Have you ever gotten the urge to step back into the Portal universe, just to play with the puzzles? Well, we can get you halfway there with TOTAL RELOAD, from the two-person team TORSHOCK. This is their first release, coming out January 15th, 2025, and was showcased during October’s Steam Next Fest. We tried the demo, and I can confidently say that there is some potential here.

Getting Your Wires Crossed

In TOTAL RELOAD, you step into the shoes of HAWKING, an Artificial Intelligence navigating a vast, complex mechanism designed to reboot the universe itself. The gameplay revolves around solving spatial puzzles and manipulating energy sources through a network of wires and Quantum Transporters, all while exploring a world filled with technical devices. However, despite the grand premise, I found the game struggled to convey the stakes effectively.

While I was busy reconnecting wires, I often questioned the purpose of my efforts. It wasn’t until I read the game summary afterward that I even realized the complex could reboot the universe. The text messages from HAWKING, which provide essential context and tutorial guidance, sometimes disappeared too quickly. Occasionally I got turned around and would back into the message, triggering it to vanish before I could read it. This lack of clear communication detracted from the experience, and without context I’m wondering why I would even want to reset the universe to begin with. Adding voice acting for HAWKING could significantly enhance immersion, transforming him into a character we genuinely interact with and injecting life into the otherwise dull and featureless environment.

Universes End With A Whisper

TOTAL RELOAD is completely grey and monochrome, with the exception of the colored wires and portals. It made following the powerlines relatively easy, however it feels rather depthless. The soundscape is similarly empty, mostly filled with the sound of static and wooshing wind. There was some good music, but it didn’t run continuously like a soundtrack. It would load in with a new area, or when you came out of the menu screen, and cut out after the track had played itself out. I will say that the sound effects were good, and made it easy to follow how the mechanics interacted with the puzzles in the environment. Otherwise, though? There wasn’t a whole lot to engage with.

TOTAL RELOAD‘s aesthetic and puzzle style reminded me of the Portal series, and there’s definitely potential here. The puzzles were genuinely interesting, but without a compelling plot, antagonist, or traveling companion it felt more like a showcase of game mechanics than a fully realized experience. TOTAL RELOAD reminded me of a grad student’s B-grade final project—promising but not quite hitting the mark. Overall, I believe TOTAL RELOAD has a unique concept, but it needs more depth and engagement to truly shine.

The demo for TOTAL RELOAD is still available, if you want to give it a try. Let us know what you think.