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App Army Assemble: The Talos Principle - How does it play on mobile?

Well in principle

App Army Assemble: The Talos Principle - How does it play on mobile?
|
iOS
| The Talos Principle

The Talos Principle is a gorgeous physics-based puzzler that just flew straight over from PC and console to mobile. We're just as surprised as you are.

There's an impressive 20 hours of content here, including a whopping 120 puzzles. You'll divert drones, disrupt lasers, and mess around with time to solve them.

At review, we gave it a Gold Award and described it as "A decent port of a fantastic game. It might not be perfect, but its problems are easy enough to look past".

We also asked the App Army what they thought, and here's what they had to say.

Matt Renfer

The Talos Principle is a strong spiritual successor to Myst and Riven. The environments are beautifully rendered with great detail, but it's not very interactive.

Boy, do I hope you like puzzles, as that's all there really is to do here. There's not much story, action, or character interaction to dig into. The puzzles are good though, and they steadily build in challenge.

Madina Kuchkarova

iOS rarely gets quality titles like this, so it's a real treat for gamers. You appear in the divine garden and are taught the mechanics by a mysterious voice.

You'll then explore three different worlds themed on Ancient Greece, Egypt, and the Middle Ages. There are a bunch of puzzles to solve, and they grow in difficulty quite quickly.

There are a bunch of different devices to use to solve each puzzle, which keeps things interesting.

It's a beautiful game as well, and runs great on my iPhone 6s. I kind of wish I had a controller instead of using the touchscreen.

Ramza Beoulve

This is a perfect example of a good game that just doesn't work well into mobile. I love the premise, the puzzle mechanics, the sound, music, and the Portal-like story development, but it's all held back by awful controls and a choppy frame-rate.

Its shortcomings take away the sense of immersion. The enjoyment of solving puzzles and story progression is often interrupted by a constant battle with the controls.

If you enjoy first person puzzles with an interesting story, you might like this. However, if your definition of a good game involves solid controls for a smooth playing experience, you might want to avoid this one.

Justin Herselman

Firstly, kudos to the developer for an excellent job optimising this for mobile. I'm truly amazed how well it performs on my iPhone 6. The Witness, in contrast was over optimised and looked super low res.

The game has an interesting premise. You play as a robot whose objective is to solve the various area-based puzzles set out by its human creator. Meanwhile, the creator fills in the story gaps, which gives your character meaning and a purpose while you connect with the captivating world and solve puzzles.

The default touch controls work fine for the most part, however you'll often find your character walking forward unintentionally when you swipe left & right to look around.

I truly loved my experience with this game especially since it fulfilled all my gaming needs. Highly recommended!

Paul Manchester

Having played this on PC and then losing it in an ever growing Steam library, I was looking forward to picking this up on mobile. Graphically and content wise the game is pretty much true to its big screen siblings, with some of the nicest environments you'll find on mobile.

However, the controls are simply dire. In a game that's quite a relaxed and sedate affair, the constant battle with the touch screen completely loses all feeling of immersion for me and ruins what could be an otherwise successful port.

If you're willing to put up with the frustrations that come with the touch controls, you'll find fun to be had getting to grips with this unique puzzler.

Oksana Ryan

This is a beautiful game. You play as a robot moving around a crumbling maze of walls and gates, solving puzzles and collecting different coloured shapes to help you in later levels.

The controls are a little fiddly until you master them, which does detract from the enjoyment at the start. I was playing on an iPad Pro so perhaps it's easier played on mobile.

On the whole though the game flowed well, the music was atmospheric and suited the gameplay, and the puzzles so far have been fun. I really enjoyed this game.

Steve Clarke

This is a stunningly beautiful game. In the opening section I found myself wandering around Roman ruins appreciating the scenery and reminiscing about holidays spent in Italy. I also got immersed in the intriguing story narrated by the booming godlike voice of my mysterious creator. About 15 minutes later I realised I was hooked.

The gameplay involves solving a series of increasingly challenging puzzles using various items to collect sets of sigils, or keys. The sigils take the form of blocky shapes which you must arrange correctly much like Tetris to unlock doors and progress through the game.

Unfortunately, as with most mobile shooters, the touchscreen hinders gameplay. I found myself restarting some puzzles after a struggle with the controls left me at the mercy of one of the many enemies.

In situations where precise timing and control are needed to disable obstacles or deactivate the robotic guards, enjoyment rapidly gives way to frustration, spoiling the experience.

Given time I'm sure the controls will become more intuitive but they'll never be a match for a gamepad or keyboard and mouse.

I'm not normally a fan of this kind of puzzler but The Talos Principle is an exception for me. The story, graphics, and puzzles kept me entertained and drove me to play on. I do however feel that the game would be significantly better on platforms with less limited controls.

What's the App Army? The App Army is Pocket Gamer's very own community of mobile game experts. Each week, we provide them with a bunch of free codes and early access to the hottest upcoming games so they can provide their thoughts in features like this. We also host regular community-driven events with them in mind like tournaments, giveaways, and multiplayer evenings. To join, simply follow this link to the page on Facebook and request access. We'll get you in right away!
Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, lively Chris is up for anything - including running Steel Media! (Madman!)