The Spectrum Retreat

Genre: First-Person Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Spectrum Retreat is a First-Person Puzzle game like Portal and The Talos Principle. In it, you wake up as the guest of what appears to be a strange hotel staffed by robots. It doesn’t take long to discover that there’s more going on here than meets the eye, and your attempt to discover the truth will have you solving puzzles and piecing together the both the story of this place and your own history.

Graphically, The Spectrum Retreat is a pretty good-looking game, with rooms that do a good job of presenting a lavish hotel, and then later rooms that seem to be a part of a sterile test chamber of some sort. The one caveat I would note on the visuals is the lighting and shadow effects, which are often very rough and even glitchy-looking… though given the topic matter of the game, that’s not necessarily inappropriate.

However, the rest of the presentation here is fantastic – right from the start the subtle, ominous music makes it clear that things are more sinister here than the squeaky-clean appearance would indicate, and the voice acting is wonderful, for both your robotic hosts and a woman who contacts you as the game begins, trying to help you. In part this is thanks to the game’s excellent award-winning writing, which really does an excellent job building up the mystery of this place and exactly what is going on.

As for the gameplay itself, the game’s puzzles are split into two parts, generally alternating between the two. First, you have the exploration of the hotel itself, searching for clues in the environment while following the instructions of the woman who’s contacted you. The second part takes place in those sterile chambers I mentioned, involving puzzles where you are using your phone to exchange colors with cubes in the environment to get past like-colored security doors. While the first part is a bit mysterious and has you searching for the answers you need, the second part is a bit more straightforward, though not necessarily easier, since some of the puzzles you’re given to solve can be quite the brainteasers. At its best, the puzzle design in both sections can be quite clever, and while I’d say the mystery of the game’s story is the main draw here, the puzzles are pretty good overall too.

However, I feel like most players will find one or the other type of puzzle here more appealing, and will likely be frustrated at having to do the other sort of puzzle before getting back to what interests them more. However, more than that I was frustrated by the game’s somewhat slow walking speed, especially during the parts within the hotel itself, which seems to have hallways and corridors you’re forced to repeatedly tread back and forth through simply to slow the player down.

In the end, The Spectrum Retreat is still a solid Puzzle game with good puzzles and an excellent story propelling players through the bits they’re less-interested in and the tedious walking back and forth. If you’re a fan of games like Portal and The Talos Principle, this game is definitely worth a look, though it doesn’t quite reach the same heights as those titles.

tl;dr – The Spectrum Retreat is a First-Person Puzzle game that has you searching for the truth behind a mysterious hotel you’re trapped in, with the game split into two sections with different types of puzzles in each. The puzzles here are good, but the best part of this game is its intriguing story, which keeps players interested even through some of the game’s more tedious parts. Definitely worth a look for fans of the genre.

Grade: B+

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