Weakless Review

I love to see new devs coming in with new ideas; it shows that there’s always something new and interesting that can be brought to the table. Weakless, by Polish developer Cubeish Games and published by Punk Notion, is a great example. What’s great about this little game is not only is it a puzzle adventure game, but it’s one the likes of which I haven’t seen done before. That’s not to say that it’s wholly original, of course, but when you put the whole experience together it’s quite an interesting ride.

Weakless follows two interesting tree like people – known as Weavlings – with the catch being that one is deaf and one is blind. We play as both characters, dealing with each ones disadvantages, playing them off of each other to solve puzzles by switching between the two. As the blind Weavling you will have nothing but a black and white screen, though you can perform a move to the area of view larger for a period of time, helping you to get further into the game. As the deaf Weavling you will be able to interact with objects as well as jump up onto higher levels – plus the world is presented in colour too.

As you begin Weakless, you won’t get any real help with what to do, or even getting to grips with the controls. Being a puzzle based game this makes it quite awkward; for the first hour I found things quite a struggle, especially when you’re given every type of test right off the bat.

The game isn’t terribly long. In fact, I would say it’s quite the opposite, but what does glue the experience together is the fact the puzzles are nicely put together. It becomes a bit of a nature vs machines when you get further and further, and almost brings out a kind of mother nature is suffering feel in its messaging; a reminder of how we are ruining everything with man made machines. Weakless doesn’t force it down your throat though, and others may glance over this aspect entirely, but it definitely resonated with me.

Once you get out of your village and you start your journey the two unlikely hero’s begin to unfold the story of the forest. As you progress deeper and deeper the puzzles will start to get a little more complex. One thing I did notice though is how I didn’t get lost in along the way. It’s pretty much a linear path all the way through so as long as you keep moving forward there’s little chance to go wrong.

Conclusion

Weakless is really colourful and vibrant and shows good promise if the team decide to do more work like this. There’s lots going on depending on who you play as which I found great. The contrast in gameplay between the deaf and blind Weavlings forces you to constantly analyse a situation and using them both to overcome obstacles is satisfying and rewarding. Overall my experience was enjoyable, it’s just a shame that it all ended so soon.

This game was tested and reviewed on Xbox One. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by the publisher.