First Break Labs had a lot of new stuff show at GDC, and we got our hands on three of their upcoming titles. Of the three, though, Particle Hearts was easily the most unique.
Particle Hearts is visually dazzling. You can tell from the trailer above alone. The lush world is made entirely of particles–the sky, the bridges, the grass, you–everything. It’s really a sight to behold, and it was mesmerizing just walking around the environment, and I was only playing on a Steam Deck! I can only imagine what it’s like playing on a 4K TV in HDR.
As for what the game actually is, it’s a 3D game with light platforming completely reliant on exploration and discovery. The game is very much inspired by the style of Manifold Garden, and as I was playing, I was encouraged to go about it however way I’d like.
Unfortunately I played at a state I shouldn’t have been playing at, so I got stuck immediately as I platformed my way to this altar, and there wasn’t much as far as tutorials or first-time user experience flow. Instead of starting over, I had a member of the team walk me through it. What he ended up doing was standing at a certain spot, and then focusing the perspective/camera to a certain point, joining them together to open a new path. Again, that’s something very Manifold Garden and Superliminal in approach.
I’m personally not huge on perspective puzzles, but I definitely wish I had more than a few minutes to play the game (I had other games on the docket with the hour I had), so I’ll definitely be on the lookout as we get closer to its Q3 release.
Particle Hearts will be available on the PC via Steam (with Steam Deck compatibility), Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5. You can wishlist it here.
First Break Labs had a lot of new stuff show at GDC, and we got our hands on three of their upcoming titles. Of the three, though, Particle Hearts was easily the most unique. Particle Hearts is visually dazzling. You…
First Break Labs had a lot of new stuff show at GDC, and we got our hands on three of their upcoming titles. Of the three, though, Particle Hearts was easily the most unique.
Particle Hearts is visually dazzling. You can tell from the trailer above alone. The lush world is made entirely of particles–the sky, the bridges, the grass, you–everything. It’s really a sight to behold, and it was mesmerizing just walking around the environment, and I was only playing on a Steam Deck! I can only imagine what it’s like playing on a 4K TV in HDR.
As for what the game actually is, it’s a 3D game with light platforming completely reliant on exploration and discovery. The game is very much inspired by the style of Manifold Garden, and as I was playing, I was encouraged to go about it however way I’d like.
Unfortunately I played at a state I shouldn’t have been playing at, so I got stuck immediately as I platformed my way to this altar, and there wasn’t much as far as tutorials or first-time user experience flow. Instead of starting over, I had a member of the team walk me through it. What he ended up doing was standing at a certain spot, and then focusing the perspective/camera to a certain point, joining them together to open a new path. Again, that’s something very Manifold Garden and Superliminal in approach.
I’m personally not huge on perspective puzzles, but I definitely wish I had more than a few minutes to play the game (I had other games on the docket with the hour I had), so I’ll definitely be on the lookout as we get closer to its Q3 release.
Particle Hearts will be available on the PC via Steam (with Steam Deck compatibility), Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5. You can wishlist it here.
by Danreb Victorio
