The Turing Test review for PS4, Xbox One, PC

Platform: PS4
Also On: Xbox One, PC
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Bulkhead Interactive
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: T

As much as Iโ€™d like to judge The Turing Test on its own terms, I donโ€™t think thatโ€™s possible. Itโ€™s a Portal clone, and thatโ€™s evident on almost every aspect of the game. You play as a female character woken up in mysterious circumstances by an unseen robot. You move from room to room solving a series of puzzles, some involving cubes, all involving a specialized weapon/tool that looks like a gun but isnโ€™t. Gradually you realize that the robot may not have your best interests at heart. The specifics of how it all unfolds may be a little different, but in broad terms, itโ€™s hard to imagine any two games being more identical.

Thatโ€™s not to say The Turing Test copied every aspect of Portal. Most notably, it lacks that gameโ€™s sense of humour. The Turing Test takes its sci-fi very seriously, and aims to be a meditation on what artificial intelligence really means. There are no sassy robots here; itโ€™s just plot and philosophical discourse all the way.

Which, truth be told, probably isnโ€™t the worst way to go about ripping off Portal. As far as Iโ€™m concerned, Portal 2 might be the funniest game Iโ€™ve ever played, so any attempt at copying that likely wouldโ€™ve come off as a pale imitation. The makers of The Turing Test clearly recognized that, and set out to do their own thing. I canโ€™t say that Iโ€™m as deeply invested in thinking about the nature of artificial intelligence as I was inโ€ฆwell, everything that went on with GLaDOS and Wheatley, but I appreciate that Bulkhead Interactive told their own story.

Itโ€™s just a shame that they didnโ€™t take a similar approach to The Turing Testโ€™s gameplay. As I said a few paragraphs ago, the extent to which this rips off Portal is astounding. Rather than having a portal gun, you have an โ€œEnergy Manipulation Toolโ€ that closes and opens doors. The whole game takes place in a sterile, white facility, with reminders strewn about to hint at what may have come before you. Youโ€™re guided in your tasks by an unseen robot, who, while less malevolent than GLaDOS, still draws inspiration from the HAL 9000 school of robot-human interaction. Just about the only difference is that the puzzles here arenโ€™t anywhere close to being as complex or difficult as they are in Portal โ€” which, all things considered, is kind of a drawback.

Of course, thereโ€™s a huge difference between โ€œnot as good as Portal 2โ€ and โ€œnot worth playingโ€, not least because thereโ€™s a good argument to be made that Portal 2 is the best game ever. Failing to live up to perfection is only failure in a very broad sense of the term, and The Turing Test hardly counts as a bad game. It wonโ€™t make you forget that elephant-sized game in the corner of the room by any means, but if youโ€™re still wishing that, one way or another, GLaDOS and Chell could return, this probably counts as the closest youโ€™re going to get.

Grade: B+
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