Magrunner: Dark Pulse Critic Reviews

Magrunner: Dark Pulse is a great puzzle game that you might be tempted to dismiss as being unoriginal. If you make that mistake, you will be cheating yourself out of a memorable experience.

Fans of both Portal and other puzzle games should really take a look. For $20, players will get a good seven to eight hour game that tells a decent story and offers up some pretty challenging game play puzzles.

Forget the rumours that Magrunner is just a cheap copy of Portal. That's a lie. In fact, there is no comparison to any title. This is simply one hell of a greatly thought-out puzzle game.

While the execution misses in a few areas, Magrunner is a fun game that's worth your time if you're looking for an action-puzzle game.

A great addition to a family of the Portal games. Instead of Portal Gun you play with an electromagnetic glove, and you break a sweat while working out your progress.

Have you heard from a little game called Portal? The guys at 3AM Games sure haven't, because Magrunner is almost an exact replica of the Valve's award-winning masterpiece. The portals are replaces with magnetism and the level design takes it's from Ctulhu mytology, but other than that, it's pure Portal from start to finish.

A great puzzle game, Magrunner challenges you step for step. The difficulty gradually gets more difficult and it takes a while before you see the end screen. With some rooms being without any addition, it feels a bit empty sometimes.

Quotation forthcoming.

It lacks Valve's charm but this magnet-based puzzler is more attractive than repulsive.

Dark Pulse may owe heavy debts to Portal, but its combination of magnetism and Cthulhu make it an enjoyable game in its own right.

Portal is still the champion in the category of ‘first-person puzzle games’ but Magrunner enters the ring without shame. The idea of infusing a futuristic puzzle game with horror elements (Cthulhu!) did not work out that well, but the problems for the player to solve are clever and demanding.

Magrunner does scratch an important itch, though: it gets the first-person puzzler genre, and it provides a new and dynamic set of mechanics that feel just different enough from other games in the genre.

It's not going to make history, but if you like puzzles, action and Lovecraft, this is a game you should try.

Powerful ambiance, interesting storyline and good puzzle's design. Magrunner: Dark Pulse it's an remarkable adventure puzzle game but it's not perfect. Maybe the sequel will be better.

Portal versus Lovecraft? Sounds intriguing. Unfortuntaly subtle horror is not Magrunner’s strength. But the puzzle and leveldesign is solid enough to entertain.

Starting from the interesting idea of creating a Portal clone set in the future, with some elements taken from H.P. Lovercraft, Magrunner ends up as a funny game but nothing more. A good chance to create something different, only partially accomplished.

Magrunner: Dark Pulse may be a modest game, but it's a nice game nevertheless. In spite of a story which doesn't really matter and a "Chtulhu touch" underused, Magrunner does well with his gameplay and it's enough to give us some good moments. And forgive the weakness of the last part of the game.

Portal's influence is on evidence at every turn, but Magrunner still retains quite a bit of individuality, enough at least, to not come off as another clone. Still, the certain something is missing from this, which I found mainly to be down to the game not playing the horror card more decisively.

There is some "good fun" within Magrunner, that kind that only a puzzle game can give.

As it is, there are too many frustrations, and I didn’t feel compelled to keep playing on the merit of the puzzles alone. You will get a lot of hours out of it for your money though, along with an engaging storyline.