Let’s get this out of the way in which: Bionic Bay goes to be in comparison with Limbo and Inside. Quite a bit. It’s inevitable. Psychoflow Studios, in collaboration with Mureena Oy, has delivered what appears like a sci-fi reimagining of Playdead’s moody 2010 basic. The visible storytelling, the shadowy menace, the exactly brutal puzzles — it’s all right here, reassembled with a slick, biomechanical sheen.
However don’t mistake Bionic Bay for a copycat. Beneath the acquainted silhouette lies a wildly ingenious and infrequently maddening precision platformer that performs like a love letter to physics. This isn’t simply puzzle-solving; it’s gravity-bending, object-swapping, mid-air improvisation that may make you’re feeling like a time-warping parkour demigod when all of it clicks.
Clocking in at round 8–10 hours (relying on how reckless or masochistic you might be), it’s tightly paced — although not at all times evenly. I performed on PlayStation 5, and someplace in the course of its surreal, flesh-and-metal dreamscape, I discovered myself questioning: How the hell are they going to prime this?
Welcome to the Otherworld
Credit score: Psychoflow Studios / Mureena Oy / Kepler Interactive
Bionic Bay technically has a narrative, however don’t count on a lot of a story to latch onto. Most of it unfolds by cryptic textual content logs that pop up as you stumble throughout the corpses of long-dead scientists, scattered like breadcrumbs throughout this eerie, decaying world.
From what my very clean, very confused mind may piece collectively, you’re the unlucky scientist who has survived an experiment gone sideways — catapulted into the heart of an historic, hyper-advanced alien civilization. That’s…just about it. And actually, that’s positive. The “plot” is extra ambient than important — it is simply vibes, bro. Actually, it’s simply an excuse to hurl your self over chasms wider than your hire invoice.
Fortunately, you’re not doing it alone, or fully as a human. Early on, the sport zaps you with a genetic improve referred to as “elasticity,” basically turning your character from low cost Gordon Freeman right into a wall-bouncing, momentum-bending physics god.
As you progress, Bionic Bay palms you a trio of reality-breaking instruments that may make any physics professor sweat. First up: a transporter that permits you to swap locations with close by objects. Then there’s the Chronolag, a pair of sun shades that slows time in a good radius round you. Lastly, the gravitational backpack, a chunk of high-tech wizardry that permits you to rotate the course of gravity with a flick of the suitable stick.
Naturally, these devices include caveats. The swap device solely works with objects presently on display screen (no teleporting cheese right here). The Chronolag is restricted to a tense 30 seconds and cuts off the second you’re taking harm or go full ragdoll. The gravity backpack permits for 2 midair makes use of — after that, you are out of tips and headed straight for a tough touchdown.
However regardless of the constraints, and even due to them, every device is important to cracking Bionic Bay’s brutally tight puzzle platforming. And I imply tight. These puzzles don’t simply flirt with precision; they demand pixel-perfect timing and surgical object placement. Particularly within the later ranges, success hinges on mastering momentum, nailing swaps mid-fall, and contorting by gaps designed to mock your sense of house and rhythm.
Even with all of the high-tech instruments at your disposal, mastering your individual motion is important to fixing Bionic Bay’s intricate puzzles. Probably the most versatile mechanics is the sprint, triggered with the Circle button. It sends your character hurtling ahead in a curled, high-speed movement — half motion increase, half crouch — good for slipping by tight gaps or gaining momentum.
The sprint can be chained with jumps for prolonged traversal. Combining it with the X button permits for lengthy, arcing leaps that really feel like managed bursts of flight. In apply, it’s a rhythmic sequence: sprint, leap, sprint once more. The Circle button additionally capabilities as a dive midair, letting you fine-tune your trajectory or squeeze by slender environmental home windows with simply the correct amount of pressure.
An answer for everybody
Credit score: Psychoflow Studios / Mureena Oy / Kepler Interactive
The environments in Bionic Bay aren’t simply backdrops — they’re totally interactive playgrounds the place the foundations are free, and experimentation is every thing. Most puzzles don’t lock you right into a single resolution; as a substitute, they hand you a toolbox and let your grasp of the sport’s intricate physics system information the way in which. Getting from level A to level B is much less about following a path and extra about inventing one, normally whereas avoiding hazards like vaporizing lasers, insta-freeze traps, and an absurd variety of explosive land mines.
Take one state of affairs: I wanted to achieve a excessive cliff from floor degree. One possibility was to roll a barrel into place, launch myself off it, swap positions mid-air, race over to climb the thing, leap off it, and seize the ledge. One other route? Use the land mines — delicately timed detonation included — to catapult me skyward utilizing the beforehand talked about object as a protect. The sport doesn’t simply permit for creativity; it thrives on it, virtually begging gamers to interrupt it in probably the most fashionable methods potential. It’s constructed for the form of participant who sees each mechanic as a possible exploit, and Bionic Bay rewards that mentality at each flip.
Bionic Bay drips with ambiance — equal components decaying alien structure and rusted industrial labyrinth. In a single second, you’re dwarfed by writhing, root-like constructions lit by an amber glow that feels virtually biblical in its depth. Within the subsequent, you’re navigating a colossal tangle of mechanical guts like large gears, damaged scaffolding, and planet-sized orbs suspended in shafts of scorching mild. It is biomechanical horror meets cosmic marvel, with each body soaked in grime, warmth, and a wierd, virtually sacred silence. It’s haunting, oppressive, and stunningly lovely suddenly.
Bionic Bay walks a positive line visually. Regardless of the protagonist being principally a black silhouette, the environments are detailed sufficient that you just by no means lose observe of him, even in probably the most chaotic moments. And — perhaps this dates me — however the distinction between the character and the background immediately introduced Vector to thoughts, that modern parkour side-scroller from the iOS glory days of 2012. It’s as if Psychoflow took that minimalist, kinetic type and mashed it along with moody pixel artwork, otherworldly idea design, and the eerie tone of Limbo.
The result’s one thing acquainted but contemporary, a visible identification that feels each nostalgic and utterly alien.
Is Bionic Bay value it?
Credit score: Psychoflow Studios / Mureena Oy / Kepler Interactive
Efficiency-wise, there’s not a lot to complain about. Bionic Bay runs easily on PS5, with only a single framerate dip cropping up late within the recreation. I’m curious to see how the net mode holds up, however since I used to be enjoying on a pre-release construct, the multiplayer was a ghost city even after I unlocked it by ending the primary marketing campaign.
As for sound design, I used to be totally locked in. The soundtrack not often takes middle stage, however when it does, it hits — pulsing synths that creep in and swell at simply the suitable moments, including a heavy, unnerving layer to the sport’s far-future horror vibe. It appears nice, it sounds nice, and whereas the single-player marketing campaign does drag a bit within the center, it’s a beautiful slog. A classy, ambient descent into mechanical insanity that is aware of how you can maintain your consideration, even when it is testing your persistence.
Bionic Bay is completely value your time, particularly in the event you’re the form of participant who thrives on problem, experimentation, and atmospheric immersion. It would not reinvent the puzzle platformer however pushes the style in a intelligent course with its physics-driven mechanics and open-ended puzzle design. It is a recreation that respects your intelligence and rewards your curiosity whereas wanting like a fever dream constructed from scrap steel and alien roots.
It’s not good — the pacing stumbles within the center, and the story barely registers — however the general expertise is simply too hanging to disregard. For followers of Limbo, Inside, and even old-school Vector, Bionic Bay is a superbly harsh evolution of the style. Simply be ready to die. Quite a bit.
