Vitrum Review

Vitrum is a puzzle game originally released in 2012 and has just hit Steam this year so we thought we’d take a look. The aim of the game is to navigate each room, to reach its escape tunnel and move on to the next room (there are 50 in total).

You are thrown straight into the game, no introduction or explanation to give you motivation for your adventures. All you have is the lack of any clue where you are or why and a nagging curiosity to find out. Levels are all presented the same way, with a variation on different elements, leaving you to work out how to get out. They all look like glorified metal underground tunnels, only with a more futuristic feel, with screens and crystals dotted around to aid you on your puzzle-solving journey.

Each level has a few different aspects to keep track of. In each one there are small blue crystal shards hidden around the area for you to find. They are essentially the collectibles of the game and when you complete each level a small popup will display telling you how many there were and how many you managed to find. Also recorded in this popup is the time it took you to solve the room and how many times you died whilst trying to do so.

You’ll need to overcome obstacles in order to get to each escape tunnel/door in order to move to the next level. They are quite basic, but do require some seriously logical thinking to beat, especially as the game goes on and more elements are introduced. Sensor pads lie around every room, needing some form of object to be placed on them to trigger a open door (some doors require more than one) and you need to find the objects to keep the triggers on.

Of course they are located in increasingly complicated places: in a corner closed off by deadly crystals, or underneath a laser that you’ll need to crouch under to grab. Sounds pretty simple right? And it is until another game mechanic comes into play; big crystals. These special crystals give you certain powers, like mad jumping skillz, or super-fast dashing (to get past other crystals that emit a pushback pulse) and the most interesting, turning everything upside down.

This is where the game gains a layer of complexity. Using these topsy-turvy inducing crystal powers spins everything around, and that sensor pad you could see on the ceiling is now on the floor and actually accessible. It does make it a little confusing and you’ll need to keep your wits about you as it can get easy to lose your bearings.

You are left to work out pretty much everything for yourself, there is no audio explanation or interaction of any kind, which makes Vitrum feel a bit bleak and lonely, but it works for the setting. There is a little instruction in the form of screens that are placed strategically to give hints on what to expect or do within their close vicinity. For example, the first time you come across lasers, you’ll see a sign saying “mind the lasers” or some such wording. Of course the sign is on the wall behind the low and very subtle shimmering line of laserness, so if you’re not really paying enough attention, or just terribly unobservant like us, you will probably be caught out here and end up rather dead.

Dying results in going back to the beginning of the level, unless there is a checkpoint. However, all progress is not lost as any crystal shards collected do not need to be found again. All steps you have taken to open that escape tunnel do need to be repeated though and that is pretty frustrating, especially if the area is a longer, complicated one.

This would be fine if Vitrum was a game which gave you some sort of reason for playing it. A light narrative, however simple would have gone a long way, like Portal. You play Portal not just for the puzzle-solving elements, but to satiate the curiosity that is planted in your head by the plot. Vitrum is actually a lot like Portal but inferior on every single level.

Vitrum is a very elementary puzzle solver, with a real lack of motivation to play it and little to no replay value, other than wanting to find all the crystal shards or beating your completion time. It is a shame because it could have been immensely improved with the addition of a story. In fact the lack of any reward, either physical or emotional at the end, feels like a bit of a slap in the face. As it stands, it runs along the same vein as Minesweeper and Solitaire; existing for a quick puzzle-solving fix for when you have literally nothing else to do, a poor man’s Portal.