Welcome to the developers at Torshock’s latest game, ‘Total Reload’, an indie game inspired by the ‘Portal’ series. You will quickly find, a linear progression is what comes from this 1st person logic puzzler.

You’ll take control and step into the big shiny shoes of an AI, Robotic body named Hawking, where an accident has left him only able to communicate and guide you through many situations in the single mech suit you find yourself inside of.

As you travel along this Matrix-like cyberspace, you will have to solve puzzles with the tools, such as the grabber you find along the way. Using your equipment to pick up cubes to power more devices, your overall aim essentially is to reconnect his facility and create a new universe.

Think with wires. You have to be smart about your strategies to rewire supplies of power. The puzzles in this game have your brain working overtime.

The main gameplay has you flipping switches; in fact, most of the game, you’ll find yourself flipping power and switches to create a path through the main facility to access further areas.

The true game, however, takes place in the branch rooms. These rooms you HAVE to complete in order to move on further in the game. We won’t spoil that here, but wow, these are fun and a highlight.

Some of the puzzles you will encounter as you work your way through the levels are moving platforms powered by powercubes, or laying wires to switches in the right sequences to open up more Quatium Portals, just to name a few. The use of Quantum Transporters, energy transmitters, energy converters and energy cubes will leave you scratching your head on what steps to take next.

All of the puzzles have fun and challenging elements, leaving you feeling satisfied after the success of each one. It is all very strategic in approach, albeit a repetitive one.

Total Reload seems to lack anything extremely visually interesting with its basic colour scheme. It does at times give us some points worth looking more deeply at, with its sparking wires of vibrant blues and reds lighting up an area, but overall, it’s a very grey monochrome look.

Mixing this look with some decently average sound work, the full experience of whooshing, sparking and static sounds with some interesting background music can often be a little overstimulating.

While during my time I used a mouse and keyboard for the full immersive experience, though a gamepad is recommended, either felt fine and balanced to me, though.

In conclusion, Total Reload is one of those games that you share with your friends in the hopes of an emerging ‘Gem’. A light brain-teasing game that has highs and lows, this game leaves you wanting more as you complete each level.

Written by: Matiyus