Developer: Brainseed Factory
Publisher: Brainseed Factory
Reviewed on: Xbox One
Code Received.
Typoman: Revised is a minimalistic puzzle-platformer with a great sense of style and some clever puzzle mechanics. By focusing on word puzzles, it carves a niche in a genre that doesn’t often see variety. Unfortunately, it’s marred by a few issues that prevent Typoman: Revised from achieving its true potential
Story
Typoman: Revised is very light on the storytelling, but the plot revolves around a world torn apart by war. Dotted throughout the levels are hidden bits of scripture that reveal details about what happened. As the titular Typoman, composed of the letters “H”, “E”, “R”, and “O”, you must venture through dangerous lands to eliminate the evil preventing the world from recovering. It’s just enough story to set the tone, and thankfully never gets in the way of the gameplay. The scriptures serve as collectables as well as motivation for those looking for more lore.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Typoman: Revised revolves around solving word puzzles. Typically, a room will have an obstacle that must be overcome my moving and rearranging a variety of letters. Sometimes all the letters are provided, but usually some have to be collected by solving platforming puzzles. At any rate, almost all of them are solved by unscrambling the letters to form words that make sense in the context of the puzzle. For instance, spelling the word “RAISE” in the vicinity of an elevator will cause it to rise up.
The puzzles can be clever and require a fairly expanded vocabulary, but they can also be obtuse. Some of the puzzles went down the path of trial and error, where I was just moving letters around hoping I found a word that made sense in the context of the puzzle. These moments were few and far between, but they were frustrating because it was difficult to know whether the answer was truly challenging or nonsensical.
The platforming is pretty basic for the most part. Typoman can run, jump, and grab things, and most of the puzzles require a combination of those actions. It all feels fine when it works, however, I ran into few control issues during my play time. Sometimes when I grabbed a lever, Typoman wouldn’t hold onto it long enough for it to be pulled. Other times he would start auto-grabbing letters and items in the world and this made arranging words frustrating. These bugs happened a handful of times over the course of the game and seemed to crop up randomly.
Aside from those issues, many of the platforming segments are challenging, forcing you to time your jumps precisely or be swiftly killed. When the controls worked and the word puzzles were clever, Typoman: Revised proved to be a unique take on the genre. However, be aware that there are some rough edges in this department and your overall mileage may vary.
Graphics & Sound
The world of Typoman: Revised is very drab and grey, a color pallet that’s appropriate in the context of the story. Splashes of color are used to emphasis objects and provide a sense of relief from the dark caves and oppressive industrial complexes. Background details like massive creatures clamoring over old, collapsing buildings do a great job of foreshadowing. It’s minimalistic, but manages to provide ample context to the sorrowful world.
The sound design is similarly muted. By limiting the palette, each sound evokes a response. It felt good to hear the victory sound of a puzzle well solved, and dreadful when the hiss of poisonous gas filled the air.
Performance
Unfortunately, I encountered a number of performance issues while playing Typoman: Revised. Framerate hiccups occurred during some puzzles that sometimes caused me to miss jumps because it threw off my timing. This is in addition to the previously mentioned control issues which were typically resolved by quitting and relaunching the game.
Conclusion
Typoman: Revised has some clever ideas that get bogged down by some glaring issues. When the puzzles and platforming work, it feels unique and refreshing. Combine that with an interesting world brought to life through a unique, minimalist art style, and the game had potential. However, every time I ran into a glitch or obtuse puzzle I was reminded of it’s unevenness. While the issues shouldn’t stop you from playing Typoman: Revised, they rear their head often enough to where they can’t be completely ignored.
