Developer: Blubox Soft
Publisher: Blubox Soft
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Treeker: The Lost Glasses – Review
Treeker is a first person adventure/platform game. The game comes in two languages, English and Portuguese, as the creator Zefaistos is from Brazil. Treeker: The Lost Glasses was created with the Unity Engine. It’s currently available on Desura and has been put on Steam Greenlight.
Story
The story behind the game is that you are looking for the reason as to why sailors have gone missing on voyages. Your travels take you over the waters and your vessel runs aground. You are stuck on an island and have to find your way off of it. What little story there is, is uncovered on rocky outcrops. The answers they give are mysterious and at the end of the game you’ll be left with most questions unanswered. Your purpose, your actions, are unexplained and there seem to be no visible changes to the world after you’re done. Afterwards, the game hints at a continuation, making this game feel like a prologue. A slight annoyance are the grammar and spelling mistakes in the instructions on the rocky outcrops. As a full game, it leaves you confused and bewildered at its end.
Graphics
The Unity Engine is used for multiplatform games, and though Treeker: The Lost Glasses is currently only on PC I could see this game working on mobile devices. The graphics are made out of polygons and the textures are as low resolution as can be. It’s a simplistic design, but it works. It doesn’t distract you from your goal and makes the platforming easier as your path forward will always be clear.
Sound
The game is soothing because of its soundtrack. A soft tune plays as you walk, run, and jump your way across the islands. There’s a song in the soundtrack that is a classic in the classical genre of music. In one of the puzzles you’ll have to match the music to the pillars, and every pillar is distinct. The sound effects are nicely implemented and though there isn’t really a need for a voice actor, having a narrator for the introduction would be a nice touch.
Gameplay
What can be said about the controls in Treeker: The Lost Glasses is that they are accessible and easy to memorize. W,A,S,D or the arrow keys are the directional keys. Pressing shift + the directionals will make your character run or strafe. Spacebar is for jumping and the mouse is used for looking around. The controls are responsive, although you’ll need to run and jump at some points in the game to make the jumps, which doesn’t always work that well. The momentum in the game is quirky and sometimes you’ll come to a halt mid jump for no reason. Sometimes you’ll need to solve a puzzle with the glasses you’ve gained at the beginning of the game. They will let you see the world differently and will let you get to the solution. One of the mechanics is showing you platforms you can jump on, or lights that guide your way to your destination. On one puzzle, you need to find crescent moons to unlock doors. The colours correspond with the lights, the arrows on the floor all lead to their corresponding moons, but without the glasses the arrows don’t light up in the right colour, so you’d be wandering around aimlessly. By putting the glasses in place – you do this by pressing E – you can see the arrows in the right colour so they show you the right path.
The puzzles are rather straightforward. You’ll have to find items to unlock a gate, or link music fragments to pillars that have the same music, or platform your way to the end of an obstacle course to activate a gate. This way anyone can have a go at the game. The game is short, you can breeze through it in a little over an hour. This makes it feel like a prologue, the rocky outcrops that cover the story also hint that a sequel is a possibility. The game has no enemies and the only way you can die is by staying in the frigid waters around the island for too long or falling from great heights. This will happen quite a few times, though, because of the aforementioned loss of momentum. The game has no sense of urgency and because of this you can take your time and enjoy the puzzles to the fullest. There’s no rush to get to a certain point, save the rush from wanting to know what’s behind the portals.
Conclusion
Treeker: The Lost Glasses is a fun first person puzzle platformer. The graphics are colourful and easy on the eyes. This makes the puzzles easier to navigate. Currently the game is on Steam Greenlight and on sale on Desura for €8,99, which is quite a lot for the amount of gameplay Treeker: The Lost Glasses offers. It feels like a prologue and there are many games that give more content for the same price. The game doesn’t give any clues and leaves you with as many questions as you set off with. Here’s to hoping there will be a sequel.
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