Out of Line Review
Publisher: Hatinh Interactive
Developer: Nerd Monkeys
Platform: Windows Steam/GOG (reviewed) Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Release Date: August 18th, 2021
Price: $12.99
Welcome to, wherever this is…We begin the story with San, our point of view character. San, lives among apparently sentient glowing cubes, for some unexplained reason; at least he does until a dinosaur or something similar comes along and busts up poor San's neighborhood something fierce. After this the titles roll, and we find San in a factory of sorts, alongside several other San looking creatures. Okay we know the drill, idyllic existence destroyed by monster attack and no Powerpuff Girls in sight, now San has to get home and free his former cube neighbors.
They say the neon lights are bright on..… uh… wherever this is…
Beyond the monster attack, very little context is given and there isn't much interaction with the other inhabitants. San and his doubles will wave to one another, but that's about it. The game just lacks the details necessary to piece everything together. From a story perspective, Out of Line provides more questions than answers, and given the alien nature of the world you are meant to explore, this makes it hard to care because you don’t know what the Sam Hill is going on.
Story aside, The hand-drawn character and environment designs are gorgeous. This is great, but I’m glad I’m not on the Switch in handheld mode. The setting is somewhat austere, but builds a mysterious and threatening ambiance thanks to adroit use of perspective and lighting. The soundtrack is also spot on, music and SFX are used sparingly, fading in and out as needed and give you more information about what is actually going on that the story.
In terms of gameplay, Out of Line is a very short puzzler built around a single mechanic. Using San, you solve puzzles that involve throwing a spear to block gear and other mechanisms, create levers and reach goals. It’s surprisingly intuitive and controllable. Now, if they could just design a game where I can throw spears, bang rocks together and grunt in time to the beat, I would be in business.
Hark the light in yonder window, could it be the gift shop?
The puzzles themselves are par for the course: standing on things, moving things around etc. Out of Line may not be the most original puzzler, but the puzzle designs are solid. Some replayability is added to the game by hidden cubes, with one of your secondary objectives being to collect these. As you progress, you’ll also unlock a handful of upgrades, including a rope to create simple bridges, and disposable spears. These add a little variety, but the overall structure of each puzzle remains the same. My seven-year-old assistant took about 90 minutes to finish the game, which means an adult should take about twice that.
Bottom line, this feels more like a demo than a complete game. I really liked many things, but I don't know if it's a good value for what you get. The presentation is wonderful, the story is weak, and the puzzles are decent.. Out of Line works as a demo for developer Nerd Monkeys, but It's not really a whole game.
The Good:
Fabulous Art
Excellent Soundtrack
The Bad:
Weak story
Short game