7th Sector

We sit down and review 7th Sector. A new take on the cyberpunk platforming puzzle title now on the consoles. Here is our review of 7th Sector

It has been almost a year since 7th Sector dropped on the PC gaming world and now we are back to look at the game as Sometimes You brings it on over to the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. In our case, we are looking specifically at the PS4 version of the game, but I am sure it will feel about the same across the rest. This is just a port over of 7th Sector with console-specific design changes at the end of the day. The real question here is if it is going to be worth your time and money to give it a go on these new platforms or not. Here is our review of how the game holds up on the new platforms it has now.

Story

There really is not much of a big story, without spoiling anything, to tell you here. If I had to sum up the basics, you are some form of electrical impulse in a cyberpunk world doing just what you are designed to do. That being jumping from machine to wires to machines and all manner of other things you can control. All to progress on to one of the multiple endings that you can get to after solving all of the puzzles.

Hated

One of the harder things that it seems to be when porting games over to the consoles from PC is that of the controller scheme and it seems to be plaguing things for 7th Sector. That was my experience here as it felt like the developer tried to make more use of the analog sticks than a keyboard would allow. You move in various directions via wires or other machines. Later on in the game it makes a bit more sense to do, but when the options should be any of the directional paths, 7th Sector gets a bit muddled as it cannot seem to dictate Up from Up and Slightly Left. It is a bit more of a frustration in the game than anything game-breaking, but worth noting as it had me getting upset in many different places early on.

My other big gripe, and this is partially a feature in the game, is that 7th Sector does not give you much in the way of direction or help for puzzles. Again, not a huge issue, but it did leave me skipping parts of the game that I could because there was no real direction visible. Something that is a huge hold up when the puzzle is required to move forward. In fact, there was a puzzle early on in 7th Sector that had me thinking there was a glitch in the game as there was no easy way to figure out what to do. Sure, there was a huge feeling of accomplishment when I did solve it, but I was quickly getting to the point of turning the game off to move on to others. Something I can see many other gamers looking to do instead of pressing on.

Loved

Continuing on to the puzzles of 7th Sector, they were also some of the best parts of the game. A good thing as it is something that is the selling point of it all. Even when there were puzzles that were frustrating, some of them were also designed in a way that had me question my common sense as I was overthinking things. That or missing little clues on how to solve. All of which was more on user error and not how 7th Sector was designed. This is also something I can see being easier to do with analog sticks and not a keyboard/mouse set up on the PC. Especially once you get into the areas that are more three dimensional and not side-scrolling. This is where much of it truly shined.

Speaking of shining and all, one of the other great things about 7th Sector is the look and sound of it all. The art style and effects carried over so well and the world felt the right level of grime to fit a cyberpunk setting. Then when you mix in all of the ambient noises and soundtrack for 7th Sector, the world truly felt like it came alive. Even little details of the mechanical clanks of robots or the noises made by humans in the background all lent to a truly disturbing and fun environment to be in. All the proper levels of dark for the setting but not on the verge of becoming a horror title at all. Then when you mix in the vibrant colors traditionally used in a cyberpunk setting, the world all felt like it came alive and could be something we live in.

Overview

If you played 7th Sector over on the PC, it can be a bit hard to recommend giving it another go on the consoles unless you truly want to. While I did not hate my experience with it, I never felt like it was something that needed to be picked up again after having it for a year. If this is the first you are hearing of 7th Sector and enjoy puzzle games in the slightest, then you will enjoy this title and should add it into the mix. There are some frustrating sections, sure, but the feeling of accomplishment when all is said and done is well worth that price. More so, when it can all be a nice little distraction between larger releases that you might be waiting for.

I give 7th Sector 9 Downloadable Items on the Downloadable Item scale.

7th Sector was developed and published by Sometimes You for the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch on February 5^th, 2020. A PS4 copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes.