Hue

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Gaming Age
    Sep 9, 2016
    100
    Bravo to the developers for taking the feedback and helping make the game more accessible. There's a ton to like about this game and I hope more people will hear about it and give it a try.
  2. Slant Magazine
    Sep 23, 2016
    90
    In a world of all-too similar platformers, Hue is a literal palette cleanser.
  3. Brash Games
    Aug 29, 2016
    90
    A great little game. If the idea a relaxing puzzle game with intense visuals and a wonderful soundtrack appeals to you then I highly recommend it. A real pleasure.
  5. We Got This Covered
    Aug 29, 2016
    90
    While it may not be the most difficult, or lengthy, title ever, Hue is a deft combination of nimble platforming and shrewd puzzle solving. Don't sleep on this colorful gem.
  6. COGconnected
    Aug 29, 2016
    82
    This simple but very effective visual style is accented by a very fitting original score, which begs to be listened to. Mixing haunting melodies with the keys of a piano, it perfectly conveys the tone of the game and what’s going on at any given time.
  7. Eurogamer Italy
    Oct 8, 2016
    80
    Hue is a brilliant and fresh puzzle game that proves that the genre it’s still alive, even in the jungle of independent games. Well done Fiddlesticks!
  8. Worth Playing
    Sep 27, 2016
    80
    Hue may be a short experience, but it is a very fun one. The color-changing mechanic is handled quite nicely and adds a little something to the basic block-and-switch puzzle the game uses most of the time. The puzzles don't get complicated until you're much closer to the end of the game, but they never feel frustrating enough that you'll be forced to quit. The story is fine, but it is the presentation that players will find quite charming.
  9. GameCritics
    Sep 12, 2016
    80
    Although it asks some weighty questions and fails to answer them through its limited narrative, Hue is best enjoyed for its color-swapping puzzle mechanics and austere visual design.
  10. Digitally Downloaded
    Sep 12, 2016
    80
    Hue is a very special experience. Imagine taking some of the best bits of Braid and Thomas Was Alone and intertwining them into an equally amazing package and you get Hue. Hue deserves everyone’s attention and it also deserves a collector’s edition release.
  11. PSNStores
    Sep 6, 2016
    80
    Clever use of colors and perception to create some interesting and challenging puzzles.
  12. Guardian
    Sep 3, 2016
    80
    Quite a few of the later puzzles rely on reaction times alongside forward planning, and since they’re often bigger than those earlier in the game, it’s far more frustrating to have to restart because of a mistimed jump-and-switch or accidental misfire. For the first few hours, however, Hue’s puzzles are concise, inventive, and surprising. For that, at this price, Hue is an experiment worth experiencing.
  13. Digital Spy
    Sep 1, 2016
    80
    Very few puzzle games are both challenging and fun, and deliver a heartwarming storyline, but Hue has done it.
  14. Metro GameCentral
    Aug 30, 2016
    80
    A colourful new puzzle idea used to its full potential in terms of gameplay and, surprisingly, storytelling.
  15. Digital Chumps
    Aug 30, 2016
    80
    Hue presents an accessible, familiar, yet unique-enough experience that is absolutely worth checking out if you're a fan of this genre. I would even suggest that if you got burned out by similar games that got too hard too fast to give Hue a chance.
  16. GamingTrend
    Aug 29, 2016
    80
    Hue is a unique platforming experience that marries a charming art style with an original gameplay mechanic that differentiates it from most other platformers. Focus is required to make it through the interesting puzzles, and without this you are bound to be punished which can be frustrating.
  17. PlayStation LifeStyle
    Aug 29, 2016
    80
    I can’t imagine how painstaking it was for this team to perfectly balance the growing difficulty with the puzzles, building upon each puzzle learned and amping it up just a smidge. No room was above and beyond more difficult than the one prior; it was slow and steady growth, and one that will keep you glued to your controller until you finish it.
  18. High-Def Digest
    Aug 29, 2016
    80
    While the narrative falls a bit flat, Hue succeeds at being both a puzzle game and a platformer. Most puzzle platformers only test my brain, but my reflexes also received a workout here. It impressively walks a tight line between being difficult, yet never left me feeling frustrated. Fiddlesticks have masterfully designed a game that dangled a carrot in front of me until its story ended.
  19. GameSpew
    Aug 29, 2016
    80
    Clear and concise art style, atmospheric audio, well-designed puzzles and replayability are what Hue offers for a very modest price.
  20. Gaming Nexus
    Aug 29, 2016
    80
    A simple concept that is very well executed, Hue is a nice change of pace from the usual game releases. The narrative is the provoking in the game play what surely stretch your mental muscles.
  21. Attack of the Fanboy
    Aug 29, 2016
    80
    While definitely drawing inspiration from other games, Hue really shines bright as an example of a puzzle platformer done right.
  22. Gamers' Temple
    Sep 20, 2016
    78
    The division of this puzzle-platformer into almost separate puzzle and platforming sections may alienate gamers who are looking for a game with one or the other, but not both. I had more fun with the puzzle sequences than the platforming ones simply because the color wheel control kept messing up my timing. When playing challenging platformers, timing is important and you need to get into a groove, and I just couldn't keep a sustained rhythm going in Hue. I like the game's look, its story, and the puzzle mechanics, but the platform sequences on the whole were more frustrating than they were fun.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 86 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 28 out of 86
  3. Negative: 10 out of 86
  1. storageheater
    Dec 5, 2016
    7
    It's pretty darn light in terms of puzzles, though they are satisfying enough to plough through (in 4 hours tops by the way, "6 hours" is anIt's pretty darn light in terms of puzzles, though they are satisfying enough to plough through (in 4 hours tops by the way, "6 hours" is an excessively kind overstatement) - controls seem fine, excellent attempt to acknowledge colourblind people and the art is nice and clean, and while it delivers all the moving parts of your colourwheel arsenal quite briskly, it still takes quite a lot of the game up by doing so. Very few of the puzzles demand great hand-eye coordination, so while timing is sometimes important it is still very accessible, it doesn't punish you for being a bit cack-handed. All in all a decent quality puzzle game for low to medium skill level puzzle fans.

    I'm not going to count the rest of this against my score despite it being a tirade of hate, because it's entirely superfluous to the actual game:

    It also has a terrible narrative (that "touches on themes of love, loss, existence and remorse") bolted on in a way that's really front-and-centre and you can't skip it, since the developer put all the narrative sections as voiceovers that play in extremely long and time-wasting corridors. So even if you mute it, you've got a long empty corridor to walk down. May as well listen to it, you don't have anything better to do. It mentions "research" and "universities" a lot so you know it's profound, and nothing wins awards like indie games that make you think. If you're wondering how much it touches on themes of love, loss, existence and remorse, it touches on them this much:
    "Do we all see the same colour? Makes you think, right? You should look at things sometimes. I wish I'd sorted out my work/life balance." That's technically a spoiler, because that is exactly as far as the game takes these themes. Sorry.

    The "collectables" have very few good things to say about them. There's a couple of them that demand you do a puzzle slightly differently for "challenge" but the majority ask you to press against the wall to find a bit that's actually hollow then walk down a narrow stretch to collect your thing, or drag a box slowly down a narrow stretch to collect your thing. Some demand you play entire zones again but with a new colour you didn't have first time to access the blocked-off collectable.

    (as a bonus, I just checked the Steam page for this, the blurb lists this as a Key Feature:
    "A world full of lively characters to talk to, each with their own personality and story."

    Let's see, you meet a miner behind some rocks, he says "i am trapped" and "thanks for saving me," and you meet a fisherman by a lighthouse who says "I wish we knew why the lighthouse doesn't work" and "the lighthouse works!" and "did you fix the lighthouse? the ships can now find us because that's what lighthouses are for", the sailor says "you can ride on my boat" or something, and it's true you do ride on his boat, and there is a woman by a waterfall who says "there are caves behind the waterfall but I wouldn't go there." Oh there's a dude in the university who says "you shouldn't be here" but since he is actually just background flavour you sail right past him in search of the end.)    … Full Review »
  2. mrnice
    Dec 26, 2017
    9
    I had the opposite experience of HTgamer's. No issues with fast sections. Game-time pauses while you browse for colors in the color wheel, soI had the opposite experience of HTgamer's. No issues with fast sections. Game-time pauses while you browse for colors in the color wheel, so you can easily take your time and adjust the stick with perfect precision, even in stressing sections. The game feels perfectly polished, with zero of the minor annoyances sometimes found in indie games. For example, if you get tired of the many ladders in the game, you might start to jump upwards or downwards on them and find it greatly speeds up the climbing.

    Another example, specific to PS4 is that Dualshock 4's blue light will change to any color chosen in the game. I thought that was telling of how much care seems to have gone into the game.

    The majority of games puzzles are slightly easy and casual, but late game got surprisingly clever and even had me stuck one time, and I had no idea what to expect of where the ideas would be taken. Turns out the ideas went in all sorts of cool directions. It was cool to pass by the Goethe statue at the university and be reminded of his big role in the study of color (you should google for that free old book which is in the public domain... I don't remember the title at all)... I'm sure the devs read that book, and Newton's work too, they definitely knew what they were doing and had a passion for the subject. Maybe this game is meant for teenagers, but despite the simple presentation, I appreciate the solid work and thought put into it nonetheless.

    It does not have much replay-value despite collectibles. But a single run through the campaign was easily an 8/10 for me. You know what? I'm giving a small 9/10 for the original concept.    … Full Review »
  3. HTGamer
    Nov 12, 2017
    4
    Hue is a nice little platform/puzzle game, with story and gameplay mechanics inspired by colours, but is let down by poor gameplay mechanicsHue is a nice little platform/puzzle game, with story and gameplay mechanics inspired by colours, but is let down by poor gameplay mechanics implementation on PS4.

    You have to change the colours of the backgrounds in order to reveal invisible doors and make some obstacles and platforms appear or disappear, all of which are linked to a certain color. This opens up the possibility of including gameplay mechanics like those of Guacamelee! and other older games, with the player shifting between "realities" in order to clear obstacles and proceed.

    It's great to shift between 2 realities at a time, but having to shift between 3 or more is too much for me. I stopped playing when I was stuck at a sequence where I had to quickly shift between 3 colors while running to avoid rolling stones. Why? Because the color shifting mechanic is tied to the right analogue stick instead of dedicated buttons, and it's imprecise. Tried it 20 times, failed, and that was it.

    I am sure that Hue is a nice game overall but the shifting mechanic implementation on PS4 was a disaster for me.    … Full Review »
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