{"id":160891,"date":"2020-04-05T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-05T09:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bonusstage.co.uk\/?p=160891"},"modified":"2020-04-05T09:43:34","modified_gmt":"2020-04-05T09:43:34","slug":"soul-axiom-rebooted-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bonusstage.co.uk\/archives\/160891","title":{"rendered":"Soul Axiom Rebooted Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"With Cyberpunk 2077 <\/em>on the horizon, I promised myself I\u2019d take a deep dive into the cyberpunk genre\u2014a genre of class inequality, overruling corporations, and loads of neon<\/em>. Cyberpunk comes in all flavors\u2014some humorous, some serious, and some mind-bending. Soul Axiom: Rebooted <\/em>earns its place in the third category. Combining the aesthetic of cyberpunk with the gameplay of The Talos Principle <\/em>sounds weird on paper, but I appreciate the final product the developers Wales Interactive gave us. However, I do have a few issues.<\/p>\n

Soul Axiom: Rebooted <\/em>starts with you waking up on some sort of ship. And no, not a sci-fi ship like the cyberpunk marketing would have you believing, but an honest-to-god sea ship\u2014a galleon. One thing leads to another, and suddenly you find yourself flung off the ship after a disastrous crash. From then on, the game finds every excuse to take you through different timelines: neon cities, Mayan temples, Egyptian pyramids, and vice versa.<\/p>\n

There is a story intertwined with the random (and gorgeous) set pieces, though if you\u2019re not the type to inspect every collectible you pick up, you\u2019ll easily miss out on 95% of it and won\u2019t know what\u2019s going on. Though, I guess The Talos Principle <\/em>suffered from the same kind of problem. The aforementioned random set pieces are linked by proximity, with each \u201cteleporter\u201d being located 5 feet from the next. The purpose of visiting these places? To find random puzzle pieces that will lead to one of the few endings Soul Axiom: Rebooted <\/em>touts on its Steam page.<\/p>\n

The game feels aimless, and with the lore of the world hidden in collectables that are themselves hidden pretty well, many players will only feel confused by the end of a play session.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

However, Soul Axiom: Rebooted <\/em>makes up for it with its art style which, while not mind-blowing or spectacular, has its moments. Overall, however, the art style is very basic, sporting a simple polygonal look. It\u2019s not the best, but it\u2019s not trying to be.<\/p>\n

I do wish the praises I gave to the art style could be given to the sound style, but alas, it leaves a lot <\/em>to be desired. There\u2019s nothing special about the sound design, and some sounds (such as the walking) sounds low quality<\/em>, like a LimeWire download from the early 2000\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s talk about the bread and butter of Soul Axiom: Rebooted<\/em>: the gameplay. The gameplay consists of you solving puzzles using one of three powers you acquire through the game. The powers you acquire are, in order:<\/p>\n