Several of the puzzles are problematic, but in ways that are depressingly common to most games:
- They're mandatory, which means you can't progress in the game until you solve them.
- They're exacting, meaning they allow only one solution.
- They're obscure, meaning the one single valid solution is artificially difficult for reasons aside from logic.
These problems are hardly unique to this game alone (for the worst offender in my experience, look no further than
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) but they do detract from what could be an excellent game.
The contrast in game design philosophy is especially harsh, because I've just finished replaying Deus Ex 1, where the design team specifically decided to eliminate most of the
mandatory and
exacting elements of their level obstacles. Warren Spector even went on record saying they tried to put in at least three different solutions for each obstacle, one of which is just to avoid it. Although some solutions in Deus Ex count as
obscure, these solutions were usually optional, which means you reward the player who's experimental enough to try them, without requiring that ALL players be similarly experimental in order to progress in the game.
On the other hand, it's possible I'm just getting old, and my lateral thinking powers are degrading.
