Title: Tentacles Enter The Mind
Developer: Press Play Studios
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: Adventure
Platform(s): Windows
Price: Free-to-play
After the success of Max: The Curse of Brotherhood on consoles, Press Play ventures to Windows 8 as a platform. The last time I interviewed Rune Dittmer, the Studio Director at Press Play, he mentioned that a sequel to Tentacles: Enter The Dolphin will be releasing soon. Since then I have been very excited to check out Tentacles: Enter The Mind. My excitement was hampered when Press Play released the first trailer, I was a bit worried about the 3D approach they were taking to the game. All these worries were put to rest as soon as I got to play the actual game. Releasing a game for Windows 8 is not an easy task, a developer needs to ensure the game works well with keyboard, mouse, touchscreen and a possible controller. In this case Press Play have done an excellent job in maintaining unity in the control scheme. The transition between the two control schemes (keyboard+mouse Vs. touch) is seamlessly achieved. A touch friendly guy or a hard-core keyboard mouse user share the same level of control in Enter the Mind.
Whether you are new or have an old hand with the franchise, you’ll feel at home with Enter The Mind. There is a striking resemblance with Max: The Curse Of Brotherhood in the story department. It is charmingly simple and easy to grip, but just like with Max, it is something you will not remember for a long period of time. The story is about a troubled doctor, who has gone nuts after conducting some crazy experiments. You, the tentacles, is being sent to the doctor’s brain to bring him back to how we was, just a doctor. To execute your goal you will have to pass through number of different brain layers. With the help of the character design and distinct brain layers Press Play have succeeded in creating some humor in the game. The game may not be able to make you laugh, but it will bring a smile to your face. The story progression is highly dependent on other characters, it is one of the few games where the main character does not derive the main plot, but the other characters definitely do. Tentacles being a free-to-play game, my expectations from a story standpoint were meek, but I was wrong.
Killing enemies drop ‘eyes’, which you’ll have to collect throughout the game. These eyes play a major role in the game, they are your key source to unlock new brain layers. The complexity of a level varies from time to time. It is nearly impossible for one to predict how the next level will play out. Talking about enemies, a whole bunch of new enemies have been introduced in the game, barring a handful which have been carried over from the predecessor with some minor artstyle changes.
Taking a page from Tentacles: Enter The Dolphin, the environment as an enemy returns, but it has a much more significant role in Enter The Mind. This time you have a much better arsenal to fight your enemies. Besides the standard attacks you can unlock different types of powers which help you to leave a lasting impact on your enemies. For the first time in Tentacles, you can now upgrade your gear. Upgrading your gear does not enhance or change your look in any way, its a stats thing. Moreover, you will hardly be able to spot any differences between the new and old gear you have purchased. It is during the gameplay when you notice the upgrades in action.
Death in Tentacles can be very punishing, if one dies during the level he/she will have to begin the level from the very beginning. Most of these small changes aid in increasing the gameplay time substantially. Tentacles has its own unique currency, namely the coins. These coins can be purchased through different mediums, you can either directly purchase them with real money, or by completing challenges and winning coin multipliers, which are plenty. Throughout my gameplay I was not once forced to purchase coins. Press Play have already added enough resources for one’s cash flow. Besides all of this I still spent a little of my real money to support the developers.
The 3D approach by the developer might have surprised many players, but isn’t as big as a deal I expected it to be. Enter The Mind actually works much better than its sole predecessor. The 3D design of the game lets the player engage the same situation through a different perspective, it even allowed the developer to streamline the controls for PC users and give the artstyle a new direction. The music department has received a special treatment, there are cases when the background music is the indicator towards enemies or collectibles. Thanks to Xbox integration, those looking to add achievements to their Tentacles collection will have a good time with Enter The Mind.
