Video Game Review – Heroes Reborn: Enigma

Tai Freligh reviews Heroes Reborn: Enigma…

If you’ve read any of my reviews of the new Heroes Reborn television mini-series, you’ll know that I am a huge geek about anything Heroes.  So when I saw that they had made a mobile companion game called Enigma, I had to try it out.  Here’s the official game description:

Since fans last saw HEROES, the world has become a dangerous place for EVOs – evolved humans gifted with supernatural powers. Serving as a prequel for the “HEROES REBORN” television series, HEROES REBORN: Enigma is a first person action puzzle game. Players become Dahlia, an evolved human with incredible abilities, seeking to escape the clutches of a secret government facility known as The Quarry. From the mind of Tim Kring, creator of the HEROES Universe, HEROES REBORN: Enigma boasts over 30 levels and lets players master special abilities such as telekinesis and time shifting, challenging them to unravel the mysteries of The Quarry.

Heroes Reborn: Enigma is developed by Phosphor Games/Imperative Entertainment and uses the Unreal Engine 4 to serve up some incredibly detailed and stunning graphics, especially for a mobile game.  The environment is very interactive and immersive and relies on a puzzle solving form of gameplay.  The controls were frustrating to get used to, but with some patience and practice I quickly mastered movement and using the three different powers that your character uses in the game.

The first power is telekinesis…Dahlia can move boxes around and set them down gently or throw them in the air.  Another power is slowing down time to a crawl.

The third power is shifting between the present and the past.  Players must figure out what combination of these three powers to use and in what order to solve puzzles and advance through levels.  The puzzles get increasingly harder the further you get.  Thankfully, there are walk-throughs available online for some of the earlier levels.  I found myself stuck at various spots in the game and started to feel like the game was a bit too repetitive.  I finally had to take a break at level 12 after trying way too many times to beat the level, despite knowing exactly what I needed to do and not being able to exactly hit it.  My hope is that later levels are a bit more varied and involve interacting with people instead of just objects, so my grade for this game is a tentative one until I can get further in the game.

Overall, the graphics are incredible and the game-play very immersive.  The puzzles are a real challenge to solve, but the satisfaction of beating a level is awesome.  The controls take a bit to get used to, but with practice this becomes a non-issue.  If solving puzzles is your thing, then this mobile game is for you.  If a bit more action and variety is your thing, then you might want to try something else or at least wait and see if the higher levels change things up a bit.

Heroes Reborn: Enigma is available on iOS and Android for $4.99 and is out now.  More information is available at http://www.imperativeentertainment.com/heroesuniverse/.

Rating: 8/10

Tai Freligh

(Article originally appeared on Flickering Myth)