One of two games from the indie publisher 17Studio (the other title is Draw Rider Remake), Live Factory is a 3D platform game that is absolutely nuts. Nuts, as in ‘nuts and bolts’. Originally a mobile game, it’s since been launched on the Nintendo Switch.
Left on the scrap pile, with parts scavenged by greedy robots, your character comes alive to complete a series of platform tasks, collecting nuts and solving key-based puzzles while avoiding enemies out to throw you back on that rusty heap.
Visually, Live Factory is a nice-looking game. I’d never heard of the game before (not a mobile gamer – I’m still playing Snake on my Nokia), but after watching the game trailer, I thought I’d give it a go. Cutting to the chase, it wasn’t for me, but I’ll aim to be as constructive as can be.
You more or less have to complete each stage in one attempt. There are no checkpoints or lifelines: when you’re dead, you respawn and start again. It’s not that the game is ridonkulously hard, but if you approach it as a chill-type game, you’re in for an upset as running through each stage only to cock up at the very last minute and then start again won’t be the precursor to the end of the world, but you may end up quitting. That’s what I did.
The jumping mechanics work well, but you’ll need a quick response to many stages, and there isn’t much room for error. With that in mind, learning the structure of each level isn’t hard, so with a couple of attempts, you should be able to nail it. Unless you quit. A note on quitting: that means taking a break, not giving up on the game.
One of the highlights is being able to play stages in the order you prefer – a great option, as getting stuck on one level might mean you’ll never come back. On that basis, Live Factory does a good job of luring you back in for a fresh approach. What didn’t work for me was the music – it was far too repetitive and distracting to the action. Subjective, of course. You might love it. Watch a playthrough.
Anyway, I’m wrapping this one up early as I haven’t much to say. Watch some trailers, read other reviews, and perhaps check out what others thought of the mobile version. Live Factory is out today on the Nintendo Switch.
