Forklift Man

Puzzle games need a fun and unique set of gameplay mechanics in order to keep the players engaged, otherwise it just feels like you’re doing homework. Solving riddles can be both fun and a chore, although the latter has its charm as well. When you look at games like Portal, on the other hand, it is quite obvious that the main ingredient is fun, even if it might take you dozens of tries to make the desired jump.

Forklift Man is one hell of an idea, and it sort of works at the moment, but there is much work left to be done until gamers can enjoy this without too much frustration. In short, this is a game in which you can stretch your arms and legs as much as you want, which is useful when you want to reach objects, or stand tall and get to a higher platform without having to jump. Unfortunately, things are more complicated than that.

To begin with, there are too many glitches when it comes to grabbing objects and moving them. They drop extremely easy, so any kind of rough move is discouraged. It’s also a annoying if you bump with the object in a wall, regardless of how soft the collision is. Since you’ll have to pick up cubes from uncomfortable positions all the time, the fact that you are not able to hold them very well becomes a bother.

As far as the actual puzzles go, they are not very difficult. In fact, your job is usually to find a way out of the room, or to place a couple of objects in the right spots. Climbing is obviously tricky to realize unless you are very familiar with the controls, given the fact that you have to use cubes as platforms and keep dragging them around. Thankfully, the stretchy legs help a lot with this aspect later on.

In the graphics department, the game actually looks pretty nice, considering the fact that it is an indie production. A well-chosen cartoon effect is plastered on top, which makes the experience a lot more relaxed. This is still Unreal Engine, on the other hand, so the lighting effects are sublime and everything looks pretty smooth overall.

In the end, Forklift Man is a very intriguing game, and it deserves to be transformed into something more enjoyable. As of right now, the awful physics and controls make it rather difficult to have a good time.