Chronology (PC) Review

Chronology's story begins with good intentions; an introductory cut-scene presenting a world on the brink of disaster due to overuse of a substance known as 'vapor,' used to power all of humanity's machines. It is a powerful eco message that has many allusions to the humanity of real life. The pity is that this initial promise of something deep and meaningful never materialises beyond the level of a children's cartoon. Indeed the plot has barely begun before it is over with extremely limited levels of exposition and an extremely forgettable villain, beaten literally with the press of one button.

When players first take control of the main character - a cute old professor and his time travelling device - the game's strongest feature is on show to see. Chronology's world is a beautiful and contrasting one, taking advantage of the professor's device to show the colourful and vibrantly drawn present world, against a bleak, rain-filled future with broken machinery and devastation potentially caused by humanity. Likewise the second character players control is a humorous little talking snail with the ability to freeze time altogether.

It is through the combination of these two powers that Chronology delivers its puzzle-based gameplay, freezing time as the snail for the professor to jump across moving platforms or finding items in the past and bringing them back to the present to climb over obstacles. Very rarely do the puzzles evolve beyond simply jumping over things - only once or twice requiring more than a modicum of thought or precise timing.

Sound design is definitely Chronology's other strong suit with a soundtrack that seems professionally composed and is a cut above many Indie games. The characters' actual voices are mixed bag. The professor has a pleasant voice reminiscent of a kindly old German man, yet his snail companion definitely has the potential to grate with an irritating child-like voice and corny dialogue.

Given the aforementioned dialogue, it is debateable if this is a blessing or a curse, but story content is extremely limited and simply involves a 20 second cut-scene at the end of each of the game's eight chapters. If the chapter number seems small, it is, and undoubtedly the biggest disappointment of the game comes from its shameful one-two hour long linear story, with no reason to replay.