Praise Talos?

Croteam isn't a name I tend to associate with fascinating gameplay (sorry, Serious Sam). And the Sigils of Elohim teaser wasn't enough to convince me of ... much of anything, really. Why should I care about The Talos Principle?

Well, the "Public Test" - that is to say, the demo - is about as good as demos get. And now I'm interested.

For one thing, the first-person puzzle gameplay presented here is genuinely compelling. Its puzzle mechanics, and the way in which it implements its game world (at least in the demo), are different enough from the likes of Portal and Qbeh to really justify the game's existence. And the demo's Easy/Medium/Hard difficulty levels are convincingly well-designed.

But it isn't just that. There is something else, something that is subtle enough, and intriguing enough, to really have me hooked. It's inserted into the world design so well; it feels easy to miss, even though it's right there in plain sight. It makes clear that the game's narrative has plenty of tricks up its sleeve. There is something enticing and mysterious in here.

Barring some terrible mistake at release, like a too-short campaign or a lack of puzzle variety, this is one I'll be looking forward to playing.