Primordia review
:: DYSTOPIAN DRIODSPrice: $4.99
Version: 1.0
App Reviewed on: iPad Air 2
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It's a cold, rusty world in Primordia, Wadjet Eye's latest installment in the old-school adventure game genre. In a lot of ways, this game is very much what you might expect from a conventional adventure game, but that's not not necessarily a bad thing.
Do androids dream of adventure games?
In Primordia, you play as Horatio Nullbuilt, a robot engineer with a mysterious past and a floating sidekick named Crispin. One day, as you are salvaging to repair your grounded space vessel a mysterious robot attacks and steals your power core, launching an adventure that takes you through the world of Primordia's wastelands and ultimately to the mysterious city of Metropol.
Through this adventure, you can fully expect to combine items to solve most of your problems, much like genre classics The Secret of Monkey Island or Full Throttle. There are a few modernizations in Primordia, including a datapad for storing valuable bits of information and the ability to consult Crispin if you get stuck, but don't expect a ton of fresh-feeling mechanics beyond that.
Power-cycled story
With little to look forward to in terms of gameplay concepts, Primordia relies on the strength of its narrative and characters to keep you pushing forward.
Even though none of the game's characters or story moments break much new ground in the world of futuristic, robotic, dystopian sci-fi, the game stays novel through its winning combo of interesting characters that have good voice actors behind them.
The Wadjet Eye touch
If you've played a Wadjet Eye adventure game before, you know that their dedication to making classic-style adventure games stretches beyond just following a blueprint.
Primordia--like many of Wadjet Eye's releases--has great art, clever puzzles, and fantastic world building. These things all really add up to make Primordia feel a cut above your standard adventure game experience.
The bottom line
Primordia is a very good, old-school adventure game from a developer that specializes in very good, old-school adventure games. It's expected, sure, but not at all disappointing. If the setting and premise of Primordia stick out to you, I'd recommend picking it up.