So I’ve been busy, which means I haven’t really had time to sit down and pour a few tens of hours into a big title. What that entails is that I instead spent a ton of time playing nothing but Street Fighter and awesome indie games instead. I return to you with a selection of 3 new indie games that I thought were pretty cool, but with each of them I know that the enjoyment will depend entirely on your own personal predilection. All of them are different and unique in their own way and will probably only appeal to a select few gamers. Pretext aside though, let’s jump right into the mini reviews:
SUPERHOT
Genre: FPS
Available Platforms: PC, Linux, Mac
Platform I played it on: PC
Developer: Superhot Team
Publisher(s): Superhot Team, IMGN.PRO
So SUPERHOT is a weird game. It’s a meta first-person shooter that uses a unique gameplay feature to be both original and cool as fuck. It’s stylish as all hell, featuring a very minimalist art design that I fucking love: contrasting enemy reds against the stark white and grey environments. The game features a unique little twist on traditional FPS mechanics, wherein time only moves when you move so that you have time to actually survey combat scenarios, react to and dodge enemy bullets (and fucking cut them in half with a katana if you want to be really badass), and perform really cool runs that involve grabbing guns out of the air and shit. The slowed gameplay and the fact that each weapon has its own durability and clip size means that there is an element of strategy to how you play and approach each level. The game also tries to keep things fresh by introducing a new mechanic later on that changes the way you’ve been approaching combat situations, but I’ll leave the details out for you to discover yourself. The game is unforgiving – one hit equates death – so it is immensely satisfying when you find the perfect path through a particularly hard level and waste everybody in the most stylish ways possible. You can even share your replays on a social network created by the developer called Killstagram, where you can see some ridiculously awesome bullshit.
The biggest problem with SUPERHOT is that it is ultimately shallow. The story is absolutely amazing, if you appreciate the kind of meta, paranoia-fueled techno yarn that it has to tell. The thing is that the game is unbelievably short (it took me just over an hour to complete one day before having to go to class) because there are only a handful of levels added to the ones that we were already able to play in the demo that was released last year – which I did happen to play because I’ve been anticipating this game. The game does unlock some new gameplay modes when you finish the story: Endless Mode which is just what the name says and Challenge Mode where you take on the campaign again under specific conditions, such as only being to use the katana. These features could extend the length of the game for you, but I personally am not a person who can go through a story over and over again.
In conclusion, I can’t really recommend this game. The gameplay is absolutely superb – the gimmick really holding it up – and the story is really trippy, but there is not enough content to justify a $25 entry point. Sure you can live out your Matrix fever dreams, but I would recommend waiting for a sale or price drop. The game will also feature VR support later on, so that Matrix comparison will become even stronger. If anything, I suggest you wait for that.
Conclusion: 3.5 Please make more levels’ out of a possible 5
FIREWATCH
Genre: Adventure
Available Platforms: PC, PS4, Linux, Mac
Platform I played it on: PC
Developer: Campo Santo
Publisher: Panic
Firewatch is one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played – visually and narratively. It literally felt like the Gone Home sequel I’ve been craving – a new atmospheric first-person adventure game with sinister undertones that may or may not be warranted. It’s a walking simulator to the max, so those not into that kind of thing need not apply. There is absolutely no kind of action, and the majority of the game involves exploring, talking and hiking around a beautiful sandbox that will actually make you want to get the hell up off your ass and go see some real nature.
The game follows middle-aged Henry as he applies to be a fire lookout in the Wyoming wilderness in 1989 in order to get away from his life, his sick wife and his own guilt. His only source of human interaction out in the wild is his boss Delilah’s voice over a walkie-talkie. The game is pretty bleak right from the onset and only gets worse by the end, staying very firmly grounded in human emotion and drama, and being completely unafraid of dealing with topics that accurately represent the messiness of life. There is an overarching story that is presented as a paranoia-fueled mystery that the player has to solve, but I felt like this took a backseat to the actual interactions you have with Delilah as you explore the park and develop your relationship with her. You will be presented with a number of dialogue choices during the course of the game – those found in the beginning set up Henry’s back story, and the ones found during conversation and gameplay develops the tone of your relationship with Delilah.
The game is more about exploration than anything. You are presented with a giant – albeit linear – sandbox that slowly opens up to you as you progress in the game. When you start out you will be lost as fuck, but by late-game you will be as accustomed with the park as Henry himself. The fun of the game comes from finding things to interact with and talk to Delilah about, as well as following the storyline and learning more about some of supporting cast members. The dialogue and story is well written and the voice acting is amazing, with the chemistry between the main characters being very natural and believable.
I know that a lot of people don’t actually like the Gone Home way of doing things, which is letting the narrative lead you along, with a ton of dialogue and human emotion on display instead of relying on a strong gameplay hook. The game is absolutely striking, using a kind of Pixar-like art style that works well in a video game, and the writing was the main thing that kept me in my seat for the full 3-4 hours that the game lasts. If you thought anything I mentioned above was interesting, you should pick this game up and will probably enjoy it. It really is an interesting game to play through and I recommend that you give it go, just to try something different and beautiful for yourself.
Conclusion: 4.5 hiking trails out of a possible 5
THE WITNESS
Genre: Puzzle
Available Platforms: PS4, PC
Platform I played it on: PC
Developer: Thekla, Inc.
The Witness is probably the weirdest game I’ve ever played. It’s also the most dense game in this special, with the most actual gameplay, albeit of the puzzle variety. If you asked me to sum up what The Witness is, all I could tell you is that it is an abstract 3D puzzle game, heavily inspired by the old school Myst games. It takes place on a mysterious island filled with panels. On those panels are a variety of maze-like line puzzles that will test your puzzle-solving skills and your patience. There are quite literally over 500 puzzles for you to discover on the island, but thankfully not all are required to complete the game. I managed to make it to the end on 400-something, which was more than I ever needed in my life.
The island that the Witness takes place in is one of the most beautiful, shallow sandbox’s I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing in. The art style is simply amazing and the entire game is visually striking. The sparse use of music adds to the atmosphere as well, and you could spend a few hours doing nothing but walking around the island and drinking it all in. The island itself is loosely divided into a few different environs, both man-made and natural, all of which are absolutely beautiful and filled with questions. As you explore, you will discover audio recordings that explain nothing at all but give you philosophical insights, people frozen in a Medusa-like stasis in the process of various activities, and puzzles around each corner. The game makes no attempt to explain any of this to you. There is no cohesive story that I could discern actually. All that exists is the island and the puzzles therein. Perspective also plays a big part in the game, both in puzzle solving in some areas, as well as on the island itself, as it reveals it’s secrets to you little by little as you explore.
The game is played in first-person, with you being able to freely explore the entire island as you desire. You are free to leave and attempt puzzles in any order you want, with the main goal of the game being to activate a turret in each area that will shine a light up to the top of a giant mountain that represents your ultimate destination. Each area has it’s own puzzle theme that dictates the solutions to puzzles in that particular area, for example some puzzles feature tetris pieces that must be constructed on your path to the end, while others feature segregation (you’ll figure it out), while others still require you to look at it from a fresh perspective in the environment. There are a handful of different puzzle types and the majority of the game is trying to figure out the rules for each particular type and the meaning of various symbols that the puzzles use to denote their mechanics. The Witness is far from an easy game, brutally challenging in some parts even, and requires you to actually sit down and think, something I haven’t had to do in a video game for a little while. I recommend actually having a pen and paper on hand while you play. The game does do it’s best to actually ease you into each puzzle type, with the first few in each area being like tutorials before it ramps up later, but the puzzles can get hard as hell.
The Witness is a haunting game. It’s lonely and challenging and feels more like a thought experiment than an actual game, but goddammit is it amazing. I can’t recommend it to everybody because not everybody actually enjoys puzzles or will like the obscure way that the game presents them to you. The game is built on realizations and the quest for knowledge. Nothing is overtly told to you, meaning that you actually have to go out and discover the solutions to your problems. There is nothing more rewarding than actually figuring out what a particular puzzle’s mechanic is and solving the puzzles in an area based on this. Sure, it can be frustrating and you will have moments where you just turn the game off because fuck it, but I promise it is all worth it in the end. Buy it if you enjoy puzzles because if you don’t you will not appreciate this game at all.
Conclusion: 4 PANELS! Panels everywhere!’s out of a possible 5
RANDOM MUSINGS 