Videogame review: ‘Tin Hearts’

With its winning story and endearing animations, “Tin Hearts” (Wired Productions) proves a golden option for gamers. While it includes some sad narrative elements that might upset the youngest, there is no troublesome content to cause concern for players of any age – or for their parents.

Originally designed to be a virtual reality (VR) game, this alternating first-person/third-person title has recently been adapted for consoles and computers. Given the high price of VR equipment, the change in format greatly broadens the potential audience for this touching tale.

Players control a spectral persona that’s meant to embody the memory of toymaker Albert J. Butterworth (voice of Christopher Tester). Through him, they revisit scenes of Butterworth’s happy home life with his wife, Helen (voice of Ally Murphy), and their daughter, Rose (voice of Rumaysa Chader).

Thus, in between each level of the game, a saga of love, loss and redemption unfolds against the backdrop of various rooms in the craftsman’s Victorian-style house as well as in its garden. The primary task for gamers is to guide the movements of wind-up tin soldiers who need help to find their way through the various chambers of Butterworth’s home.

Each environment reveals an impressive amount of detail, ranging from the design of interiors to the depiction of Butterworth’s varied handiwork. Additionally, players can zoom in on the stalwart little warriors as they patrol through the diverse settings.

While VR tech may make “Tin Hearts” a cutting-edge product, it’s been devised with the legacy of the past in mind. Thus, players familiar with Psygnosis’ classic 1991 puzzle game “Lemmings” will immediately recognize its influence and inspiration reaching across the decades.

Despite some clunky movement with the controls, this is, overall, an engrossing and delightful experience. And, although kids may struggle with the more complex puzzles and may not understand the deeper meaning of the plot, for grown-ups, “Tin Hearts” evokes a childlike sense of wonder as well as a renewed joy in the power of imagination.

Playable on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, Meta Quest 2 and Windows PC.

The OSV News classification is A-I — general patronage. Not rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

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