Teslagrad Review

Teslagrad Review Screen 1

This review is dedicated to my two week old son, Lewis, who I hope to enjoy many years of gaming with; it is only the beginning for our adventure…

Teslagrad seems to be based on Nikola Tesla , who was a great scientist credited (or not) of having a lot to do with bringing electricity to the way we use it in our modern world. Looking at him and his life, this reflected well the premise of this game. It is a platform puzzler, using magnetism, electric charges to get your character sprite through to the next part of the game. This game is very interesting in parts, hard as well, the puzzles feel gratifying when completed, but take a lot of thought to get through, this isn’t a game for the rage quitters or the faint of heart. There is no hand holding at all, the story itself is abstract, however there is enough clues to let you know enough to progress, after some thought put in of course.

Teslagrad Review Screen 3

In the story you play a young boy, at first getting chased by Cossack like soldiers, building a claustrophobic, tense atmosphere from the get go. The chase is slow, but still intricate, as soon as your caught, you game goes back to the start, further creating the atmosphere of intimidation and pure difficulty. You soon reach a cathedral like tower, where the games really kicks off introducing the mechanics of the gameplay, progress is realised the further you go on, unlocking abilities, facing guardians using the new abilities, this game feels quite similar to other puzzle action platformers that have been released before, Guacamele being the most recent. I would loath to say which is better, both are similar, but very different.

One of my favourite parts of Teslagrad is the art style, presentation and sound track overall. The cartoony yet stylised like graphics has a style that adds atmosphere to the game well, adding to the idea of the game and storyline to create a very solid package. The soundscape and background music bring things further depth to the game’s style, further feeding how the game wants you to feel as you go on the same journey as the protagonist of the story, a journey of wonder, discovery and danger. I don’t do much talking about story in my reviews, I don’t really feel like I should apart from give a decent over view, I don’t like spoilers at all, but I can say the story has a lot to be revealed for sure.

Teslagrad Review Screen 2

Overall the team working on Teslagrad have crafted an excellent game, at £13.99 or $15 is it worth your time and money though. This is an expensive proposition for an Eshop game on the Wii U, some full games on Wii U can cost this for the savy shopper (older and pre owned though of course).

I think it depends really depends on what you want from a game, I appreciate the art, I appreciate the style, but after it all, is it for me? Me personally, no probably not, is it for somebody else who appreciates these types of games, absolutely yes. I can indeed see why this has been getting rave reviews where ever it has been and it will take pride of place within my digital collection, but will I be rushing back to replay it, when I found some of the puzzles so unforgiving and frustrating in the first play, nah, I will be reaching for my Smash Bros or Mario Kart instead, maybe someday I will want to, just not soon. However I wouldn’t take anything away from the achievement of how this game is overall, I’d give it a buy, but only if you are sure if it’s what you want, a beautiful, difficult, mind bending challenge.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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