I was feeling lazy a few mornings ago, but really wanted to eat some Flying Biscuit (a local brunch spot), so I ordered it through Doordash. As I mulled over what I wanted, I eventually landed on a Hollywood Omelet with Firecracker Shrimp appetizer on the side. I’ve had that omelet a dozen times, and I was wanting some comfort food, so it was an easy pick. But I had never had the Firecracker Shrimp from this place specifically and it was…strange. Usually that title means a few fried shrimp covered in a creamy, slightly spicy orange sauce. It’s something I’ve gotten from Chinese and Ramen shops in the past, but this was a different spin on it. It was the same fried shrimp, but it was over a bed of…pineapple slaw? And it was covered in…avocado slices? It was a strange combo, but I do like all of those components on their own, so I rolled the dice. Well, I lucked out because that shrimp was so good, I didn’t even end up finishing the omelet. I mention all of that to say this: Sector Zero is that Firecracker Shrimp dish. It’s a small course made of up familiar components but configured in a way that should be off putting, but ends up working way better than I thought it would.

Sector Zero is a first person puzzle game in which you posses different robots and drones, move around physics objects, and dodge lasers and mines. Its Steam page openly cites Half Life and Portal as inspirations, but I feel that comparison sells it a bit short. It does gleefully lean on physics in the same way that Half Life 2 does, and many of the environments you play in have the messy, yet mechanically sterile design of the backrooms you see mostly in Portal 2. But the artstyle of this game is wildly different from either game, as it is completely black and white with subtle colored accents for certain interactables. It’s a striking look that splits the difference between the warped first person view you see in some of the Alien games and the red filtered perspective used in Terminator 2. In fact, once you possess certain machines, their perspectives add a colored filter over the artstyle as well. It’s incredibly striking, and coats a moody layer over the entire experience.

The game overall is a puzzle platformer, but heavy on the puzzle. Despite you having to jump up to some crawl spaces and dodge some turret fire, most of what you will be doing is interacting with the world in indirect ways. For example, a number of rooms will ask you to possess a drone or a turret only to use it to shoot off a lock on an air duct, or block a laser in front of a door. This means you are helpless to fight back or dodge attacks in any real precise way, but instead of that being annoying it is actually compelling. Having to solve every problem in an indirect way forced me to think outside of the box, and that thrill held up the entire time.

However, that “entire time” is just 50 minutes. Yes, at $4, this game charges about a dollar per ten minutes. That is actually not bad at all. I love a good short game, and for as good as it is, it’s unquestionably worth the price. But I can’t ignore the fact that I’ve played demos for games that were longer than this full release. That length hurts just a bit more when you add the fact that the title menu and steam page point to a follow up game that is meant to continue the story. That context makes the game feel so much more like a slice off a larger cake, sold as if it’s a standalone cake itself. The choice to sell the game this way is understandable, as making games is expensive and selling a first taste at an extreme discount could be a great way to raise funds for the full product. But I still can’t help but get a bad taste in my mouth, especially when I’ve bought many Steam games for less than $4 that I have played for 10 times as long, or even longer.

Overall, I can’t say much against this game. It has a striking style and vibe, solid puzzle mechanics, and while I have failed to mention it until now, the final boss fight is a frantic and fun battle of dexterity. But it is just SO short that it’s hard to recommend the game to everyone at this asking price. Despite reaching a decent climax, the game does still feel like it ends prematurely. So, if I was to recommend that kind of experience to someone, I’d just point them to a free demo of a similar game. Perhaps when ARTIFICIAL, the game this is a prequel to, drops I can more enthusiastically recommend that once I get my hands on it. But for now, if you really want to play around with these unique mechanics and this wild art style, and aren’t too attached to your $4, definitely give this one a shot.