This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
NO SPOILERS HERE:
Draugen is a short 3D point-and-click adventure game set in the early 1920s in the fictional Norwegian coastal village Graavik, likely based on the real city of Gravvik.
The game is named after the mythological character Draugr - a man-like creature said to be able to pull people between life and death.
The game's story places it within the crime & mystery genre. Edward, the main protagonist, is in search for his disappeared sister "Betty". He is accompanied by "Lissie", a 17-year old whose relationship to Edward initially remains mysterious. Arriving in Graavik by boat, they find an empty village. While Edwards key motivator remains finding his sister, they decide to investigate the local events that lead to everybody's disappearance.
Overall, I found the story and characters interesting and engaging enough. Lissie was the most memorable for me. Breathing liveliness and often dancing around, she is made even more interesting by combining two opposing traits. Confident mature dialogue on one hand, if a bit bratty at times, even bossing Edward around on many occasions, but also remaining playful and childish especially in her physical stance and movement. She is an instance of an adult character that manages to be interesting, but remains entirely non-sexualized. The character is also hard to believe for many of the same reasons, which is later resolved as the story progresses.
The game's biggest strength is it picturesque setting. This is exploited by the gameplay which encourages you at several points to stop and watch, or even draw - which then blends to in-game cutscenes. The visual design is charming and atmospheric and features lush nature and appealing vintage architecture, clothing, and artifacts referencing viking culture.
The game's biggest downfall is the linearity of its gameplay, which is far below what the medium is capable of. At every step of the way, it is easy to see the influence of film in the design. Everything is linear to the absolute extreme. None of the players choices seem to matter at all. This goes to the point where, if you don't do what the game wants you to do, it will do it for you anyway. It will prevent you from freely moving and even prevent access to places to which you could move before. Even dialogue choices seem to all lead to the same end, immediately. If you just decide as much as looking the other way during dialogue, Lissie will call you back immediately. It is as patronizing as a game can be. At many times, this gave me the feel of an interactive movie, executed as a game, rather than a proper game. Adding to this is the very short story. The game is beaten within two to three hours. Again, this is reminiscent of feature film. Relative to a price of (ostensibly) only $20, it would still be OK though. Ultimately, the game remains somewhere between an interactive movie and game, while not exploiting the possibilities of either medium in a satisfying way.
It is not a difficult game at all. All relevant cues are marked for you to the point where it almost becomes spoonfeeding. This may strongly come down to personal taste. Personally, I had to laugh out in disbelief, when they found a collection of objects in a large box placed in plain view in a girl's room, and Edward commented "she wanted to keep them hidden". OTOH, its ease contributes to making the game quite relaxing.
Though mostly stable, there are occasional glitches and I had to restart once.
Purely on its merits as a game, I would rate the game a 7/10.
SPOILERS FROM HERE:
That being said, I cannot properly review this game without addressing the elephant in the room: As much as I would wish otherwise, this game is politicized. Buying a game, just to have EU propaganda waved in my face, is not the way I want my entertainment to be. Again, the EU has its hands in producing a propaganda game, paid for by EU taxpayer money. This time targeting Norway, a country that is not even part of the EU. "Why EU taxpayer money? Why Norway?" are the key questions to ask. The story takes a turn towards the surreal and messages such as "not being alone", "we are with you" are frequently preached by a big institutional-looking statue brought in for no apparent reason. Then, a European flag is flown during the end credits. This is subliminal influencing of public opinion, while attaching it to the context of Norway. Why EU taxpayer money should be squandered on this is beyond me, if not for manufacturing consent. It is also unfair to indie game creators, because it distorts the market. This game never had to compete on a level playing field with other game creators. Nothing was earned. Instead, taxpayer money was handed out. I have a strong conviction that governments should stay out of game development (and film). Much less should they politicize it, which inevitably happens due to how the incentives are stacked. This alone makes it a 3/10 for me - a clear "Don't buy".… Expand
DraugenYour Score0 out of 10User Score
