Indie Review: Vessel Launches with Sale on Steam & StrangeLoopGames.com Limited Time

Independent developer Strange Loop Games in collaboration with indiePub announced that their internationally recognized liquid-physics puzzle game Vessel. Built on a groundbreaking liquid-physics engine, Vessel allows players to solve puzzles by bringing to life physically-simulated liquid — water, lava, glowing goo, chemicals and more. Continue for the full review.

Welcome back OldSchoolJunkies, we’ve been really busy for a few weeks but today we come back with a look at Vessel from Strange Loop Games and boy oh boy is this a very polished Indie title. Social Gamer here to talk about Vessel and all of it’s liquid physics addictiveness game play.

Story:
You begin the game by getting locked out of your own laboratory by one of your liquid robots (accidentally of course), when a stream of fluid builds up and creates a liquid based robot that automatically heads towards a lock button which shuts you out. Once a small explanation of what you’ll need to do from this point forward you begin your quest to retake your laboratory. The story is simple but the meat of this title is not the story by any means, it’s the addictive game play which in my opinion will have you coming back for more.

Audio:
Vessel’s soundtrack was created by Jon Hopkins and collaboration with top artists like Coldplay, Brian Ino and Imogen Heap. With audio effects giving you subtle cues for working through the game’s puzzles and to be honest, this is a very helpful feature. The sound effects are also sharp crisp and add quality to the overall polish. The audio is engaging and not just filler, it serves a purpose through out the games unique puzzles.

Graphics:
The graphics are stylized with smooth textures and vibrant colors, not to stop there, the lighting is incredible as well. You get a real sense of darkness with many projected light sources found throughout many of the levels. Super smooth liquid animation and physics set the standard for quality mostly found in retail Triple-A titles. For your convenience I’ve captured some actual game play so you can see for yourself. It’s safe to say that Vessel is a treat to see, great eye candy to say the least. I’m happy with the visual direction that Strange Loop Games took with Vessel.

Game Play:
Finally we get to the game play which is (to me) the most important part of any game I recommend to play or purchase. The controls are easy to learn but challenging to master. Fortunately the first few levels gradually get you used to the basic tools you’ll use. I played Vessel using a wireless Xbox 360 controller and once your Xbox controller is connected to your PC the game is easy for anyone to get into, but, you can also play using the ole’ trusty keyboard and mouse.

On closing Vessel is a new Indie game that should not be missed by anyone. Whether you like adventure games or puzzles, you can’t go wrong with Vessel. I can safely recommend downloading Vessel. This game has approximately 10-12 hours of challenging puzzle game play Vessel is now available on Steam and “DRM-free” at Strange Loop Games website for a special limited time the price is $13.49, 10% off the original price of $14.99 but hurry because this price is only for the first week.

**NOTE**
Vessel will also be released on Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PlayStation®Network at a later date. Stay tuned right here at Old School Junkie for future updates.

I easily give Vessel a four out of five star rating for it’s unique gaming experience.

For more information, visit http://www.strangeloopgames.com
You can also follow Strange Loop Games on Twitter for the latest updates on all of their current and future projects.
Join the community on Facebook and share your experience with other Vessel fans on the Official Fan Page.

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Jorge Murphy

Owner – Editor In Chief at OldSchoolJunkie.com
Jorge has been playing games for over two decades and remembers playing games on black and white televisions. He has been collecting home consoles and classic computers from Atari and Commodore and own almost every system released in the U.S. When it comes to retro gaming Jorge is the man to contact. Started writing a few years back on TheBitbag and has since launched his very retro site OldSchoolJunkie.com.