The Mobius Machine Review (PlayStation 5)

by Jim Smale · July 8, 2024

The Mobius Machine Review, Discover a vast alien world. Fight the ferocious local fauna and killer machines. Reveal its secrets and find a way to escape. The Mobius Machine is a side-scroller action adventure, with an emphasis on free-form exploration and intense combat. Explore an open interconnected world filled with brutal alien lifeforms and malfunctioning machines. Find your way through abandoned facilities and perilous environments, on the surface and in the depths of this world.

The Mobius Machine Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
1.61GB download size.
Platinum trophy.
Own in-game trophies list although it is the same as the PSN trophy list.
Can remap controls.
Five save slots.
Two game modes – standard, and retro.
Standard mode saves progress at save points and when quitting the game, upon death you keep all items, exploration progress, and some scrap.
Retro mode saves progress at save points only and upon death, you lose everything since the last save.
Fast loading times.
In-game cutscenes.
Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
2D perspective with full 3D backdrops.
Excellent lighting adding atmosphere.
Decent soundtrack.
Tight controls with a good jump feel.
When shooting it uses twin-stick shooter rules, right stick to aim and left to move around.
Energy can be collected from jars and enemies, you have an energy bar, and is depleted when you heal yourself.
Excellent level design with good platforming sections.
Once you press shoot after aiming you can let go of aiming and as long as you shoot down, it locks that angle in place.
The map uncovers as you play.
Roguelike elements as described in the difficulty entry.
Play how you want.
Metroidvania elements like having to acquire certain items or abilities in order to progress.
Signposts around the world help with navigation.
The workbenches require you to find a complete blueprint and scrap to craft weapons and upgrades.
The lab will grow all the different types of forms in the world and this allows you to learn how to deal with them as habitats affect how they are.
Terminals can be interacted with for info.
Puzzle elements throughout.
Save pods can be found and used.
The proving ground lets you practice shooting and platforming safely.
Unlock shortcuts and discover alternative routes.
Enemies respawn so you can farm materials and currency.
The game nails the sense of adventure really well.

The Mobius Machine Review Cons:

No voice work and instead opting for just text.
Until you find the actual map data, the trail you leave on the map menu is a mess and no good.
No real game options.
A lot of backtracking.
The initial half an hour can be rough as you find your bearings.
You can easily get lost or feel turned around.
Healing can only be done on a flat surface.
Frustrating parts especially when needing to destroy certain platforms etc.
The general pacing of the game felt like too much work.