Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) - Review (PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC game)

This is perhaps the first encounter I ever had with an interactive drama game and, quite honestly, I never would have thought it a genre that would become popular. 'Fahrenheit' was released in 2005 by Quantic Dream and was really a sort of early experimental game that would set the stage for their later games of 'Heavy Rain' and 'Beyond: Two Souls'. For its time, 'Fahrenheit' looks amazing and upon returning to it, understanding a lot more about the genre now that 10 years had passed, I found the experience to be significantly more enjoyable. 

Developer: Quantic Dream
Genre: Interactive drama
Release date: 2nd October 2005
Platforms: PlayStation 2 and Xbox
ESRB: T – Teen

‘Fahrenheit’ starts in a dingy men’s bathroom at the back of an equally grim American diner. An ordinary man murders another patron for seemingly no reason but everything isn’t what it seems as the murderer, Lucas Kane, wasn’t in control of himself when he committed this brutal killing. In fact, he barely has any memory of the incident and now he stands there, staring down at the bloodied bathroom floor, the body of his victim still lying there when, just a few feet away a policeman turns up. Lucas has limited time to dispose of the evidence, clean the place up, hide the body and escape the diner unnoticed whilst, all the while, the policeman draws closer and closer to the scene of the crime. This is where you’re dropped in and as the screen splits into two, simultaneously showing what you, as Lucas, is up to it tracks the cop’s conversation and movements in the next room. This is a game that throws you in the deep end and I experienced true panic as I matched the button combinations to mop the bloodied floor, pounding away at the triggers to drag the heavy corpse into a toilet stall and feeling stupid but desperate for dumping the knife in the bin by the sinks before hightailing it out of there. Walking past that policeman, casual as can be, and out into the wintery street was a true adrenaline rush and every moment was fraught with the terror of being discovered and the confusion of what the hell just happened. If anything, ‘Fahrenheit’ really does make you feel as helpless and confused as Lucas does within its opening moments and this deep character connection is only intensified as the game goes on. 

Now, this game is an interactive drama so there’s a great deal of cinematic style in there that makes you feel as though you’re part of a film such as those black bars at the top of the bottom, faux widescreen style. Quite often the screen will also show you two different perspectives when things are happening simultaneously. In times like this you can frequently choose who to take control of as the game consists of four main characters. We’ve already met one; Lucas, but his brother who happens to also be a priest, Markus is also playable. Then we’ve got the other side of the coin, a detective called Carla and an NYPD agent called Tyler who are both trying to figure out why ordinary people are killing total strangers all the way across New York. It’s a murder mystery with a difference for these detectives as the only similarity between all of the murders is that they all share the same ritual patterns. Yes, there’s some kind of witchcraft at work here, but in modern day New York that’s basically madness. The constant switching up of perspective is far from confusing and I actually found it really refreshing to switch between the official side of things and then the everyday madness that is now Lucas’ life whether that’s trying to cover his own tail by laundering his bloody sheets or cowering in his office cubicle as disturbing visions plague his every waking moment. 

 
The game holds a real mystery even though satanic ritual stuff is hardly new ground but, quite honestly, ‘Fahrenheit’ manages to get such a hold on you that you don’t mind a few clichés here and there. The narrative is interesting and the storytelling rather superb and, with alternate endings, there’s a nice amount of re-playability as you explore how things could have turned out had you acted otherwise. An interesting feature of the game is that Lucas Kane has a mental health meter which deteriorates as bad things happen to him and which can be improved by looking after him. Now this isn’t the Sims but you will experience a Game Over if the meter is empty as Lucas will, depending on the scene you’re in, commit suicide or experience a mental breakdown. It’s an odd thing to do but simple things like having Lucas eat, urinate, receive good news or made a positive discovery that aids him in some way all add on points in making the poor guy feel better. Counteracting against your efforts at keeping him mentally healthy are generally just the in-game events such as the opening scene which, unsurprisingly, cause Lucas a fair bit of stress. 

Everything is interactive as I mentioned before, if you’re familiar with Quantic Dreams more modern games you’ll know exactly where I’m coming from. Conversations are led by you in that you pick dialogue options and action sequences require a fair bit of button pressing at the right time where, if you mess something up, you can often die instantly. I had real trouble during a chase scene through the office with Lucas and it did take me several attempts to get it right due to my apparent inability to put the analogue stick in the right direction when commanded to. It wasn’t too frustrating however as the checkpointing system is done really well and you rarely have to go back over new ground. What struck me as another unique feature, ‘Fahrenheit’ seems to be full of them really, is that conversations have a ‘suspicion’ meter when you’re controlling Lucas in conversations. An example of this is that, directly after the murder, a policeman comes and knocks on Lucas’ door and asks to look around his flat. If you hadn’t done things like cleaned up the bloodied bedsheets and your blood stained clothes then the suspicion meter will instantly rise but it’s not just obvious indications of murder like that that you need to watch out for. If Lucas fails to give convincing answers to probing questions then the NPC will become more and more suspicious of Lucas. To make matters worse you need to answer questions in an allocated time slot, failure to do so either ends the conversation abruptly or leads to Lucas answering in a sort of ‘default’ manner.

The plot of the game is described by the developers as ‘elastic’ in that it follows an overarching plotline but will stretch to accommodate player decisions. What I particularly love is the way in which your decisions and actions as Lucas effects the information the other characters you play have to go on. At the beginning of the game if you fail to clean everything up in the bathroom then Carla and Tyler have much more information to go on and, later on in the game, Lucas’ identity will be discovered much more easily by the police. This quite subtle evolution in which the way you play the game effects the way the story progresses is really quite enjoyable and, alongside those alternate endings I mentioned, means you can run through the game a few times to explore the differences you can inflict upon the world. Of course, the plotline is the same and does not really deviate from itself but the game isn’t exactly lengthy and there’s enough there to warrant a second playthrough.

Graphically the game isn’t exactly stunning, especially not in late 2014 what with the release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and all of the sexy games that we’re so used to now but, it’s not bad looking either. Weather is quite a big focus in the game, as you’ll discover if you play it, and the entire time you’ll be experiencing a sort of eternal winter’s scene in New York which looks really quite lovely and is fairly well done. Characters are all very unique with defined personalities and facial features that aren’t exactly smooth but which are surprisingly individualised and you’ll be coming across quite a range of NPCs to converse with. The music composed for the game is actually from a film composer, Angelo Badalamenti and the expertise shows as the background music is particularly atmospheric and very subtle. Its general purpose is to provide an emotional backdrop to the scenes in the game and it does this well, never feeling like a generic haze of instruments and instead coming across as a part of the story rather than something overlaid with it. 

At times I found ‘Fahrenheit’ to be a little slow paced and sometimes I struggled with the times where fast reflexes were required but, aside from this, the experience was thoroughly enjoyable. When I first played it upon its release I found it far too intimidating to even get very far in it as the pressure it puts you under is instant and incessant. There came a point where I was less worried about Lucas having a mental breakdown and was more worried for my own sanity as, upon realizing I hadn’t tidied up after the murder before answering the policeman who was essentially trying to hammer the door down with his knuckles, I was verging on a panic attack. You only make the mistake once though and, upon retrying the level, I learnt to be cautious about the way I went about playing the game. Turns out there are no second chances when you’re playing as a murderer.

The Good:

• Fascinating premise, brilliant opening scenes 
• The ability to change between characters offers up new perspectives on the same story 
• Well written narrative and excellent storytelling  
• Although I’ve seen the occult re-written in lots of different ways, this one was still new to me 
• Quite beyond its time in terms of atmosphere and game mechanics 
• Lovely music, not bad looking 
• Decent characterizations and you do tend to emphasize with Lucas 
• Interesting gameplay features like mental health meter and suspicion meter 
• Feels like a film with faux widescreen shots, chapters and split perspectives

The Bad:

• Some lip syncing problems and graphical constraints due to the age of it 
• A little slow paced at times may turn some people off  
• Stressful quick time events can lead to frequent retries  
• Tyler is a pretty lacklustre character who doesn’t really have enough impact 
• A sort of ‘Simon says’ button mashing system is confusing and flawed

The Score: 8/10

Final thoughts: “Quantic Dream’s first real mark on the gaming industry as they pioneered into the interactive drama genre was a complete success. I found the game rather stressful because I can’t handle pressure when on a time limit but once I got into the swing of it I really enjoyed myself.”

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Home Alone - Review (NES, Sega, Amiga and Windows game)

I’m not really sure what I was expecting from a 'Home Alone' game but somehow I was still disappointed with what I ended up with. I doubt I would have ever even looked twice at this game if not for my recent Christmas/Winter game trend I seem obsessed with and, after all, what’s more Christmasy than the Home Alone films? Well, Santa and the Blackadder Christmas Special I guess but the point is is that this game fit into my theme so I played it. Ultimately, it was a mistake you should not repeat so if you’ve ever lain awake at night, staring at your bedroom ceiling, wondering if you’re missing out on a great adventure by not playing the 'Home Alone' video game… you’re not, so stop worrying about it and go back to sleep.

Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Genre: Action
Release date: October 1991
Platforms: Nintendo Entertainment System, Amiga, Sega
ESRB: E - Everyone

The premise of the game is incredibly simple though the game itself is anything but. You play as Kevin who is home alone since his parents accidentally left him behind at Christmas to jolly it up in Paris over the holiday period. Whilst Kevin is alone a couple of burglars are intent on ransacking the house but find themselves going toe to toe with an unlikely foe; you. Your general aim is to not be caught by the burglars and each game lasts for exactly twenty minutes though, unhelpfully, there is no timer unless you pause the game and navigate through menus. During these twenty minutes you need to pick up items from around the house and lay traps for the burglars to be caught in. once they’ve tripped a trap they won’t be fooled by it again so you need to lay another one half a foot away from where that last one was for it to be effective again. I guess if these guys were smart they’d have just left and found another house by now. I think the saddest thing about this game is that it sounds as though it could be quite fun and, really, I was hoping for an extremely retro take on the fantastic game series, ‘Neighbours from Hell’ which you should go Google if you’ve not heard of by now. The whole concept of sneaking around, laying traps, laughing at their stupidity then sneaking off again could be a pretty casual way of blowing off steam but there’s simply no reward in changing up the kinds of traps you use as all the animations are the same. As soon as one of the men trips one of the traps they fall over, flail, then get back up again. That’s about it. The sound effects are even the same sort of thudding noise regardless of what trap you used. It feels utterly pointless to even try something new.

Then, to make matters worse, the game is extremely difficult. To begin with, items are almost impossible to discern from the lurid surroundings as everything is so bright and colourful that it all just sort of blends together into one big headache. When you eventually do find some items you have those samey animations to look forward to again but not without a great deal of stress and anxiety to keep you on your toes first. Kevin turns out to be significantly slower and less agile than these two old men and he struggles with some basic actions such as climbing stairs, which slow him down considerably, and well, walking even seems to be quite tiring for him as he’s a lot slower than the burglars. I think stairs are possibly the worst aspect of the game as whilst they slow you down by quite a fair bit they don't affect the burglars in the slightest and they’ll storm up them with no trouble. Even at just a regular walking pace the burglars are so much faster than you and as the game progresses this problem just gets more and more apparent as they fuel themselves on, gleeful with bloodlust, hunting Kevin down without ever tiring. The faster they move the more traps you need to use but ultimately all you’re doing now is trying to stay ahead of the terminator-esque men and avoid stairs as much as possible. You cannot avoid going up and down stairs however because you are also limited to carrying a measly five traps at a time and, guess what, the place where you can restock is two flights of stairs away. I mean you might as well just give up and let them have the silverware by this point because unless you are a serious hardcore 'Home Alone' on the NES player you’re unlikely to win the game. 

Something I haven’t mentioned but which is equally infuriating as the rest of the game is the music. It’s, well, nightmarish. It’s the theme song on a continuous loop but even though it’s the same song I swear to God it was getting louder and more annoying as time went by. Combined with the punishing nature of the game and the gaudy colours I’m quite sure the whole combination would send you quite mad so I made the executive decision of muting the sound. Everything felt a bit better after that mostly because I could hear myself think. Oddly, the visuals aren’t actually that bad. The house is fairly detailed and the characters look pretty good. My only complaints really are that the colours are blinding, the patterns are rather over the top and Kevin doesn’t look like Macaulay Culkin. 

I wouldn’t recommend anybody play 'Home Alone' for the sake of their sanity and time. It’s not at all enjoyable, extremely difficult to play and there are far too many elements that induce intense migraines. The animations are a bit weird, the burglars for instance plod about with their shoulders hunched up to their ears, and the controls are awkward to use. Truly, it’s an insult to the movie and as if Culkin’s current appearance didn’t put me off the films enough already then this game has certainly ruined a certain aspect of it. What I’m saying is that this game may as well have just ruined Christmas, we’ll have to see.

The Good: 

• The house looks ok, I guess.
• It's challenging, if you like that.
• It fits into my winter theme 
• The rope thing you use to get away in a tight spot is oddly fun

The Bad: 

• Basically everything else
• Music is awful
• Gameplay is awful
• Enemies far too difficult
• Irritating limitations on how many traps you can have
• Items hard to see
• Controls are a conspiracy to kill you quicker
• Should have a timer on screen so you know when this nightmare will end
• Animations are unusual
• Kevin doesn't look like Macaulay Culkin

The Score: 2/10

Final thoughts: “Ibeprofen is not enough, where’s that tramadol I had lying around for emergencies? ...Wait a minute, Bethesda made this game? Well they kept that one quiet didn't they.”

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Never Alone - Review (PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game)

This month we have another wintery game that explores ancient folklore only this time we’ll be delving into the beliefs of the indigenous Alaskan community, the Iñupiat. ‘Never Alone’ is one of those games that test the traditional boundaries of what a video game should be as it really is a vehicle for telling a larger story, one of the Iñupiat people and it goes about this in such a heart-warming way that it’s difficult not to enjoy it. The game itself is designed for two players, though can be played solo, and slots neatly into the category of a puzzle platforming game where you must navigate levels by controlling both a young girl and her arctic fox companion.

Developer: Upper One Games and E-Line Media
Genre: Puzzle platformer
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows
Release date: 18th November 2014
ESRB: Unrated (mild threat)

The story of ‘Never Alone’ is presented as the kind of tale that an elder passes on to his or her grandchildren and even a few of the cutscenes are in a kind of scrimshaw style as though you are watching a living, breathing wall of cave art. It’s simple narrative that follows a young girl, Nuna, to find the cause of an unnatural blizzard with the help of an arctic fox whom she meets after narrowing escaping an angry ice bear. Together the two friends set out to find the source of an eternal blizzard which threatens the survival of not only the Iñupiat people but everything they have ever known. The story itself is pleasant, full of heart and somewhat magical in an ancient sort of way which really ties into the sense of the tale being told by an indigenous elder. What I particularly enjoyed about the narrative was that it offered up an insight into a culture that I was unfamiliar with and provided me with plenty of information in the form of cultural insight videos. These videos played like clips from a documentary and would discuss the relevant scenario, character or set piece that I had just encountered. Watching them as and when you unlock them can be rather distracting from the game however and I would recommend waiting until you had finished the game before going through them. They were a genuinely interesting watch though and you’d be missing out on some really interesting information by bypassing them entirely as they tend to make everything feel much more wholesome and real.

The game itself is quite clearly designed with two players in mind but, as I only have one controller, I only have a single player experience to talk about. That said, quite a lot of the game requires you to coordinate the movements of both the fox and Nuna so they work together in harmony but, with unpredictable AI, this is not always possible when you’re playing by yourself. Occasionally the character you are not controlling may perform actions that lead to their death and often they struggle to keep up with your pace which, inevitably, also leads to their death. The game is also slightly let down by the controls which can often feel sluggish, unresponsive and awkward to get right. Your ranged weapon, the bola, for instance can be very difficult to aim properly and this simply adds an additional problem to an already bothersome control system. On the positive side the mechanics of the game are pretty solid and generally revolves around a few basic ideas that become increasingly more complex as the game goes on. Whilst coming up against enemies is standard gaming-fare there are some interesting features such as the winter wind which can be both a blessing and an obstacle depending on where you’re trying to go or what you’re trying to do. Spirits that inhabit the game are similarly two faced and whilst there are plenty of good spirits who will help you there are also the not so good ones who may whisk you away at a moment’s notice. 

The game’s main premise however is the partnership between Nuna and Fox which is where some brilliant co-op gameplay would have come into play had I had another controller. Whilst Nuna can drag heavy objects and use the bola as a means of retrieving objects or clearing obstacles Fox’s expertise lies in his connection with the spiritual world, allowing him to work with the spiritual manifestations of animals called ‘loons’. Navigating levels tends to require you to switch constantly between the characters so that they may help each other along and there’s enough to interact with for this gameplay to not be boring or repetitive. However, the vast majority of the game does not have the same complexity that the final levels do which manifests not so much as a difficulty curve but more a great restriction on gameplay. In later levels your control over Fox is extended and you can do much more with him and, whilst the scenarios tend to be similar such as the chase scenes, everything is just so much more fun and challenging. It’s just a shame that it takes so long for the game to build up to this balance of play and before you know it the game has finished just as it felt like it was really picking up speed. What I am utterly grateful for after playing a certain similar game was the checkpoint system of ‘Never Alone’ as whilst death may happen quite frequently, dodgy companions aside, you are never put too far back and it never feels as though you are constantly retracing your steps.

What I absolutely adore about this game though is the art style which is so beautifully minimalistic with its soft focus and hazy wash of colours as though everything is thinly veiled with snow. Murky blues, whites and greys do wonders to make Nuna stand out in her fiercely bold furs whilst her Arctic Fox companion is both separate and a part of the frozen tundra that surrounds him. The simplicity but detail of the animations are also absolutely stunning and little idle animations like Nuna warming her hands or Fox pawing at the ground add a little subtle personality to their characters. The wind is flawlessly drawn and animated and you can visually feel the might of it as it throws Nuna backwards across the screen or sails across her shoulders when she’s ducked down, shielding herself from its buffeting power. The soundtrack as well is extremely well implemented, a soft chorus of piano that is only broken up by the shouts and grunts of Nuna and Fox as they struggle on with their task and overall the music has a very subtle and calming effect on the entire game. 

The prevalent issues that are present in ‘Never Alone’ are hardly even applicable at the moment as the developer has already announced that patches for both the PC version and the consoles will be released shortly. This is clearly a game with both substance and style and my only remaining gripe is that it takes far too long for the real action to get going and, with that in mind, the game is rather short. This aside it’s a wondrous little indie game that is well suited for modern day gamers who enjoy simplistic yet meaningful games with the capacity for a strong local co-op experience. Visually the game is stunning and I adored the focus on learning about Alaskan folklore as it is quite a rare culture to hear anything about, particularly in games. Treat yourself to something a little different this Christmas and check this out if it sounds like something you’d enjoy.

The Good:

• Lovely depictation and explanations of Iñupiat mythology 
• Adorable foxes always rank highly in my books
• Very well thought out narrative spoken in the indigenous language
• Engaging characters that develop a lovely relationship with one another
• Pretty solid puzzles that require some thought
• Stunning graphics and soundtrack
• Nicely animated for the most part
• Solid mechanics, particularly like the application of the wind and spirits

The Bad:

• Later levels much more enjoyable than the rest of the game 
• AI and ranged weapon issues (that are currently being patched)
• Polar bear has some odd animations sometimes

The Score: 9/10

Final thoughts: “A genuinely intriguing game that makes me cold just thinking about it, or maybe it’s because I don’t have the heating on and it’s December. I loved the whole concept of this game and knowing that the vast majority of things I found wrong with it are being patched makes me truly appreciate the developer’s dedication to this game. I won’t forget this one.”

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Last Inua - Review (iOS and PC)

‘Last Inua’ is set in a frozen tundra and is an icy tale of a father and son’s journey to vanquish evil from the world in the form of a demon named Tonrar. The son, Hiko, is blessed with supernatural powers strong enough to defeat Tonrar but his frail, adolescent body is unable to handle these powers and as such he is too weak to embark on this quest alone. His loving father, the physically powerful Ataataq, opts to accompany his son and protect him in all the ways Hiko is unable to protect himself. Together this Inuit duo set out to save the North from Tonrar’s evil clutches and it looks to be a tale of fatherly love set in a tranquil, snow blanketed world. Unfortunately, ‘Last Inua’ faces a plethora of problems that spoil the experience. 

Developer: Glowforth
Genre: Platformer adventure game
Platforms: PC and iOS
Release date: 11th December 2014 (PC), May 8th 2014 (iOS)
ESRB: Unrated (Mild threat)

‘Last Inua’ is a form of platforming game where you control both Hiko and Attataq in order to navigate the different levels though each character has vastly different strengths. Hiko, the teenage son, is gifted with the ability to teleport between glowing points, create bridges of light to pass over danger and fly in certain circumstances. Attataq on the other hand is the physically stronger of the two and may climb sheer, icy walls, jump and smash through enormous ice blocks that may block the path. To complete levels the player must use each character is unison and, at best, the puzzles are a solid means of traversing the environment even if your options are extremely limited. What let’s this game down however is how incredibly slow everything is and, when combined with some very touch and go controls, the whole experience is easily ruined. Both characters move at a lumbering pace as though they were wading through the snow rather than skipping across it and it’s a fairly frequent occurrence for your button presses to go unrecognized. Attataq in particular does not always jump when he is told to, usually resulting in death. This quickly becomes extremely frustrating as each death sends you halfway back across the map leaving you to plod your way back over to where you just died. This would be somewhat bearable if death was infrequent but sadly almost everything is deadly whether that’s mistimed jumps, roaming Yeti’s, spurting pools of darkness or spike traps. The entire game feels unnecessarily drawn out when you have to constantly retrace your steps at an agonizingly slow pace and this is inexcusable, no matter how pretty the backgrounds may be. 

Special mention should be made of how absolutely gorgeous everything looks and the opening cutscene in particular looks fantastic. The animations are nicely detailed and, for the most part, smooth and well executed. Visually, the art style is very simplistic but also very elegant and I personally loved the sleek, stylish appearance the game boasted as well as the noticeable contrast in colour. The first few levels are by far the most stunning as the contrasts between the inky black night sky and trees and the bright, gleaming whites and blues of the snow and ice are quite beautiful. The characters themselves are well designed and the landscapes have enough detail for them not to feel barren. A lovely visual effect that I enjoyed is also connected to a gameplay feature in that if you stay too far away from a campsite containing a fire then you will gradually begin to freeze to death. When this occurs the entire screen begins to fill with translucent spikes of ice that crackle across the screen, reminding you to seek warmth quickly or else face the ultimate consequence. 

Unfortunately ‘Last Inua’ is one of those games I really want to like but just can’t. It looks fantastic and the story is really quite lovely but the controls are unreliable, the animations are oddly jumpy in places, the lumbering pace is unbearable and there’s a great deal of repetition that makes the entire experience mind numbing. There’s a great deal of trial and error in navigating this game and, when error puts you so far back, you’ll find yourself constantly re-treading the same levels that already lack variety. Despite this, I’m sure there are people out there that can look beyond these problems and enjoy this quaint little game but for me it’s simply a deal breaker. Overall this game could have been so much better as there are some really promising elements about it that would have been brilliant if not for the undue frustration the mechanics caused me. So for this one I’m afraid I’ve got to say it missed its mark by a long shot. 

The Good:

• It looks beautiful 
• An emotional and touching storyline 
• Nice animations, when they work 
• An interesting concept 
• Atmospheric, detailed environments 
• Running from camp to camp before freezing is a nice touch
• Some truly awe inspiring landmarks

The Bad:

• Inexcusably slow
• Puzzles are very scripted with limited solutions 
• Unresponsive controls 
• Frequent deaths that put you very far back from where you died

The Score: 6/10

Final thoughts: “What a shame, if only those kinks had been recognized and worked out prior to release then perhaps we’d have a real stunner on our hands. Sadly it’s just far too repetitive, slow and unreliable to enjoy properly.”

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Year Walk - Review (iOS and PC/Mac game)

'Year Walk' is a game set to divide opinion due to its slow pace and quiet, ambient atmosphere. The game revolves around an ancient Swedish ritual called Årsgång that required its partakers, called yearwalkers, to undergo a series of challenges that would allegedly result in visions of the future. These visions however may come at a grave cost as there is no guarantee the year walker will survive this ancient practice. As a lover of folklore the premise of the game was far too good to pass up and now, with the winter month fully descended upon us, I felt now was the best time to try it out. I wasn’t to be disappointed.

Developer: Simogo 
Genre: Puzzle, interactive fiction 
Release date: 21st February 2013 (iOS) 6th March 2014 (PC), 3rd April 2014 (Mac)
Platforms: iOS, PC and Mac
ESRB: Unrated (Horror imagery)

‘Year Walk’ is very much one of those ‘interactive fiction’ type games where it feels as though you’re playing through some kind of novella rather than an actual game and its strongest features are by far its chilling atmosphere, obscure storyline and sublime aptitude at weaving together horror, fantasy and folklore. You play as a mysterious person who has chosen to partake in the ‘year walking’ ritual in an attempt to predict your future and this starts out with saying alone in the dark, whilst fasting, during New Year’s Eve. When the clock strikes into the New Year you leave your solitary confinement and walk around the forest that surrounds the cabin, meeting strange and frightening creatures that offer up challenges in the way of puzzles for you to solve. 

 
What I particularly liked about the game was how it drew you in with just enough mystery to peak your interest but then made it quite difficult for me to find out what was going on. Initially the game is quite frustrating as it feels as though you’re just walking around in circles and getting nowhere. Everywhere I turned I found myself locked out of somewhere with no obvious way of getting in and it took a while for me to realize that I really needed to pay attention to the smallest of details in order to navigate not only the twisting and turning woodland but the game itself. A pen and some paper turns out to be absolutely essential for this game as jotting down everything from landmarks, patterns, symbols and even your path through the forest as its very easy to get turned around and find yourself lost, despite the presence of certain key landmarks. What really struck me however was the actual appearance of the game as there’s just something about its very simplistic artistic style that reminded me of a hand crafted Christmas card where everything is rather whimsical and ethereal. Spindly, silver skinned trees stand boldly against a velvety backdrop, the snow crunches beneath your feet as you are inexplicably drawn deeper and deeper into the dark, mysterious world. ‘Year Walk’ has such a fantasy feel about it that it feels as though you are exploring a gentle winters scene in some pure and innocent fairytale but the creepy imagery and frightening jump scares drop you back into reality with a bump. The constant clashing of splendor and viciousness keeps you on your toes and is very effective at maintaining the emotion that comes with an ever changing, ever evolving reality where nothing is as it seems. 

This is one of those games that sticks in your mind long after you’ve finished playing it, haunting you as though there’s something else in the snow blanketed world that needs to be revisited. Its haunting storyline, horrific scares and utterly immersive atmosphere all amount to an extremely unique experience that, for the modest price tag, is worth diving into. I should mention at this point that you may sink rather than swim in this grim tale as it’s a puzzle game with a whole new level of difficulty. In fact, I found some moments of the game utterly unbearable not because of its poor quality but of how frustrating and obscure I found the puzzles to be and there was plenty of time spent struggling on through things I found could have been made a little clearer. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a challenge and I admit that games have become significantly easier in recent years but when you spend a good ten minutes on one puzzle a little resentment does start to build. It’s not until I was fully absorbed in the ‘puzzle game’ mind frame where I started to take note of every tiny detail and utilizing my ‘companion app’ guide to learn more about the folklore that I really started to make headway. 
 

The companion app is an unusual addition but, after initially dismissing it as an added extra for those who enjoy reading in games, I realised it had a noticeable effect on the game itself. At first it appears as though the companion app is simply detailing the ritual of year walking in full detail, providing additional information on the symbols and characters you come across, but towards the end you find that you may enter a passcode into the journal. It’s not until you have ‘completed’ the game and come back to that journal that you find the game is far from over as the full story is revealed to you through additional gameplay and scenes. 

Something I found slightly problematic about Year Walk was the controls as it was originally made for touchscreens. Several puzzles require you to move your mouse in the same way you would a finger which, for me, felt really strange and I was glad there were no reaction based puzzles as this would have been pretty hard to re-enact with a mouse. Whilst the controls are nicely interactive for touchscreens, for instance using your thumb print to activate certain stones, there were times when the game was unclear about what kind of user input was required, leaving me to paw helplessly at the screen until something worked. Translated onto a PC what this tended to result in were plenty of puzzles that you didn’t know how to even begin tackling them due to the zero amount of guidance from the game.

‘Year Walk’ is sadly a very short game that, provided you knew all the answers to the puzzles already, would take a pretty meager 30 minutes to complete. The only thing that really extends the length of the game is the difficulty of the puzzles and I would have loved additional gameplay and more storyline as the game is such a unique experience it seems a pity not to extend it with additional content. That said, the pacing of the game is fantastic and nothing is rushed and, whilst the slow nature of the game may annoy some, I enjoyed the softly softly approach to exposing the mysteries that this game held. The emphasis on audio appealed to me, from the audio based puzzles to the enchanting music but this may necessarily prove to be problematic for those with hearing difficulties. The game has no spoken dialogue, everything is text based, but the requirement to hear for the audio based puzzle may stop many people from progressing in the game and it’s a shame there’s no alternative. Minor niggles aside, ‘Year Walk’ is all in all a pleasantly surprising game that is very sleek and very intelligent in its design and the way in which everything plays out and slots together. I adored this means of learning about Swedish folklore and I enjoyed the complexity of the story that, when you get around to completing it the first time, only gets better and better. I can imagine this game is not for everybody due to its slow pace, emphasis on atmosphere and frequently frustrating moments but for me it was a delight to play and I highly recommend it.

The Good:

• Very stylish game
• A constant uneasy atmosphere that something's wrong
• Beautifully artistic
• Genuinely creepy with plenty of scares
• Inclusion of the companion app is a nice touch
• A unique way of learning about folklore
• Intelligent, well pieced together, good pacing
• A story that keeps you guessing, even after it ends
• The kind of game that stays with you after you've finished it

The Bad:

• Audio puzzles
• Zero guidance when solving puzzles results in a lot of guesswork 
• The controls for solving puzzles are frustrating 
• Rather short in length 
• Slow pace may annoy some

The Score: 9/10

Final thoughts: “I’m so glad I finally got around to playing this in time for Christmas, it’s an absolutely stunning game with so much creativity and thought poured into it. It was such a twist to find out its horror elements but the creepy imagery worked really well with the dreamy nature of the game.”

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Machinarium - Review (PC and Mobile game)

It was love at first sight. From the moment I first saw ‘Machinarium’ sitting in the list of recommended games I knew it was to be mine. For a price so meager it was almost an insult I downloaded an exceptionally tiny game of around 200MB and proceeded to be astounded by a puzzle game that was bursting with personality, story and beautifully hand drawn artwork. 

Developer: Amanita Design
Genre: Adventure, puzzle, point and click
Release date: 16th October 2009 
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, OS X, iPad 2, Windows Phone
PEGI: 7+ (some violence)

'Machinarium' is a point and click puzzle game where you take control of a small, unassuming robot in a robotic society that’s victim to a gang of antisocial thugs. What pulls this game aside from the competition is most certainly its art style, just look at those screenshots, it’s a beautiful game that perfectly portrays a crumbling, rusting city and citizens living on the brink of existence. There’s so much detail and so many little touches to the environments and animations that you can only truly appreciate it by playing it yourself as the screenshots alone don’t do it justice. Your nameless, noiseless robot protagonist is quite obviously a character who’s lived under the thumb of others his entire life and in the first ten minutes you see him discarded in a rubbish tip, turned away by the authorities and then plummet into a grotesque sewer system. His somewhat bullied ‘childhood’ is hinted at in the same primary communication that all other characters utilize; soft, inoffensive thought bubbles that either reflect on past events or communicate what they want from you. Even without words it’s easy to empathize with your humble robot character as he totters about, helping others and trying to do some good in a corrupt and rundown city where crime is king and the mechanical officials are about as helpful as a robot bathhouse. 

Yet it’s not just its unending charm that’s there to impress, graphical style and personality can only carry you so far after all, ‘Machinarium’ thankfully manages to bring in a solid compilation of puzzles, smooth and thoughtful storyline additions and overall a fair bit of bang for your buck. The game’s by no means long but there will be times you’ll be held up trying to advance as the puzzles usually require some thought and not everything is immediately obvious. Whilst the puzzles generally rely on some good old item combination then using items in the world environment there’s a decent spattering of originality in the form of its unique ‘stretching and shortening’ feature of your robot friend.

In a traditional ‘Bender’ fashion you can lengthen your robots legs to the point where he can access previously out of reach areas or shorten him to a hobbling, squashed up little robot that can do all sorts of things in this new, skirting board level territory. It’s different and its interesting and what strangely appealed to me is the influence of retro gaming that makes its appearance in old, disused arcade machines and the in-game walkthrough that can only be accessed by playing through increasingly difficult levels of a spaceship game. I liked this allusion to how everything is old and past its time and I also liked the option to use a walkthrough in-game but by earning it through a rather difficult mini-game that didn’t feel out of place at all in the overall scheme of things.

With ‘Machinarium’ there’s just this feel that everything slots together and everything’s very well thought out and crafted from tiny animations like the slurping up of a coil of string when you pick some up to the slow, measured teetering movements when you’re tall. Everything you do has a special animation that will make you squeal with excitement, well maybe not squeal, I do get a little overexcited with indie games, but you get my point, it’s cool stuff. The game is incredibly cheap for what you get and quite honestly I can’t think of a game quite like this one from its design to the way it plays out it’s most definitely an experience and one I applaud for both its squeal-inducing ability and its confidence at portraying a silent hero in a rusted world. All in all, I loved it, even if I am five years late to the party. 

The Good:

• Very well animated, lots of attention to detail
• Beautiful, hand drawn graphics that constantly impress
• Interesting areas to explore
• Full of personality
• The lack of dialogue surprisingly pleasant
• Pretty decent storyline with room for a sequel
• Challenging puzzles that will keep you guessing
• Extremely atmospheric

The Bad: 

• A little slow in places
• Some puzzles are extremely difficult

The Score: 9/10 

Final thoughts: "I genuinely struggled during this game as the puzzles are pretty damn hard, and frankly the walkthrough mini-game is no walk in the park either. Regardless, the game is well worth playing as its beautiful, full of personality and presenting quite a unique experience and premise."

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The Cat Lady - Halloween Special Review (PC game)

Susan is no longer with us; she’s gone to the world and, even before her suicide, she’s been gone a long time from society’s apathetic eye. But even after taking copious amount of sleeping pills Susan is still unable to escape her miserable existence as she awakens in a field, unsure of whether this is life, death, or somewhere in between you take control of her life and guide her staggering footsteps through the world, searching for a way out; of where, neither you nor Susan truly knows. Whereas death is supposed to be the end of a story for Susan Ashworth, it’s the beginning.
Developer: Harvester Games
Genre: Adventure/Horror/Point and Click
Release date: December 1st 2012
Platforms: Microsoft Windows
ESRB: M - Mature

‘The Cat Lady’ follows Susan’s journey back to life after she meets an old woman who wants to strike a deal with Susan to allow her the peace she longs for. Susan is instructed to seek out and destroy several monsters that lurk in the world of the living on behalf of the old woman. Despite Susan’s misgivings she finds herself powerless to resist and, after a brutal and bloody way of sealing the deal, finds herself transported back to ‘life’ but with a catch; she’s now temporarily immortal. For many, this would be a wondrous gift but for an exhausted, suicidal woman it’s an ironic curse that points and laughs in Susan’s face as she treks on with her journey and seeks to complete her task just so she can rest her weary soul and finally be allowed to die. 

It’s a cryptic, surreal and often disturbing journey that encourages you to lose yourself in the darkness of depression before guiding you out of it again. This is a game where the monsters are not aliens with guns or gloomy figures lurking down the other end of a corridor, this is a game where you are the monster in the dark as Susan is flung between anger, doubt, regret, fear and anxiety as she longing for death yet craves revenge. The creatures you encounter are reflective of the demons of Susan’s soul that, as anybody who has suffered from depression will tell you, are not easily vanquished. There will be a blood, and not just a little bit, the game is unashamedly macabre and Susan is forced to undergo several brutal deaths only to be cruelly resurrected again. The imagery of the game is morbid as well and at least every single chapter has a way in which the player may allow, or actively encourage, Susan to kill herself. There’s plenty of black humour in the game as well which I found appealing as, though this game touches on very serious subjects, it’s easy to become jaded to the horrific nature of things when you’ve lived with them for so long. Whilst the game has some extreme scenes of gore these tend to be offset by slower, storyline focused cutscenes so it’s not just a blood-fest, it’s a very well written and intelligently explored blood-fest. If anything, I would describe this as a game that is beautifully horrific. 

Whilst the narrative is by far its strongest point the puzzles are actually fairly good, though not extremely difficult, if anything they are there to provide you with a means to an end rather than as something to frustrate you and slow your progression. Since the game is mostly about atmosphere and storyline I didn’t mind that the puzzles were a little easy but, saying that, they were no walk in the park either and I had several moments of backtracking and getting confused as to what I had to do next. Importantly, the puzzles didn’t feel repetitive and the constant switching of environments helped in this aspect as nothing ever felt like a chore to proceed and it was all very much necessary and interesting. Some puzzles feature some obscure clues about how to complete them that are not just restricted to visual ones, there’s a fair few aural cues which are great for the atmosphere of the game. Generally, I found the audio very good even though the voice acting came across as a little stiff now and then and there’s a very irritating sort of static noise that’s quite loud and intrusive yet entirely intentional. I would have preferred that to have been either non-existent or with the option of turning it off as it was distracting and often made the characters hard to hear. The musical score is brilliant and I have no complaints there and, whilst I said the voice acting could be a little wooden at times, it occasionally did suit the atmosphere and I get the feeling that the developers wanted everything to be very drab and unemotional. Unfortunately at times this style did not suit the on-screen events. 

The beautiful horror of this game is wrapped up in its storyline but enhanced by the unique art style that is a cross between animated newspaper cuttings and old Polaroid photographs giving the entire game a gloomy yet striking appearance. Just like Susan’s life, everything feels a little pasted together but despite this the animations are smooth, the facial expressions are detailed and everything just flows so perfectly. Visually, the game feels very much like a 1990s game which for a point and click puzzle game is just the perfect era for me, especially with it being a horror game as it reminds me strongly of much beloved games such as ‘I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream’, ‘Sanitarium’ and ‘Phantasmagoria’. Amusingly, the game also feels quite 1990s due to the very low resolution that it plays in but this doesn’t bother me so much. There are a couple more problems with ‘The Cat Lady’ though that does tend to spoil the experience a little; the controls for instance are fairly unresponsive, especially during dialogue when you’re trying to skip lines you’ve already read. Susan also does walk incredibly slowly and at one point I was quite sure I had time to go make a cup of coffee in the time she walked from one side of the screen to the other. When you’re lost and backtracking to find things, this is extremely irritating though it may just be my own impatience. Simply, a ‘double clicking to skip to the next screen you clicked on’ feature may be good as I recall several point and clicks doing this in the past. 

Complaints aside, I was utterly entranced by this game and it’s by far one of my favourite point and click adventure games, even with the huge spattering of horror and gore that’s been slapped all over the place. It’s a brilliant example of mature themes that have been done right in a way which is thoughtful, sensitive and intelligently where it doesn’t shy away from controversial issues yet doesn’t make a mockery of them either. If themes such as suicide, mental illness, depression and death offend you then this is not a game you’re going to get on well with as it is utterly unashamed in its approach to the reality of how some people want to die and will go to any length to do so. Whilst the gore side of things can be sometimes a little over the top I found it shocking yet, oddly, refreshing as there have been plenty of these sorts of games that never go too far and tend to pull back before things go too far. ‘The Cat Lady’ never pulls back, it’s in it to win it and I love that about it. The story is fantastic, full of emotion, suspense and drama that will keep you on the edge of your seat and second guessing yourself the entire way through. Susan herself is a brilliant character with genuine character development as you see her go from shy, meek and weary to a woman with a purpose, confidence and strength and quite simply it’s a pleasure to guide her through these changes. If there’s one game you play this Halloweeen, make it ‘The Cat Lady’, you won’t regret it.

The Good: 

• Strong character development
• Interesting, captivating storyline that keeps you guessing
• Mature themes done right
• Striking yet low-key appearance is very appealing
• Decent inventory/dialogue puzzles that challenge but don't frustrate
• Very surreal and disturbing atmosphere

The Bad:

• Some audio issues such as hit and miss voice acting/distracting static
• Some may find the use of gore over the top
• Controls can sometimes be unresponsive, Susan walks too slowly

The Score: 9/10 

Final thoughts: "This has definitely become one of my most beloved point and click games, everything about it feels a bit 90s adventure game which I love and frankly it's been too long since I played something this surreal and this creepy."

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Lovely Planet - Review (PC game)

Who said twitch shooters had to be set in grisly wartime settings or cerulean alien worlds? Lovely Planet may look incredibly sweet in its 'Katamari', chibi style dressings but underneath it all is a game that will beat you mercilessly into the ground with its rainbow encrusted, spiked, bouncing apple type, addictive thing that will quite literally drive you to madness. Let’s try this again. Lovely Planet is an FPS that’s set in a rather cute looking world where you must have a stunning set of reactions and the ability to memorize pathways to perfection in order to get through the extremely challenging levels. Sounds easy? It’s not, it’s far from it, it’s quite possibly the first twitch based FPS that’s genuinely addictive and also so punishing and cruel that it doesn’t mind coming across as a bit airy fairy and cutesy because it knows it could totally have you if it wanted to. You will lose at this game, many many times, you will become so familiar with the game over screen that you’ll be able to recite it from memory years after putting away this game for good. Quite simply, this game is a lying bastard that tries to convince you it’s totally approachable and easy to get into then floors you with the first punch. Now that you know how difficult it is, let’s examine it in a bit more detail. 

Developer: QUICKTEQUILA 
Publisher: tinyBuild
Genre: First-Person Shooter, Action
Release date: 31st July 2014
Platforms: Windows, Linux and Mac
ESRB: Unrated (involves shooting enemies but the bullets are cubes)

Lovely Planet is a first person shooter where you must complete a series of short levels that are no longer than one minute long and which typically last about 30 seconds. There are initially over 80 levels but there are more once you complete all of them; typically this serves as an additional stab to the side considering how long it takes to complete those ones in the first place. In order to complete each short level you must navigate platforms, avoid hazards and defeat all of the enemies presented to you and by missing just one you will have to restart that level. The courses are extremely challenging and this is partially due to the constraint of having to hit certain things before you hit the ground which results in a great deal of trying and failing to aim in mid-air. Thankfully you’re granted an infinite number of ‘bullets’ with your one and only weapon but there’s little use just spraying the screen with the purple cubes that you shoot. The key to mastering this game is to know the course by heart and to act with speed and precision which is not an easy task due to the sheer number of levels and the seemingly impossible situations the game puts you in. The slightest mistake will kill you whether that’s being hit by a single bullet, falling out of the world or touching anything that’s red there are so many ways to end up restarting the level. It’s basically one of those games where you master a small part of it, then get stuck on another bit, then creep a bit further along as you overcome that particular challenge, and then get stuck on another bit… and so on. 

To ramp up the pressure the game encourages a healthy dose of competitiveness among its players through leaderboards and record times which serve to constantly remind you at how much you suck compared to the rest of the world. Not that that’s a bad thing, in fact it’s a very appropriate feature because part of what makes this game so addictive is seeing yourself improve, whether that’s in comparison to others or not. Critically, the controls of the game can sometimes be a little ‘off’ where inputs aren’t always recognized but this is a fairly rare occurrence and is not frequent enough to impact on the overall game. Strangely there’s no actual aiming cross-hair either so firing shots is harder than in a usual FPS game but, after some practice, you’ll find yourself firing with accuracy you didn’t even know you could manage as everything becomes almost instinctual. Besides, at a mere £3.50 you can excuse a couple of blips on what is otherwise a fantastic game. 

Considering I don’t usually enjoy anything of an FPS nature this is genuinely a fun, albeit frustrating, little game that may attract all sorts of gamers to try it out either for a quick blast about or for some seriously dedicated gaming to get through all of the courses. Either way, it looks and sounds great, with adjustable sensitivity in the controls and plenty of features to keep you occupied for hours. Whilst the sound effects aren't exactly the best they're overwhelmed by a very upbeat music track that reminds you that everything's going to be ok, even when you die for the 100th time. If you fancy a challenge, check this game out now by purchasing it on Steam here.

The Good: 

• Fast and crazy funtimes
• Good for those who enjoy a challenge
• Nice escalating level of difficulty
• Unique art style for this genre
• Decent soundtrack that's surprisingly not annoying
• Simple mechanics

The Bad:

• Lacks some variety in terms of gameplay
• Occasional lag with the controls
• Incredibly frustrating game that may put off many people
• Unable to compare yourself directly to friends is disappointing
• Sound effects aren't very good particularly enemies 'dying' noise

The Score: 8/10

Final thoughts: "I suck so much at this genre of games that I'll likely never get to see the ending or the later levels. I tried, I failed, I moved on with my life. That doesn't stop it from being an amazing game, I'm just awful at rote memorization of levels." 

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