Reviews

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  faithwalkergirl

  Aug 2, 2022

  This is a great game that really works your brain. There were some rooms that I thought I'd never get through and I had to rest for a while and come back to it later, so it's a good, challenging game. It has a well paced introduction of new elements and lets you know how to use them without giving too much of the strategy away. My 12 year old grandson has a logical, mechanical mind, and he was able to grasp the solution of several of the rooms he watched me play well before I did. However, this ole' grandma was able to get through the whole game and I only had to watch a walk-through for one room. I highly recommend this game, it's a lot of fun and great exercise for your mind! If you liked the Talos Principle and the Portal games, I think that you'll like the Turing Test, also.
• 

  macwh

  Aug 15, 2022

  TLDR

  The Turing Test is a 3D puzzle platformer in the likes of Portal, which attempts to be more serious and deeper but without much success

  Context

  The Turing Test is a 3D puzzle platformer that follows an astronaut, aided by an AI, investigating a missing ground crew. Although at first sight it seems to be similar to games like Portal and The Talos Principle, it’s not really on the same league, lacking the quality of world building and level design, the narrative level of the former and the philosophical depth of the latter. To me, The Turing Machine is better compared with Q.U.B.E: Director’s Cut.

  Plot

  To me, this is the poorest aspect of the game. The plot revolves around the discovery of an alien life, and the human crew and the AI having conflicting opinions on how to react. The problem is that - following a typical space exploration trope - the crew’s actions are so dumb, that you have no choice but to support the AI. Either this was due to poor writing, or the devs really advocate that all human endeavour should be led by AIs. It also doesn’t help that the main dialogs, discussing the philosophical issues in question, are naive to the point of sounding childish. To the devs credit, the game has some more exploratory intermissions between chapters that give more insight on the crew’s lives that is absent in similar games (unfortunately, I’ve recently played Tacoma which does this much better, but without the puzzle component).

  Aesthetics

  The game actually looks quite good, particularly the non-puzzle stages. Animation and movement are very fluid and elegant. The soundtrack is a bit repetitive but nothing too intrusive. Voice acting is decent, but it is not helped by the badly written dialogs. The crew audio logs don't have subtitles which make many unintelligible. Since there are subtitles for the dialogues, this seems to have been a poorly-thought conscious decision by the devs.

  Gameplay

  The main mechanics involves manipulating energy goblets using a “gun”, which are used to activate and move elements in the levels. Puzzles are completely self-contained, and have a medium difficulty

  except for one optional level

  . The puzzle style and their complexity feel similar to QUBE. There’s also a twist in the gameplay that I felt was pretty clever. You can’t die, but can reach deadends, and you’ll just have to restart the level. The game autosaves at the end of each level. Mid-level progress isn’t saved when you leave.

  Value

  It took me 8h to complete the game, so perhaps the price tag is a bit high for a 2016 game. You can revisit previous chapters from the menu, and there is a single progress slot. Achievements are related to completing the game and the optional puzzles. There are not additional puzzles other than those of the main campaign, so replayable mostly to revisit the puzzles.

• 

  Reborn

  Aug 27, 2022

  Great puzzle game with interesting story line. The puzzles are not difficult and you'll need to resolve all puzzles to prove that you are not a robot. Achievements are mostly straight forward except for the optional 1 which cannot be reasonably resolved when it is first encountered.
• 

  RobotSnot

  Sep 26, 2022

  If you enjoyed Portal/Portal 2 you may enjoy The Turing Test. The story line is captivating. There are side stories if you can find them. It's a great game for AI/space enthusiasts, or folks that love puzzle games.
• 

  BeefEX

  Dec 11, 2022

  On par with The Talos Principle, and miles better than Portal. Excellent puzzle design and great story and voice acting.
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  Shinamus

  Dec 25, 2022

  Wow, just wow! Loved it! Loved the theories, thought experiments, the real life academic pieces! Chapeau!
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  rjmazzeo

  Dec 31, 2022

  Enjoyed the story as much as the puzzles
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  Tat011

  Jan 8, 2023

  Frankly the game is just ok, the puzzles are really really easy (exept for like the last one) the story is ok, it brings up interesting philosofical questions but doesn't really go anywere with them, the ending is really lame, it has some not exactly minor plot holes. It's just really forgetable tbh.
• 

  Incredibly average

  Aug 31, 2016

  Before raging: I actually BOUGHT this game rather than receiving it for free. Keeping it short and overseeable, as nobody likes lengthy reviews anyway. 7/10 puzzle game. Pros: -Graphics are genuinely good -Not frustrating to play for the largest part -Voice acting is good -Story isn't too bad -Strangely unsettling moments due to clever writing Cons: -Too easy -Plenty of reading, which is nice and all - but not really why I want to play games in all frankness -Plot is spoiled a bit too early imo -Story is a bit pretentious and more than once falls flat on its face trying to depict how AI really works -Very little replayability Overall it's good. Fair pricetag for what it is.
• 

  Death Master

  Aug 31, 2016

  Couple hours in and onto chapter 3 love it so far, puzzles are not too hard but some do make you think a little. This is not a Portal or Talos Principle rip off but is more like the love child of them. Couple more hours into it dont go on play time as i left it open fro a couple hours while i was doing other things. Anyway just got done with chapter 5 its getting kinda intresting and i am still enjoying it. What i can tell you is the puzzles are still in my opinion not exactly hard and there is a couple repeat types of puzzle but with a little twist in the second one. many of them do require you to think sideways but most are straight forward enough to work out without too much hassle. One of the things that i dont seem to like is the fact that you cant just climb a ladder you have to click your action key to do so. The only other thing i dont like is the action key is always in your face or the mouse button is showing and telling you what to press at each of the places where you can, i am not a big fan of a big E key popping up all the time and there is no option to remove that but maybe that will come in a patch. Ill write more when i get done, well worth the price i paid for it (I Bought the Collectors Edition a month before release).
• 

  vacmurse

  Sep 3, 2016

  I needed a break from The Witness and Obduction, so I got The Turing Test. Coming from these other games, the puzzles are fairly trivial. There were a few of them that stumped me for a small amount of time, but mostly fairly easy. But that's not the point, because the story line and dialogue is so excellent, that you can't wait to drive the story further. From beginning to end, I absolutely loved the story. Kinda Philip K Dick-ish and it held me till the end. Definitely grab this game.
• 

  anamaria

  Dec 23, 2016

  The Turing Test is a wonderful combination of challenging puzzles, well-written dialogue and interesting themes. First, I'll go over the pros: + Fantastic puzzle design + A large variety of puzzle elements + Great optimisation + Nice visuals (aesthetically and graphically) + Good voice acting Neutral: * Story (I quite liked it but some may not) * Lack of co-op * One or two crashes, nothing refund-worthy Cons: - The ability to turn off chromatic aberration would have been nice, IMO it's not a great effect - Some people may be disappointed by its length (I 100%ed the game in 5-6 hours) Overall, an engaging puzzler with a fascinating plot, and there is some extra story information for those who want it. Someone put it greatly in another review: "Portal has humour, The Witness has exploration, The Talos Principle has Philosophy." This game has robots. I give it a 8/10.
• 

  IDK31

  Feb 13, 2017

  Really enjoyable game. I was worried when I read some people thought the puzzles were easy. They are in hindsight, but it seems each level throws you a curveball. You have to use a learned mechanic in a different way. The levels can be a little daunting and hard to absorb at first, but there's really nothing difficult here. Just learn the trick for that level. That's the rewarding part. At least twice I thought a level was impossible. They're not. Also, don't skip the optional puzzles protected by the forcefield. Those are the more difficult ones. I didn't care for the chromatic aberration. Luckily, it goes away with medium graphic settings and still looks amazing. Please make a sequel ASAP!
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  Doctor_Schultz

  Jun 27, 2017

  Do you like Portal? Do you like Interstellar? Do you like The Talos Principal? If you answer yes to any of these questions, I think you are really going to enjoy this game. The puzzles are do able, but also challenging. But no too challenging. I did need to look up a tutorial for a few levels, but that was only because I wasn't noticing something about the puzzle. Every time I was stumped was completely my fault, and not at all the game's. The voice acting is pretty good, especially with Tom, the "antagonist". I say this because he is clearly meant to be shown as the antagonist, but his motives are understandable and, to some, even agreeable. His choices are ethical or harmful depending on how you look at it and from who's point of view. The story, needless to say, is pretty decent, and compelling enough to keep you going through the 4-5 hour campaign. The graphics are very good, with pretty lighting and shiny textures. The animations are also decent enough, really the only complaint I have is the walking animations of the humans at the end, but that is a very, very minor complaint, and not at degrades my opinion of this game. Over all, this is a must play if you are a Portal or The Talos Principal fan that is looking for some puzzling to do.
• 

  v

  Feb 19, 2018

  A mix between Portal and Space Odyssey with some interesting theories about machines, AI and relative moral stuff. It has nice graphics, nice ambient music, full audio dialogs and easy gameplay. The puzzle difficulty is medium ranged with only a few areas that are harder to solve. The only negative aspects I've found so far, are the lack of subtitles during the various audio recordings and the fact that I couldn't start the game with DirectX 12, unless I restarted Steam.
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  champion 3-year-old

  Feb 19, 2018

  my recommendation for this game is fairly circumstantial, as i can only suggest it if [olist] [*]you liked the talos principle, [i] and [/i] [*]you enjoyed its thought-provoking philosophical questions, [i] but [/i] [*]you want easier puzzles in a shorter game, [i] and [/i] [*]you dont mind your stories a little hamfisted [/olist] both games focus on morality, free will, and the distinction between man and machine while the talos principle is a pretty lengthy, and at times challenging game, the turing test lets puzzles take a back seat to let the [i] (less than great) [/i] story shine
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  niX

  Mar 11, 2018

  [i]The Turing Test[/i] is a first person puzzle game. There are 7 chapters, each with 10 puzzles per level. In each chapter, there is also a bonus challenge puzzle. When a new room is entered, a snippet of dialogue will feed the player story in small increments. When the end of a chapter is reached, a non-puzzle room can be explored to get more of the game's story. Puzzles will scale up in difficulty as the game progresses, and each new chapter will introduce a new mechanic. The character we control is a woman named Ava Turing. With the aide of an AI named T.O.M, we progress through the game and try to find our missing crew members. [h1]Pros[/h1] + [i]Very stimulating.[/i] The puzzles really hit the sweet spot on difficulty. It scales up in difficulty beautifully and never leaves you feeling stuck for too long. For those new to the puzzle genre or are worried about anything too difficult - don't fear. The puzzles in this game are actually fairly simplistic. + [i]Atmosphere and design.[/i] The lack of music in this game fits in perfectly. It's in a space setting, and everything feels very white and 'sterile', but it retains a futuristic look. It's all very believable. Nothing is flashy, but it all manages to look polished. Simplicity is sometimes better. They don't do anything too crazy or go overboard with the aesthetic, but simplicity is sometimes the way to go. Here, it all ties in nicely and it just works. + [i]Interaction between characters.[/i] I think that the VA work for both Tom and Ava are well done. There aren't that many words spoken when you consider the length of the game. But, all interactions serve a purpose. Ava and Tom have polarizing opinions about most of what goes on as the story progresses. Tom can only think of what is most logical (as he is a computer), whereas Ava factors in emotions and ethics. In their own respects, both have very good arguments at varying parts of the game. There are times when I found myself siding with Ava, and times when I understood what Tom was trying to say as well. Because the two cannot agree but are forced to work together, there is a lot of great back and forth that allows the player to better embrace both characters and their points of view. + [i]Great progression saving.[/i] The game saves at the beginning and end of every puzzle. Because each individual puzzle doesn't demand a great deal of time, you can play the game how you want without having to worry about losing data. The 'continue' option right from the main menu will very literally continue you right from where you left off. If you're sure that you've made an error in a puzzle and what to restart, you can simply choose to restart the puzzle you're currently working on from the start. This is a great system that allows the player trial and error without punishment. If you've missed something and want to replay, you can use the 'chapter select' feature. This will not only allow you to play the previous chapters, but you can individually load which puzzle in the chapter you'd like to start from. I was so happy when I saw this after missing one secret room. I knew the general whereabouts of where it was, which was pretty late into the chapter. Luckily for me I could position myself right where the secret room was without having to replay the entire chapter. [h1]Cons[/h1] - [i]It begins to feel tedious the longer the game is played.[/i] At first, ten puzzles per chapter doesn't feel like a lot and you are able to breeze through them pretty quickly. But as the story picks up in the later chapters, I find myself really wanting to rush through the puzzles so that I can focus on the story instead. The puzzles introduce more mechanics and become more time consuming, so rushing through isn't much of a possibility. Although I appreciate the predictable formula that stays true to itself, it makes it difficult to appreciate the puzzles in later chapters. The game shifts drastically to the plot, but the game doesn't do much in the way of game play to help draw focus away from the core puzzle solving mechanics. - [i]No subtitles for audio logs.[/i] Even with subtitles turned on, there are no subtitles available for the audio logs that you can hear throughout the game. Sometimes it can be hard to hear and the voice clarity isn't very good. The only option is to repeat each audio log until you can get a full understanding of what's being said. This feels inconvenient, especially to those trying to get the most out of the story. - [i]No way to zoom in on any readable text or documents.[/i] All of the text for things that Ava can find such as email correspondence, labels/writing and documents is all very small. I also didn't find a way to rotate items that can be picked up in all directions, making reading things on a slant or an angle even more difficult when interacting with certain items. Some of the documents that Ava comes across are quite important and help to piece together the overall picture. I found this to be a major oversight that once again felt very inconvenient. - [i]An underwhelming ending.[/i] The game has a few different possibilities for endings, but they are so similar that it almost doesn't matter. I didn't feel very satisfied with the conclusion at all. They really amp the story up in the later half of the game, but it comes crashing down with an ending that feels rushed or incomplete. I got the impression that I would get much more closure. The final choice in the game doesn't exactly feel like much of a choice, since you are never shown the ramifications of your actions regardless of what you do. It almost makes giving a choice pointless. I believe that giving the player a choice is more symbolic than anything else. One of the game's themes is free will. By giving the player the free will to do what they want at the last moments of the game, it reinforces the thought of free will and the consequences of our actions. Up to the point before the ending, we haven't been given much choice and are more or less just following orders. It also forces us to think about whether we agree with Tom or whether we identify more with Ava. Despite this, the choice still felt shallow and unsatisfactory.
• 

  Truhiro

  Jun 13, 2018

  After completing The Turing Test in about 8 hrs. including all of the optional puzzles, I can say that this clearly is a recommendation for everyone that enjoys puzzle games. As mentioned by many other before, it is very close to the Portal games and The Talos Principle, but includes a lot of interesting and unique mechanics and a story that propells you through the chapters - even though the ending falls short in that regard compared to the rest of the game. One remark for fans of Talos Principle and Portal: The Turing Test is considerable easier than those two - Talos Principle in particular. I personally enjoyed it nontheless, as it did hit the sweet spot between challenge and frustration perfectly for me and never made me give up and look for an online guide. However, if particularly The Talos Principle hit that same sweet spot for you and never left you frustrated, you will be in for a wothwile but casual experience. I would still recommend the game for its experience, but it is a different level compared to those games in complexity.
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  M416_KSA

  Nov 22, 2018

  If you liked Portal or The Talos Principle, you have to try this.
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  psychodad

  Feb 6, 2019

  As others have mentioned the level design lacks creativity. The different puzzle mechanics could have been put to much more advanced use if more time had been invested in the level design. The narrative is okay but lacks very far behind somewhat similar themed games (Talos Principle, Soma, Portal). I would recommend playing Talos Principle over this since that is very comparable and simply a much better game. If you have already played Talos Principle then I would not recommend playing this since you will be disappointed.