Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary is a remake of the original Q.U.B.E., a first-person puzzle adventure that arrived 10 years ago. In fact, I originally reviewed the PS4 version of Q.U.B.E. The Director’s Cut back in 2015 and even played the sequel, Q.U.B.E. 2. So when I heard that there was a remake of the original game, I knew I had to check it out. Built from the ground up, Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary has refined visuals and, in some places, completely redesigned and revised sections to all of the content that launched in both the original release and 2014’s Q.U.B.E: Director’s Cut. Not only that but there’s also new content, including an entirely brand new chapter called Sector 8, featuring an additional 4-6 hours of gameplay unlocked after the main campaign has been completed.
STORY
The story in Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary is based on the Director’s Cut story. The basic premise though is that you have awoken in a strange place armed with nothing but a pair of strange gloves that give you the power to manipulate certain aspects of the environment. Not knowing who you are or what you’re doing there, a strange voice contacts you informing you that you are on a priority mission to destroy this “Cube” and to save the Earth from it. That’s pretty much all I’m going to tell you because the story is actually quite good and needs to be experienced for yourself.
GAMEPLAY
The amazing gameplay mechanics from previous games is intact here in the remake. Central to Q.U.B.E. is the gameplay and for those who have played any of the Portal games, you will enjoy this. While I wouldn’t say this game is as difficult as Portal was, the puzzles here are still quite challenging. There are some elements to the game that might be familiar, but I think the way Q.U.B.E. goes about things is pretty unique. Instead of a “gun,” you’re equipped with special gloves that can interact with certain blocks around each puzzle.
As you progress through the game and the different sectors, your gloves will be able to interact with more and more block elements. The standard blocks are red, blue, green, and yellow and each has its own unique characteristics that you’ll have to be familiar with. Other elements will be introduced into the mix such as rotating parts of a room, robotic spheres you have to move to a specific location, and even directing light via prisms.
Aside from interacting with blocks, you can also jump, but gravity limits you to basically a block in both height and distance.
For a taste of what the puzzles are like, definitely check out my Sector 1 and Sector 2 walkthrough in the video below. Don’t worry about spoilers as this doesn’t give away too much.
PRESENTATION
If you compare the original game with the 10th Anniversary version, you’ll definitely notice a huge change in the visuals. Mainly, all the sectors have been reworked with much more detail and colors. Not only that, the game really takes advantage of things like lighting, reflections, transparency, and shadows. The previous version of the game has a very limited pallet with most objects being white and shades of grey. The new color pallet in Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary really gives the environment more depth and life. If you played the original, I think you’re really going to enjoy the reworked visuals.
In terms of audio, everything sounds pretty much the same as the original version. You get the same great voice acting and the same great SFX sounds. The voice acting still shines here and is still central to the game’s story. There are no real visual clues about what’s really going on with your situation so you must depend on these voices to guide you. The actors used are very good at what they do and are both very passionate with their performances to the point where it starts to affect you emotionally. Are you really doing good here or is there something else really going on?
FINAL THOUGHTS
I loved the Q.U.B.E. Director’s Cut when it first came out mainly because I love puzzle games. It also reminded me of Portal and that too was a really great game I played. But even though they seem similar, there are lots of differences that made the game so unique and special. This new version, Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary, keeps the original feel of the game and everything that made it so good and makes it look so much better. I love how the difficulty ramps up with each new sector and how massive the game feels as you progress. They introduce a lot of elements later on that make the puzzles more intriguing with several puzzles that left me scratching my head in puzzlement.
If you have never played Q.U.B.E. before or the sequel, Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary is a great starting point. You’ll love how challenging the puzzles can be as well as the story that they built around them. Without the story, these would just be a series of puzzles with no real context. The story really makes the game and helps push the gameplay forward. The more that is revealed to you, the deeper you want to dig into what is really going on. It makes you want to go further and further.
Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary is an absolutely amazing game that has an intriguing story, challenging puzzles, and now amazing visuals. Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary is available now on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox Series X|S.
Disclaimer: Received game from developer and/or publisher for coverage purposes.
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