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It starts out rather easily, with you just needing to manipulate switches or dials into a proper position but relatively quickly it begins to ramp up a little. You’ll need to interpret symbols, use a somewhat hidden key, or experiment with what ends up being audio cues to find a hidden solution among an assortment of other mean. I’ll give it some credit, the variety of ways that you’ll be challenged to determine a solution is at least impressive. One of the ways it lets you down is certainly in the form of control, and this applies to both using the controller and the touchscreen. The second puzzle, where you need to turn a dial on each side face of the box, was an absolute chore because of the pretty wonky controls in docked mode. When I went to turn the dials I had an awful time rotating them and it felt like they stopped, making me think there was some methodical means of altering each of them a bit at a time to get it to work. It turned out it was supposed to be a very straightforward and easy process but the really poor way the controls were implemented instead made it unnaturally hard. The fact that the intent is to provide minimal direction really amplified the problem as well, because without any guidance the inconsistency of turning the dial was allowed to be interpreted as intentional and part of the puzzle. Thinking that with the touchscreen all would be well was also a mistake, given the number of mobile games where you manipulate 3D objects there are some control norms you’d expect and this game generally implements them poorly. Even when you begin to understand them the pretty janky The other glaring issue is whether or not the intent of the game was to compete with the likes of The Room and its sequels (still waiting for them on Switch) it’s going to be an inevitable comparison and that isn’t a flattering one. Not only is Access Denied far less polished and visually impressive but its puzzles would only serve as a minor subset of that title’s elaborate and multi-staged solutions. Though the individual puzzles pose their challenges the experience is a bit sterile and lacking in excitement aside from any you may choose to generate for yourself. The game is just very matter of fact when you solve something and generally just moves onto the next challenge with no fanfare. You’ll live but it would be nice to get a little more acknowledgement than that. As a whole Access Denied isn’t too bad for a budget title but its ambitions seem to be as limited as its pricetag. It gets the job done, and will throw some smart challenges at you, but its sterile and unexciting nature brings it down a notch. Then throw the control issues on top of that and it begins to lose steam pretty quickly. In a pinch you can work your way through the game’s issues, and possibly have some fun, but there’s no denying that it’s simply not a very good or ambitious title overall.
Justin Nation, Score:Bad [5.5]