![]() Pnevmo-Capsula doesn’t run especially smoothly, even on something as powerful as a PS5. ![]() It presents a world that I would love to see explored more, but from a different angle. There are Soviet influences that are strong enough to be noticeable, but by no means overstay their welcome. Most of what you come across sits comfortably within the game’s own style, including the convincing lock-boxes that house/print out the messages you have to deliver. The designs for some of the transport units are downright awesome, evoking a good balance between old-school and futuristic. You see things popping and whirring and clicking and it all feels very science-y and cool. The style is interesting, and works well for a game of this nature. Graphics and Sound – Pnevmo-Capsula’s Strong Suit These just feel like padding, which is unwelcome in a game that is already so slow paced. One final observation is that there are sections based on simple traversal along rails. It doesn’t help that you can’t control the camera, which affects the way your movement inputs are read. Because your interactions are always basic and everything feels same-y, it is more like a repetitive chore than fun. They never make you feel like the creator is two steps ahead of you, or that what you are working on is truly intelligent. The challenges never make you feel smart for solving them. The main issue is that the puzzles do not deliver on the inherent promise of a puzzle game. However, they are hardly ever head-scratchers, and do little to spice things up significantly. There are sections where you have to activate sensors in order to print out a report, and there is a notable section where you are required to work with some light circuitry concepts to get a ramp to operate. Of course, the game introduces a few novel elements every once in a while. You often find yourself lighting up these coils to solve puzzles. They don’t really require much brain-power to solve. The PlayStation Trophies list refers to these sections as labyrinths. Others what I would call ‘obstacles’ rather than puzzles, and involve interacting with nodes to open gates. Most of them are a simple matter of finding the right key-code hidden around the level and then typing it in. I’m sad to say, however, that the puzzles in Pnevmo-Capsula don’t really impress. This is totally fine, as it guides your attention towards the puzzles themselves, which are supposed to be the highlight of the experience anyway. You can move the capsule along the pipe in one of two directions, speed up with the square button, and interact with the world by pressing X. You have very limited ways of interacting with the world. As far as story goes, it’s pretty clear that it wasn’t the main point of the experience. The most human story-telling beat is a letter you need to deliver, which describes a request for a funeral transport after what seems to be a crash. In keeping with the theme, there are a load of government propaganda posters and artwork too. You see some evidence of state surveillance and plenty of advertisements offering work in the fields of avionics and astronautics. For example, there are documents that detail the history of some of the technology in the game and some of its impact, although it’s all very bland and technical. You come across letters and newspapers that suggest a few details about what life is like in this world. The letters are often enticingly oblique.
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