Unmechanical app review: a beautifully designed adventure of a helicopter stuck in a strange world

Introduction

Sometimes a paid app suddenly becomes free for a limited time. Sometimes these games are very limited and boring, but once in a while a true gaming gem will pop up, with immersive gameplay and beautiful graphics. Unmechanical by Teotl Studios is one of these games. In this game you will control a small helicopter which gets sucked into a strange underground world. You will have to make your way through this underground maze by flying though caves and solving all kinds of fun puzzles.

Tutorial and Progressing in the Game

Before I start singing the praise about this game, I’d like to point out one small problem. There is no real tutorial in the game, just a simple picture on screen when you need to learn something new. This can be quite confusing to new players, especially if you haven’t played a lot of games before.

The controls are simple enough, though: you tap in the direction you want the little helicopter to go. By tapping on your helicopter, you activate a tractor beam, which allows you to interact with all kinds of objects in the environment. This is where the puzzles come in. Most of these puzzles are physics-based, meaning you will have to drag objects to switches to weigh them down. Other puzzles need you to interact with switches in a particular order.

When you successfully solve a puzzle, a door opens and you can go deeper into the cave system.

 

Atmospheric Graphics and Sound

Aside from the puzzle gameplay, where this game absolutely excels is in the graphics and sound department. The graphics are beautiful, and really give you a sense of being stuck in a cave due to some amazing 3D techniques and high-end graphics. The level design is really eerie too, as you will travel through both organic and inorganic caves. The sound design is the cherry on the cake, making you really feel lonely, and the sounds are all very aptly designated to specific objects.

This is definitely a game to play alone in the dark wearing headphones.

 

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Fantastic level and puzzle design
• Amazing graphics and sounds
• The atmosphere is really claustrophobic

 

Cons

• There is no tutorial to teach players how to play the game
• Puzzles can be rather confusing

 

Conclusion

Get this game while it’s free! It’s one of the most atmospheric adventures I have ever played on an iOS device, and with great graphics and sound design, this is definitely not one to miss. Usually this game is $2.99, which is already a bargain, but you can definitely not leave this one hanging for free.

The game is designed for both iPad and iPhone, though I believe this one should be played on iPad for the best experience. Make sure you turn the lights down and wear headphones for the best gaming experience possible. The game comes in at just under 200 MB.