gizmo that shoots a lightning-bolt that activates certain switches. Before long, you receive a grapple-gun that can latch on to wall and roof sections, dragging you along with it. Between the two gadgets, puzzles in the early stages generally involve moving boxes around and turning on and off force-fields to get to the exit. Your choice of puzzle-weaponry spreads to platform-guns, and… er, other guns.

Yeah, see, the thing is – I can’t, for some reason or another, get any further than picking up the aforementioned platform-gun. The second I fire it, LogiGun dies, and I’m left with an error message and a tragic sense of loss. I have tried many things to coax the little indie game to work, from re-installing, to feeding it fish – all to no avail. Something in my system doesn’t like the plucky little puzzle-shooter and refuses to let me go any further.

Wait, LogiGun has a plot? Now I’m really miserable…

Extensive searches online have failed to find another single player experiencing my issue too – a personal first – so I can only apologize for my hardware’s prejudice towards this game and leave you with my thoughts on the hour or two I got to play.

All in all, an excellent little bite of indie-goodness, with a splash of logical thinking. You can pick it up for $10 from the maker’s site. It is also, I have just been informed, up on Steam’s new Greenlight service, so try the demo, and if you like, throw it a vote or two.

I am honestly gutted not being able to continue, and I would even go as far as to say it’s a point in LogiGun’s favour just how much effort I’ve put into getting it to work over the past few weeks. I failed, but I shall continue on, in hope of a patch…

Then, I’ll review it properly.

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