Soul Axiom

After the game left early access, it has received mixed reviews collated on Metacritic for PC, receiving a total score of 56/100. Soul Axiom was a finalist for "Use of Narrative" at the Develop Awards in 2015, and was nominated for a BAFTA Cymru Games Award for "Best Game". Ben Barrett from Rock, Paper, Shotgun wrote: "It really is beautiful, nailing a Tron-like neon cyberspace feel...In the thirty minutes I gave the game this was never exploited to its full potential, but the odd bit of interaction was enough to keep me exploring the environments" Ken Talbot from Push Square said: "The puzzle mechanics themselves are the game's key failing. Given abilities that control the environment around him, our silent protagonist is never allowed to use them in inventive or even organic ways." He gave the game a score of 50/100. Reviewing the Early Access version, Mike Cosimano from Destructoid said: "Soul Axiom is an unsettling and compelling techno/cyber-thriller, with a killer visual style that matches its high-concept premise. Whether it actually delivers on its many promises is another thing entirely, but there's a lot to be excited about so far." However, Joe Parlock reviewed the final version for Destructoid and gave the game its worst Metacritic score to date, 25/100. Staff from Attack Of The Fanboy wrote: "I would probably put it up there as one of, if not, the most pretty looking indie games I've ever played...While it wasn't advertised as a horror game, it sure can do plenty to scare you with just the general ambience." PC Gamer wrote about the game several times during development and eventually gave a score of 55/100 in their review by James Davenport. Davenport wrote "Soul Axiom wants to be a huge, cerebral puzzle game. I admire the scope and variety of its modular environments, each with completely different aesthetics and puzzle mechanics... Soul Axiom nearly gets by on intrigue. For the first two hours, however inconsistent, I was curious to explore the varied environments and play around with the shallow puzzles." Jordan Helm from Hardcore Gamer compared the game to Tron, Bioshock and The Talos Principle and wrote: "Simplistic and often jarring its intended design may seem, Soul Axiom is a game that requires, as much cunningly desires, the player's warranted need to look beyond the surface that's initially presented. Whether that be in its puzzle design or the ample conflict of environments, Wales Interactive do just enough with the overarching themes of simulation and replication to make its superficial locales feel that extra bit suspicious." The review ended with a score of 3.5/5. Pavel Valek from games.cz gave the game a 40/100: "If you expect a fun puzzle game, you have to look elsewhere. Soul Axiom offers plenty of easy levels and dull puzzles that will resolve themselves." Peter Parrish from PC Invasion gave the game 7/10: "As a consequence of action sequences being a bit clunky, Soul Axiom's final encounter is a bit of a let down," and concluded with, "Soul Axiom consistently finds new and engaging ways for the player to use the same set of powers to overcome obstacles, and does an able job weaving its (justifiably) fragmented story throughout the game's hub structure."