Astria
released on Nov 15, 2020
Enter the doomed world of Astria, a land destroyed by Cataclysm where all living things are dying. Play as Gwen, an Astrian willing to make his last move before everything ends.
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Quite simply one of the most polished and fully featured student projects out there, Astria goes beyond the quality of some Portal clones sold for money, which for a one man free game, is truly impressive.
Every other level out of the 14 available offers a new game changing mechanic, from firing orbs that alter the world, to a grappling beam, to a shield to deflect lasers into receptacles, to a building mode to place elements around the stages.
All of the puzzles are clever and satisfying to figure out, often requiring a considerable amount of lateral thinking to make things happen in different rooms: you might have to rotate multiple deflector pads to bounce a ball into a hole, which delivers it to another room, or direct a laser beam through an opening so it can be used elsewhere to burn down an obstacle or change a barrier's polarity, making it safe to cross. There is a lot to the gameplay, which easily clocks in to 5-6 hours.
On the negative side, the game is overreliant on Pipemania-style minigames which will grind your progress to a halt as you try to figure out their multiple required solutions. There is also a boss level which requires precise platforming that is not always easy to nail.
Minor quibbles that take little away from what is an absolute must play for any Portal fan, especially considering it's free.
Every other level out of the 14 available offers a new game changing mechanic, from firing orbs that alter the world, to a grappling beam, to a shield to deflect lasers into receptacles, to a building mode to place elements around the stages.
All of the puzzles are clever and satisfying to figure out, often requiring a considerable amount of lateral thinking to make things happen in different rooms: you might have to rotate multiple deflector pads to bounce a ball into a hole, which delivers it to another room, or direct a laser beam through an opening so it can be used elsewhere to burn down an obstacle or change a barrier's polarity, making it safe to cross. There is a lot to the gameplay, which easily clocks in to 5-6 hours.
On the negative side, the game is overreliant on Pipemania-style minigames which will grind your progress to a halt as you try to figure out their multiple required solutions. There is also a boss level which requires precise platforming that is not always easy to nail.
Minor quibbles that take little away from what is an absolute must play for any Portal fan, especially considering it's free.