Superliminal vs Tomb Raider: Underworld
Superliminal
Superliminal is designed to challenge even the most avid of puzzle solvers, providing them with mind-boggling puzzles, the unique ability to change the size of objects based on depth in perception, and a story filled with heart.The game starts off with you dozing off at the couch in front of a TV showing a weird commercial about some dream therapy program that promptly landed you in a weird dream-like state in which you find yourself the subject of an odd scientific experiment. Thankfully, unlike the more surgical kind of experimentation which would definitely turn the game into a horror show, the scientist behind this experiment is more concerned about testing your mind and its ability to perceive, pushing it to its very limits.
Superliminal offers a nice variety of perspective-based puzzles for you to solve as you move from room to room in what seems to be a vast yet empty scientific complex. The puzzles here start off easy enough since the game does have to do its job of introducing the mechanics to you. The mechanics here mostly involve finding objects that you can manipulate (a.k.a. resize and reposition) and then use in the puzzle’s solution in order to move on to the next “level” or room.
Once you got a hold of the basics, the difficulty of the puzzles starts to ramp up and at times, you might find yourself completely at loss as to what you should do, as I did… and I’m ashamed to say pretty early on in the game. When the game says that “what you see isn’t always what you get”, it’s not kidding.
Superliminal is one of those rare, trippy puzzle games that either you get it or you don’t. Puzzle enthusiasts might find the game more than intriguing to take a crack at due to its unique perspective-based puzzles. The game may be short but the experience it leaves you is unforgettable!
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Tomb Raider: Underworld is a rather unique iteration of the age-old favorite action-adventure series featuring the fearless adventurer, Lara Croft. The game retained the franchise's love for intriguing puzzles and yet, it provided a ton of improvements in terms of adding in a dual-target system, non-linear puzzles (puzzles with multiple solutions), new abilities and tools, as well as a cool all-terrain hybrid motorbike.At the time of writing, Tomb Raider: Underworld would be celebrating its 10th anniversary next year, and as such, the game's graphics isn't exactly up to today's standards. The gameplay may feel rather clunky to some as well. However, if you really want to experience a more recent Tomb Raider that stayed true to the old puzzle-heavy format, this is the game to play.