Radium Lux Reviews

RADIUM^3, let's gooooo

I'll say it again — referring to its predecessors: it's a racing game in disguise; if you pick a 'sphery' fast car from [i]2Fast2Furious[/i], you'll suffer from understeer from time to time, but if you choose to be CAReful, the lack of pressure may cause you to nervously crash — let's not say [i]🟢versteer[/i] — into something sharp, and you will be without tyre pressure as well ... ☢️☢️☢️⁴/💯 — Had confidence in this release already while being 🍀 to test the Alpha release back then ([i]@hrs on record[/i] included) 🟢💡

Disclaimer: My rating on this game at the time of posting is [b]mixed[/b]. I had wanted to make a review on this game earlier, but decided to wait until I had done all achievements first. After experiencing everything the game had to offer, I am left feeling...a bit unfulfilled. [b][u]Brief Review[/u][/b] Lux takes two steps forward and one step back: the visuals are much cleaner, stylish, and customizable compared to the previous entries in the series, and you are now able to share replays. However, the gameplay as a whole generally felt a little easier with less precision-based gameplay. Combined with the relatively easier time goal achievements, it just didn't hit the mark on difficulty/fun balance for me. Additional questionable features and achievement designs (and lack thereof) puts this game at a neutral rating for me. If you want the best of this series, go play Radium 2. If you still want to get this game, wait for a sale. [b][u]Detailed Review[/u][/b] Radium Lux is advertised as being inspired by the developer's dissertation on mental alchemy. While that stuff sounds interesting, it's frankly WAY over my head for what I'm willing to invest into writing for this review. So, I will be sharing my thoughts based on how I saw and experienced Radium Lux as: a video game. ​Right off the bat, the visual style is much more clean and presentable and offers an additional layer of flair/customization in the form of palette changes and a few other things. There are plenty of options for how to customize the game, but the UI is rather confounded. You see, there are two separate menus for game customization: one in the main menu, and the other in the pause screen while inside of a save file. It would be better to have the same menu with all options found there, and I'm certain that can be implemented. The soundtrack is nothing special, but it does feel more homogenized than the one for Radium 2. Go figure, artificial intelligence had a helping hand in making the tunes. It's not bad, but it's not memorable either. Huge missed opportunity to include the soundtrack from Radium 2 (please do this). The game also adds a new feature: glitching. What does it do, you ask?...Great question! No, seriously, I have absolutely NO idea what the hell the intent of this feature is meant to be. Despite being fully implemented and acknowledged, it is utterly useless for anyone looking to complete the game. I can only assume it was a scrapped mechanic meant to play a role with other unique obstacles in levels, but I guess we'll never know. Continuing the list of questionable decisions, you can no longer see the time goals for each level from the get-go. This is a first in the series, and there's no good reason I could think of as to why they should have been 86'ed. As someone who had completed the previous two games, getting 3 points on all levels for Lux wasn't particularly difficult. Regardless, it doesn't make figuring out the time goals any less inconvenient. That should be amended. ​As a first in the series, levels are strewn in a nonlinear fashion, meaning some levels will have a second finish goal that branches out anywhere from a few levels to a big chunk of them. Some goals are hidden in plain sight and require a bit of backtracking, others demand thorough exploration and experimentation. While you can deduce which levels can have alternate ends, there are points where you'll go nuts spending half an hour over which 3 levels could possibly unlock a different path just to get two extra levels. Suffice to say, it kinda sucks. The description divulges on the concept of experiencing different forms of reality (static, organic, and dynamic), and I could tell that this played a role in level design. The levels themselves are varied and fresh, but they also feel relatively easy compared to Radium 2. Honestly, I really enjoyed the hardcore level design that came with Radium 2 (level Z5 in 2 is a prime example, demanding total mastery of all mechanics with precise tunnels), so I'm a bit surprised that the developer dialed it down this far back. Then again, this is also the first game to have a limited lives achievement which requires you to beat all 130 levels on a save file with 33 deaths or less, so it more or less balances out. Aside from that, they are built with speedrunning in mind as always, so levels are very replayable. Personally, I'd love to see something such as either a fourth and much harder time goal, or even B-sides that remix the levels into much harder versions. ​Lastly, let's talk about the biggest bad of the achievement list: the secrets (aka "that which is hidden"). So, you thought the alternate goals were bad? Think again. Secrets are extra collectibles you can find throughout the game, and there are 25 hidden throughout all 130 levels. The catch? The game does not offer the slightest clue whatsoever as to where these things could be located: some are easy to spot right off the bat and only require either backtracking or intentionally not hitting any lights before reaching it. Others are outright invisible, only appearing once you get in close range. I managed to find 20 on my own and then spent hours slaving over every level and slowly going mad over the exploration process. Had the dev not kindly told me which levels I was missing, I would've never found them. This is by far the worst part of the game for me, bar none. While I'm sure the dev had his reasons for making the secrets, well, actual secrets, at least have some sort of subtle hint system. Unfairly hidden secrets are just plain bullshit, period. Overall, I think there was huge potential that just never saw the light of day in this game. This is my second favorite entry in front of Radium and behind Radium 2. If you're looking for the best that this series has to offer, stick with Radium 2. Otherwise, I would suggest waiting on a sale before getting your hands on this.