Mankind is desperately finding new ways to improve life. Our technology is unbelievable for those who lived in the past. We can communicate with others around the world using an invisible wireless connection. It’s strange to think about how far we’ve come. One thing remains untouched however, robots and artificial intelligence. But what if we create a robot so smart it has a mind of its own? What if it tries to manipulate our thoughts? That’s where we’ll need the Turing Test, a test that requires outside the box solutions.
Wake up Ava
You start the game in a sterile spacecraft hovering above Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. You wake up unexpectedly from your cryo sleep. The mission’s computer called Tom wakes you up from your sleep because he lost touch with the ground troops a couple of days ago. Disorientated, Ava starts her decent to the surface of Europa to find out what went down on the ground station.
The start of the game sets the tone for the story. During the entire experience, you’ll be guided by the soothing voice of Tom, an artificial intelligence. Soon you’ll learn something went wrong on the ground. The chambers of the station are rearranged so that only a human being can solve the problems. Tom explains machines originally created these rooms but now that the humans changed the layout, robots can’t find the right solution to advance. Only a human brain is capable of thinking outside of the box and finding the right solution. Tom needs you to advance in the rooms but you need Tom to understand what’s going on and to receive hints on how to advance.
The story is a very interesting one and forms a great part of the game. The more you advance, the more you discover. You’ll find the chambers of the crew members; discover old audio files, revealing disturbing messages and you’ll even discover audio files of Tom. Tom seems to wonder why he isn’t considered a human, why can humans reach areas he can’t? It’s a very interesting plot that has its great moments but it’s never brilliant, which is a shame.
Portal
The story plays a crucial role in the game but the actual gameplay is the most important part of it. The Turing Test plays like an alternative version of Portal. The gun you’re carrying is able to hold a power resource to open doors. By grabbing and shooting this power source into a power box, you’ll unlock doors. Sometimes, you’ll have to move the entire box and place it in an empty slot in order to advance.
That being said, the game introduces several mechanics at a steady pace to keep even the most gifted puzzle solving brains challenged. The power of the puzzles is that you’ll tend to overthink them most of the times, the solution is always right in front of you and you’ll need some outside the box thinking rather than coming up with complex solutions.
Although the puzzles are great, the physics can form a problem from time to time. It happened more than once that a box didn’t fall the way we wanted it to or that our gun couldn’t absorb the power source, even if it was in our range. It’s a shame the engine of the game isn’t better so that these problems would have been prevented. It’s no fun when you fail the puzzles due to a technical issue. It didn’t happen that much and we were satisfied with the puzzles most of the times but it’s a shame the physics aren’t any better.
Solid sound
The best part of the game is without a doubt the sound. First of all, the soundtrack is simply amazing. It starts with epic tunes coming out of your speakers but transforms to barely noticeable sounds during the puzzles. Although it’s barely noticeable, the soundtrack during the puzzles is spot-on; setting the right atmosphere and tension at moments it is much appreciated.
This brings us to the voice acting, which is truly brilliant. The voice of Tom sounds very calm, soothing and very human at the same time while the voice of Ava reveals certain uncertainties in her voice. Thanks to the great voice acting, you’ll get sucked into this alternative future really fast and you’ll enjoy every bit of it.
| The Good: | The Bad: |
| + Great atmosphere | – Flaws in physics |
| + Solid story | |
| + Voice acting |
The Turing Test is a very interesting game that demonstrates the power of artificial intelligence compared to the human brain. The game asks you to think outside of the box without overthinking the solutions. It’s an interesting story and the puzzles are great. Too bad the physics aren’t that good but the splendid voice acting makes up for a lot of those flaws. If you’re willing to try something different, give this Turing Test a shot.
Score 4 out of 5:
