Sunrise Parabellum Crushed in Time Review

I completed *Crushed in Time* in just under 6 hours on PC a few weeks ago. I was mainly looking for something short and relaxing and this game ended up being pretty much what I needed. I actually discovered this gem pretty much by chance and its art direction immediately caught my attention, and then the gameplay mechanic intrigued me (grabbing and pulling things around with the mouse). I was also pleasantly surprised to see that it was made by the team behind *There Is No Game*, which I played when it originally came out around 5/6 years ago. So I went in with an open mind. As usual, this review is about my personal experience and I will keep it spoiler-free to preserve the element of surprise and discovery. I will first talk about what makes the game so charming, then move on to its central mechanic and puzzle design, before wrapping things up with a few smaller issues and my final verdict. ‎ ***A charming visual and comedic experience*** The first thing that caught my attention was the art direction, and I am very happy to say it remained one of my favorite parts of the game. The visuals have this moving sticker look, almost like an illustrated children's book brought to life. The mix of 2D and 3D, the cel-shaded style, bright colors and very expressive animations give the whole game a strong identity. Technically, it's also a very clean experience. The image is sharp, performance was consistently good and I never felt the need for an upscaler. There is some aliasing here and there, but it was easy enough to overlook. My only real complaint is how limited the visual settings are. The game already looks good and runs well, but having more options to customize the presentation would still have been welcome. The humor was another big success for me. I laughed quite a lot, and a lot of that comes from how well the jokes are set up rather than simply throwing one-liners at you. The writing, characters and voice performances all work together really well, and I found the cast genuinely charming. The story itself is nothing particularly amazing, but the journey is so enjoyable that it matters much less. The voice acting deserves a special mention too. The performances fit the characters extremely well, while the soundtrack and sound design complement the overall atmosphere without getting in the way. ㅤ ㅤ‎ ***A clever mechanic that doesn't always make clever puzzles*** The main gameplay idea is probably the most interesting thing about *Crushed in Time*. Being able to grab and stretch things gives the game a lot of room to experiment and I really liked how consistently it uses that idea. It isn't restricted to solving puzzles either as the mechanic finds its way into the menus, the narrative and some of the game's meta elements. That creates a nice sense of ludonarrative coherence. The game understands what makes its own mechanic interesting and builds around it. There are some genuinely clever uses of it and discovering what you can interact with and how far you can push the mechanic is a big part of the fun. Unfortunately, this is also where some of my biggest frustrations came from. The mechanic itself is original but not every puzzle built around it is equally well designed. Some solutions aren't particularly obvious or intuitive and I occasionally found myself simply fiddling with things until something worked. The hint system is there but it doesn't really solve the problem. I only used it once and even then I still had to rely on experimentation. That can be fun when you're close to the solution but when you have no idea what the game expects from you, it can become tedious rather quickly. I also wasn't a fan of the time dependent puzzles. They felt less compatible with the otherwise relaxed, experimental nature of the game. In my opinion, those sections would have been better left out. Still, when the puzzle design works, the mechanic really shines. The problem isn't the idea but it's rather that some levels don't quite know how to make the most of it. ‎ ***A few smaller shortcomings*** There isn't much else that bothered me significantly. The biggest issue outside of the puzzles is probably the price. At around $25/€25 for a game that can be finished in under six hours, I find the asking price difficult to justify for this type of experience. I would personally recommend waiting for a deep sale. On the other hand, the addition of chapter selection after finishing the game is a nice touch, especially for completionists and achievement hunters. It makes going back for anything you missed much less annoying. ‎ ***Case Closed*** Overall, I had a pretty good time with *Crushed in Time*. It was s a funny charming and very creative little adventure, and I think its strongest qualities are its art direction, humor, cast of characters and the clever way it integrates its central mechanic into both gameplay and presentation. The story itself is only okay for me, but the writing and performances make the journey much more enjoyable than the plot alone. Where the game falls short is mainly in its level and puzzle design. Though the core mechanic has a lot of potential, some puzzles rely too much on trial and error, and the time based ones in particular didn't work for me. I would recommend picking it up during a substantial sale rather than at full price. There is definitely room for improvement, but I still came away interested in seeing what this team does next. Until then, I'm planning to replay *There Is No Game*.