Total Reload scratches that Portal itch with clever puzzles that make you feel like a genius when everything finally clicks
It feels like it's been 50 years since Portal 2 came out. In reality, it's been considerably less, but the wait for puzzle games that deliver that same kind of thoughtful design can make it feel that long. Total Reload is one of the few that has managed to scratch that itch for me. Its story might not stick with me, but its brain teasers absolutely will.
You find yourself inside a huge futuristic mechanism as HAWKING, an artificial intelligence working to activate a process capable of restarting the universe. Getting there means exploring its spaces and figuring out how to bring its systems online. That's a big premise for what is ultimately a rather lonely journey through rooms filled with switches, cables, energy beams, and devices that initially look like they were designed specifically to make your brain hurt.
The basic idea is to work out how power gets from one place to another. You connect energy sources, lay down cables, activate switches, and figure out how to use the devices around you to reach the next part of the mechanism. Portals link different locations, adding another layer to the way you think about where things are and how everything connects.
A good example is a room where a moving platform needs power to get you across a gap. You have to work out where to connect a cable, flip the right switch, and consider where you need to be when the platform starts moving. Elsewhere, power cubes and energy filters add another wrinkle, making you think about which device needs electricity now and which one can wait. Opening a door can be the beginning of a solution rather than the whole answer.
The larger structure is a puzzle too. When a route through the main facility needs another source of power, a Quantum Transporter can take you to a separate area to solve its own challenge. Getting that energy flowing and returning to the main path makes each smaller breakthrough feel like part of a bigger job.
What I really enjoyed is the moment when a puzzle stops looking like a jumble of disconnected parts. At first, I would stare at the room, follow an energy beam, try a switch, and wonder what the hell I was missing. Then I'd notice a connection I hadn't considered, or realize that something I'd already used might have another purpose. Suddenly the whole thing would start making sense.
That sweet a-ha moment is why I love games like this. Total Reload understands that the satisfaction comes from letting you put the pieces together. It's a similar pleasure to the one I found in The Entropy Centre, although that game's puzzles ask you to think about time while Total Reload is more interested in how you route power and navigate its spaces.
The later puzzles can be real brain-fryers. The game builds on its ideas and asks you to keep more of the room in mind at once, so you can't always rely on the first obvious thing you see. I spent time turning problems over in my head, trying to understand how the various bits fit together. When I finally got through, the solution felt earned, which is exactly what I want from a good puzzle game.
It also helps that Total Reload looks cool. Its palette is mostly gray, white, and blue, with occasional splashes of red, but the cel-shaded style gives the machinery and environments a distinct personality. There's a clean, futuristic look to the place that suits the puzzles, and the colors help give all those devices and energy effects room to stand out.
I played it on the ROG Xbox Ally X, where it ran like a dream. It's a great fit for the handheld: I could settle in, take my time looking around, and work through a puzzle without the hardware getting in the way. The sharp visual style also looks great on the Ally X's screen.
The part that didn't grab me nearly as much was the story. There are markings on the walls that offer glimpses of what's going on if you pay close attention, and I appreciate that the game leaves some things for you to piece together. But those hints never made me particularly invested in the world or gave me a compelling reason to follow the story beyond seeing the next puzzle.
I also wish there were a more intriguing character to accompany the journey. I'm not expecting every first-person puzzle game to give me a GLaDOS or a Wheatley. Those two are goats for a reason. Still, a memorable personality could have brought a little more life to the spaces between Total Reload's excellent challenges. As it stands, the sense of isolation fits the setting, but it doesn't make up for a story that left me wanting more.
Even so, I had a great time with Total Reload. Its puzzles are smart, its art style has character, and it feels wonderful to play on the ROG Xbox Ally X. If you've been waiting for a first-person puzzler that can leave you confused one minute and feeling brilliant the next, this is well worth a look. Thanks for reading!
