Quick Review: F.E.X. (Forced Evolution Experiment)

I should have covered this one in October, it's creepy enough for it.

Child to teen, 10 years gone in 10 seconds.

A creation of NonFictional Games released on August 24th, 2017, F.E.X. (Forced Evolution Experiment) is a puzzle game with, I’ll at least give it that, a unique premise. You are in control of a “human” who is also a failed experiment in a massive laboratory. Its researchers studied ways to stop the aging process, but their messing with genetics led to the creations of monstrous creatures. The most normal “humans” created through these experiments suffer from an ultra-rapid aging process, going from child to teen to adult to senior to death in a matter of minutes.

In the intro, we see this process in action, and learn that we can expedite it by holding down the I key. (You move with WASD, hold down the Left Shift to run, and can interact with stuff by pressing J.) You actually control the next “experiment” in line, nicknamed T1M, who somehow gets in contact with a security agent named Frank who takes pity on the “child” and decides to help him get out of the facility.

I'm surprised the kid can push these things,
yet can't even push damn buttons.

What the Hell is up with these things' arms?

The child cannot press buttons, but he has enough strength to push blocks. The teenager can press buttons. The adult can press buttons, has greater speed than the others (which is useful to outrun threats), and can push even heavier blocks. The senior has reduced speed and cannot push blocks, but can press buttons. The crux of the puzzles involve switching from a form to the next.

However, be warned: The main character cannot de-age on their own (although, strangely enough, they DO de-age back to a child between “levels”… I’m willing to bet that’s plot-relevant). Also, there is a very strict time limit, as they will age automatically after some time has passed. If they choose to age up on their own, there will be a cooldown before they can use the ability again.

These things are fuckin' chasing me now!

Running very quickly becomes a vital element of gameplay, as a mere few levels in we begin to face monsters that hunt down the main character. For some reason, although the character sprites are in 2D, the game is in isometric 3D view, which causes a lot of issues whenever moving the character around. The number of times I had to go through a door to escape an enemy or activate a switch, and miscalculated the distance… This issue is worsened by the fact that T1M can only move in four directions, a limitation that enemies don't have. The game is at least lenient in that, if you reach a level that you begin as and fail to complete as a senior, you respawn as an adult. Unwinnable situations are prevented that way. There is an additional challenge in gathering the special items that reveal more information as to what’s going on, and getting the best ending requires having found all of those items.

So genetic monsters AND security guards
are chasing after the main character?
F*** that.

This game isn’t good. It starts from an interesting idea and has clever puzzles to offer with its peculiar setup, but the design is clunky and the levels look very nondescript and bland. Since character designs are limited to silhouettes, there isn’t much personality to how the characters look either. You are limited to moving in 4 directions, a limitation enemies, both monsters and security don’t have. Also, the monsters emit an unpleasant noise that you have to hear anytime you sneak around them.

Nah, I can’t say I recommend that one. But if you really want to check it out, F.E.X. is available on Steam for 6.99$.