The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition for the Playstation 4 comes out on October 13th for $49.99, or $39.99 if you buy it from Best Buy since it comes with a $10 gift card. Developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital, The Talos Principle is a first or third-person puzzle adventure game with a story that tackles philosophical questions. I had the opportunity to play The Talos Principle ahead of release, and I really enjoyed my time with it. Hit the jump to read my full first impressions!
Released to critical acclaim on PC, Linux, and Mac last year, The Talos Principle has you, take control of a robot who is tasked with solving puzzles created by an all knowing, all seeing being called Elohim. The game is filled with beautiful scenery and calm music, both of which promote a nice, serene, non-stressful atmosphere. The story of The Talos Principle is steeped in philosophy, questioning the differences between man and machine or what does it actually mean to be human?
When you start the game, you are greeted to a blue sky with text in the top left corner of the screen, which more or less confirms that the game takes place in some sort of program. Once the program finishes its initialization process, you find yourself in a garden with Elohim’s voice greeting you.
Elohim asks you to make your way to his temple, but in order to do that you must solve a few puzzles. The first task is readily in front of you, a barrier blocks your path. In order to get to Elohim’s temple, you must first open a door blocking your way and to do this, you must gather sigils that are scattered around the level.
Completing puzzles grants you sigils that you will use to open up doors you’ll encounter later on in the game. These sigils act as puzzle pieces for certain locked doors. Once you’ve collected enough sigils, you can progress to Elohim’s temple, which is itself a hub world. On the walls are doorways with numbers counting in ascending order, starting at the door you first entered through “Door 1”. At one end of the temple are two shrines with items locked behind sigil locks. On the other side is a door also locked in a similar fashion.
Of course, the only way to unlock these sigil locks is to complete more puzzles. I’ve only played through the first four levels, and as one would expect, the puzzles get more and more difficult the further you progress. This is also in part due to the items you unlock in your progression.
The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition is an engaging puzzle adventure game that seems to be hiding something beneath it’s rather peaceful surface. At times, there are sounds of malfunctions, at times it seems parts of the scenery flickers in and out of existence and other times it feels as though you’re not alone in Elohim’s garden. I’m really looking forward to playing more of the game, and figuring out exactly what’s going on.
The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition will be released on October 13th on PS4 for $49.99. If you purchase the game at Best Buy, you’ll receive a $10 gift certificate which essentially drops the price down to $39.99.