ChromaGun Reviews
Despite feeling a little too short in all, there's no denying the satisfying allure of ChromaGun's first-person puzzlery. More a hat-doffing love letter to Portal than a clone, it offers a unique experience on Switch - one sure to having many a cheek flushed with happy colours.
ChromaGun is the absolute standard of a puzzle game done right. While it's not on the same level as Portal 2 or The Witness, it is an absolutely solid puzzle game. It's fun, it's challenging, and it's not frustrating, which is something that a lot of puzzle game's do wrong. It is an absolutely terrific piece of art that deserves to be played by anyone that even remotely enjoys puzzle games. At $14.99, you'll be getting the game for a steal, and I would absolutely recommend it at that price. While the game may fall a bit short in the story and replayability department, there is no denying that ChromaGun is one of the finer games in pool of bad puzzle games.
There just isn't a whole lot to say outside of what's already been said. ChromaGun is a competent puzzler that's only firing on a few cylinders and not much has changed in the several years since its launch. If you haven't pulled the trigger yet and are an avid puzzle fan the VR-ification is the excuse you need, just don't expect a whole lot.
ChromaGun is, for the most part, a great port, but it doesn't fix issues like the difficulty spikes that have always been present in the game. There's some truly excellent puzzle design in the sharp looking test environments that will keep you entertained, in what is likely the closest thing to Portal that the Nintendo Switch will ever see.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then ChromaGun is one of the most lovingly crafted manifestos I've ever seen. It effortlessly parallels the world of Portal, while injecting more than enough originality to be able to stand on its own. It may not quite meet the gold standard that was established by Valve's masterpiece, but I can't help but wonder how much more impressive it might have felt, if ChromaGun had actually pre-dated Portal. While certainly not reinventing the wheel, this is an experience that will surely satiate any puzzle fiend, searching for a more colorful way to embrace their inner tester.
Yes, you could easily dismiss this as 'just another Portal clone', but it's more than that - it uses its own original gameplay mechanics to provide some genuinely thoughtful, tricky puzzles.
Very high complexity, the lack of a strong narrator behind the scenes, the high cost of mistakes and the general monotony can leave many fans of the genre exceptionally disappointed. If you are ready to accept such problems and hungry for Portal-like games, then you can add one point to our final score. Otherwise, you can just just skip ChromaGun and pay attention to more interesting new games.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Overall, ChromaGun is a charming puzzle game with all the wits and humour of its bigger ‘stepbrother', Portal.
ChromaGun is a title that nails its core concept, but fluffs its lines in a few too many other areas. The colour-based puzzles brought to the table are a joy to solve with the surprising amount of depth mixing things up enough to never make you feel like you've seen the same brain-teaser twice. However, the punishment for failing a puzzle feels far too harsh at times and coupled with the constant load times, an air of frustration can set in.
Your color mixing produces clean, gorgeous results that feel like they should be on the set of some ultra-modern music video.
Chromagun is videogame love letter to Portal, with an entirely different and unique puzzle mechanic. It may have made a bad first impression in its pre-release version, but eventually won me over. It's a game I have a lot of confidence in recommending to puzzle game fans.
While not being the perfect child of its inspirational father, ChromaGun brings forth a very well executed mechanic and some very compelling puzzles that will put the player's wits and creativity to the test. Its audiovisual component could certainly be improved and the game is lacking as far as the atmosphere is concerned but fans of creative puzzle games have something to explore.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
If not revolutionnay, ChromaGun is a plesant variation of Portal basing its core mechanics on primary colors more than the laws of physcis. Quite fun and challenging as soon as it takes liberties from its primal inspiration, Pixel Maniacs' game unfortunately suffers from a lack of consistency from start to finish. Those able to forgive the most forgivable puzzles will get a decent experience that will give your brain a hard time.
Review in French | Read full review
Clever color mixing puzzler, which convinces with many new ideas and exciting puzzle mechanics, but weakens on the narrative level.
Review in German | Read full review
Overall, ChromaGun is an interesting take on a genre that seems to always be brimming with fresh content. While some segments can be repetitive or frustrating, the overall experience shies away from too much rote repetition. The $14.99 price on Steam may be just a touch high for the rough 4-5 hours of gameplay, but not pushing too far given the overall quality.
ChromaGun answers a question nobody wanted answered: What if Portal made a few really terrible game design decisions that soured the whole experience? Don't get me wrong, ChromaGun is not without enjoyment. It certainly has its moments. At $19.99, it may be worth buying. But it could have been so much better.
If you fancy something a little different, want to grab a shed load of Gamerscore and find yourself constantly harking back to the days of Portal, then this is the one for you.
ChromaGun has to place you at the whim of a crazy, pseudo-friendly corporation because that's what Portal did. ChromaGun's underlying mechanic is delightful and extremely interesting, unfortunately rather than building a game around that mechanic, developer Pixel Maniacs opted instead to shove it unceremoniously into a pre-existing game. There is some fun to be had here, but not nearly as much as there ought to be.
ChromaGun is a fun and challenging first person puzzle game that achieves what it set out to be. The game constantly kept challenging me to think in new ways on how to mix the colors and use what I had at my disposal in order to reach my goal. I wasn't fond of having to replay portions though every time I made a mistake and I made a lot as a got further and further into the game. If you can look past that and are a fan of puzzle games ChromaGun is a must play in my opinion.
We enjoyed our time with the game thanks to its interesting premise and its colorful puzzles, but do feel that at times it is a bit harsh with players. You will be punished for your mistakes, so be ready for that! This is a solid first effort, and we look forward to seeing what the team can do with the premise if they get to work on a sequel.