Chromagun in test: Military colour industry on "portal" test bench

With "Portal", a mix of shooter, puzzle game and a healthy dose of black humour, Valve created a real surprise hit in 2007. "Chromagun VR" from the German developer Pixel Maniacs takes a similar approach, but utilises a slightly different game mechanic. Our test reveals whether this is fun and what else the title has to offer.

The puzzle marathon, which lasts just under five to seven hours, begins in the game's main menu, which is also designed as a kind of room. Here we can not only look around freely and walk around, but also interact with the options menu. While we are doing all this, a coloured ball keeps falling from the ceiling, activating a pressure plate in the floor and thus opening an otherwise closed door in the room. Quite mysterious. And reason enough to take a closer look at the room behind the door.

As it soon turns out, this is a lift that immediately takes us down into the depths and spits us out again in the lobby of a company called Chromatec. We will probably never know why the receptionist sitting there can't even manage a "Hello". One thing is certain: the male voice in the background is much more open-minded, immediately welcomes us to the Chromatec test labs and tells us that we are the best of the best. This is closely followed by a request to find the exit to the room.

Does it all sound suspiciously like a perfidious experiment? Indeed it does! The only difference is that we're not using a portal gun here, which creates two interconnected dimensional gates, but the eponymous Chromagun. This is a futuristic colour gun that allows us to change the colour of certain walls in the game world as well as the hovering drones that keep appearing. Very important in this context: drones are attracted to walls of the same colour.

It's all a question of the display

In the very first level, for example, a yellow drone hovers in front of a door, making it impassable. However, as soon as we colour the wall next to the drone yellow with the Chromagun, the yellow drone glides relaxed towards the yellow wall and is no longer an obstacle. The door is free and we can pass through. Admittedly, initial puzzles like this are quickly ticked off.

However, the level of difficulty increases noticeably as the adventure progresses. The main reason for this is the fact that we soon find a modified Chromagun that shoots red and blue colour as well as yellow. What's more, these three colours can be combined with each other once. So if we fire red paint at a blue wall, it turns purple. Red and yellow become orange and yellow and blue merge to become green. Classic colour theory.

However, if we fire at a purple, orange or green wall again, it turns black and loses its attraction to drones. The same applies in reverse. Once drones have turned black by recolouring them too often, they are no longer attracted to a black wall. Incidentally, such a mishap can only be reversed by restarting the level - which, thankfully, can be done as often as you like and has no negative consequences.

The main thing is colourful

In addition to the modified Chromagun, other elements also provide continuous variety. For example, the drones (called "WorkerDroids" here), which are still peaceful at the start of the game, will soon be coming at you in an extremely aggressive spiked version. The prerequisite for this, however, is that you send them into a rage with a counter-hit. Once this has happened, they will literally chase you through the level until you find the exit or lure them onto an electrified floor panel, which usually neutralises the drone.

But colour-resistant wall paintwork, projectile-intercepting energy barriers and combined pressure switch systems also keep your brain on its toes and provide you with ever new puzzle combinations. Not forgetting the darkness. You read that correctly. Chromatec turns off the lights in places, making it difficult to make out the colours within the test chambers. Unless you switch on the torch and always light up the objects you want to interact with next.

The test chambers are given additional charm by the mysterious voice's sarcastic comments, which are interspersed throughout. Quite early on in the game, for example, it tells you in no uncertain terms that you will starve to death in the rooms of the facility if you don't find the exit. Or that you can't defeat the spiky "WorkerDroids" with Kung Fu (which the character can't do anyway).

Small but annoying quirks

However, the entertaining gameplay is not without its flaws. For example, if you switch to the mode that allows you to freely rotate the viewing angle, the otherwise impeccable performance noticeably deteriorates. Jerks are the result, which in turn can lead to nausea and discomfort for some VR gamers. Gamers with sensitive stomachs are therefore better off sticking with the gradual rotation.

The graphics are also a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the minimalist style is impressive. On the other hand, however, most of the levels - apart from the arrangement of the rooms and puzzle elements - look far too uniform. Distinctive differences in height within the level design are also missing. Anyone who has previously played "Portal" or "Portal 2" will notice this all the more. That leaves the music. It's actually great, but it repeats itself so often that you end up turning it down after two or three hours at the latest.

However, nobody should expect the narrative brilliance of "Portal" here. Meanwhile, points are deducted for the performance losses outlined in the text when free spinning and the cancelled level editor. The latter is still only reserved for the PC version, but with the necessary fine-tuning it would also have been a great addition to the console version. "Squishies" for PSVR, among others, shows how it can be done better. Nevertheless, if you ignore these quirks and the somewhat lacklustre presentation, what remains is an extremely charming puzzle game that genre fans should definitely give a chance.

Finally, two important notes:

1.  It's best to play the whole thing with the PSVR Aim Controller for optimum immersion. This gives you the real feeling of holding the Chromagun in your hands.
2. If you want to try it out before you buy, so as not to buy a pig in a poke, take a quick look at Steam and download the free demo for PC, Mac or Linux.