I had pretty high expectations for this level considering how great some other works I’ve played by Vizitek are, but for something that predates Silhouette Garden… this absolutely surpassed any concept I had of how good this level was going to be. This level is absolutely stellar. Not only does it look phenomenal and play really well, but it also houses some of the greatest atmosphere I’ve seen in a level below XL length.

Starting with the weaker of the two components here, I think the gameplay is alright, but certainly has a little bit of room for improvement. Most of it is pretty strong, especially in the opening sections. The first cube is pretty simple, only featuring a handful of timings and little else in the way of creativity. I still like this part, especially since the overhead spikes make the section feel more claustrophobic and dangerous, but otherwise it’s fairly unremarkable. But then you get to the ship section, and this is probably the highlight of the gameplay. Creatively, it’s not extremely noteworthy, but this section feels so good because it feels so daunting. I’ll get more into why this is later, but the precision flying here feels terrifying in a way. In particular, the series of portals where you just hold is really awesome. It kind of forces you to trust the level, but since the section already has an untrustworthy feeling to it, it’s like being in a state of limbo where you can’t really know for sure if the portals will actually deliver you to the end. Again, all of this contributes to the greater level in a way that will be detailed later, but for now I’m just covering it overall. With that, I do want to quickly note the final section, because I feel like this is unfortunately the main thing holding this level back. I tend to enjoy faster sections in levels a little bit less than slower paced ones so that’s probably affecting my judgement, but I found the final UFO and Robot both significantly harder than the rest of the level, and also unfair? Kind of? I mean, it’s not too bad, but I felt like some of the moving obstacles really made it difficult to judge click timings. They’re alright, but were an unfortunate conclusion to a level that is otherwise extremely solid.

I think this is stellar on a visual level. What immediately caught my attention was the heavy use of these choppy animations. I fell in love with this kind of animation when djudjeito did it in Out of Place, so any time I see it now it’s just… so good man. The animations like the eye at the start and swinging chains at the end absolutely are absolutely stand-out details that really bring the level to life, but I would be remiss to neglect some more subtle details where the ground shifts into place, or the narrow pillars in the brief cube intermission before the drop that uncomfortable squirm in place. On top of this, the color scheme is doing a lot of favors to the level. Aside from gameplay components, it’s entirely black and red. This is a really powerful palette on its own, but it goes beyond that, since the red almost always reflects blood in some way. The level is relatively minimalistic due to that limited color scheme, but it’s also weirdly grotesque.

I think it achieves that through atmosphere, ultimately. On its own the level is kind of simplistic, but what makes it so special is the world building and song rep. And I think that’s why this level is able to achieve what it does at such a short length. There is a degree of progression, and it feels special because of how quickly it falls apart. The opening is desolate and hollow. The jumps are tight, as I mentioned, sending an illusion of confinement, but the song doesn’t really reflect that. Droplets of water can be heard, and they echo out for a couple seconds, telling you that this is a big area. It doesn’t feel big though, because the gameplay crams you into this tight area where you clearly can’t roam free. My conspiracy theory here is that this is a sewer of sorts. You may roll your eyes and say, “well, obviously, there are storm drains and flowing “water” all over the place. How could it not be a sewer?” And, I mean, I agree with that, but I’m greatly appreciative of the fact that the level isn’t just relying on imagery for that. It’s about feel. It emulates all of the characteristics of the environment it portrays. The way it looks. The way it sounds. The way it feels. Even the way it smells, with the lyrics of the song. In that way, the level sort of reminds me of Man Man, since that level also used a variety of details to immerse you in a highly uncomfortable and disgusting setting. The level isn’t clearly about something ugly beneath the surface, and it all comes together so well in the end. It’s a pity that the end of this level doesn’t fit the atmosphere like the rest does, because it’s kind of the crux of a level that is absolutely stellar otherwise. But, at the very least, the design is on point, so it’s hard to complain too much. Great level by Vizitek; I am more hype than every to play Before Machinery soon.