Auditorium

January 24, 2011

Ambient, relaxing, improvisational and free-flowing. Auditorium is filled with these qualities and uses them to deviate from your average puzzle game. And now you can take this experience wherever you go by snagging it from PSN directly onto your PSP. 

Each of over 100 different stages all give you a layout containing the same items: streams of light particles, color-coded containers, a selection of tools to use, and various gimmicks. Your goal is to manipulate the light streams and fill the containers. Upon filling the containers pieces of the musical track behind the stage play and your efforts are rewarded with great songs.

The stages are divided into musical sets that introduce various concepts and build on them. The first stage will just show you that there are black holes present, while the final will leave you puzzling how to keep the particles safely away from the black holes. The best part of this gradual difficulty and stage progression is that there are no definitive answers. Cipher Prime gives the player a challenge and a set of tools and all the time needed to figure out a way to solve the puzzle.

While it doesn’t have the HD visuals that the PS3 version has, Auditorium still shines in a standard definition that you can bring anywhere with you. An immersive musical puzzle experience that doesn’t force you to figure out their answer but rather discover your own, Auditorium is a great game to have on a PSP.

Pros: Incredible visuals and audio, immersive puzzle experience

Cons: Lack of a hint button or stage tips

 

Score: 4/5

Questions? Check out our review guide.