Get Even

A very exciting story, which makes a huge impression on me in every scene thanks to an outstanding sound design...A unique thriller that tells a story with unexpected gameplay ideas.

Get Even is an excellent psychological thriller, crippled by some uninspired and dull action sequences, and a weak enemy AI. Nonetheless, the plot and the way the story is told make for an excellent experience, one that is definitely worth enjoying.

This is an extraordinary gaming experience. Somewhere between shooter, stealth, sleuth, sci-fi technology and psychological horror The Farm 51 relinquishes conventions. Imagine a party where The Matrix, Inception and Total Recall celebrate with Layers of Fear, Metal Gear Solid and Alan Wake. Sounds weird? Yes. And then some.

When credits rolled on Get Even after a powerful ending, I found myself wanting to revisit the world and collect all the clues I missed to see how it would affect Black’s story. Farm 51’s latest is a well-paced action-adventure title that juggles a lot of elements to create an experience that is both thrilling and unexpectedly moving.

The story is great but the surfeit of ideas means that none are fleshed out particularly well. [Issue#264, p.63]

Like Spec Ops: The Line and Alpha Protocol, Get Even is a flawed game whose strengths dwarf the mechanical weaknesses. Expect it to start popping up on podcasts or in long-form articles in the next few months, accompanied by the ever-present caveat “well, the combat bits aren’t particularly good” and then praise for almost everything else. It’s probably going to pick up 6/10 type scores in most places that aren’t here, and I can completely understand why. The shortcomings are easy to point out, but Get Even delivers a complex, non-linear narrative full of clever misdirection, shifting truths, and conflicted characters in a way few other games can match.

At the end of the day, Get Even took me by surprise. I was expecting a standard FPS and what I got was a strange, intriguing psychological thriller that had just as many puzzles and investigation parts as it did shooting and stealth parts. The storytelling is superb and the overall design is something to really take a look at. At $30, I’d say you can’t go wrong with Get Even. It has really jumped up there in my best sleeper hits list and I suggest people really check it out if they’re looking for a good catalyst for storytelling.

Get Even is a memorable experience and a well-delivered psychological thriller. Music and audio design stand as its high point, alongside the visuals and gameplay creating an immersive atmosphere. It truly is The Farm 51’s best title to date, and Bandai Namco was right to give them the extra time needed to complete it.

With a good plot and atmosphere for a survival horror, the game only lacks a more refined action sections to get to a higher point. The importance of the decisions gives it a higher replayability than expected in the genre.

A dramatic story told in a very fascinating way. The shooting gameplay is quite a disappointment, but the high level of the audio and the enthralling plot put Get Even on solid footing.

Get Even is a fun, stylish mind-bending adventure that I found very enjoyable for much of my play through. Each part of the game plays like an episode from Cole’s past, and each offers a fresh twist in play style and tone that keeps the experience fresh.

This is a very good game with a great story and narrative, although unfortunately suffers some gameplay shortcomings.

A work of great impact.

Get Even doesn't have one strong suit from a gameplay perspective. The shooting is serviceable, the stealth is partially broken, and the investigations are almost too easy unless you're not very observant. At the same time, the story is absolutely bonkers enough to keep you glued until the end, and the presentation certainly pumps up your adrenaline even if there isn't a scare to be had. If you're the type of gamer who cares more about narrative than action, Get Even is worth checking out.

Get Even offers to players a quite different survival horror experience from beginning to the end. It has a different gaming experience, dramatic story and atmosphere for a survival horror game.

Get Even excels in ambience (narrative) and sound design, but it's very limited by game mechanics and its graphics engine.

Although the combination of walking simulator and stealth game doesn’t work, I had positive feelings about Get Even as the credits rolled.

The biggest reason to finish the game is its multi-layered and complex story that’s prone to turning everything you know upside down at the drop of a hat. From medical drama to corporate intrigues to family problems – Get Even delivers what’s expected from a psychological thriller. [Issue #222, p.60]

Get Even is more of an experiment than your typical game. A successful experiment, I must add. It might not be beautiful and it’s rather mediocre as a shooter, but the audio is great and the developers managed to skillfully mix various ideas into a coherent game. [09/2017, p.46]

Get Even has some very interesting ideas, but they would look better as a book or a movie.

Get Even creators have probably lost both fans of horror games and shooters by layering the story and dosing it through shorter memories. But they attracted both the fans of thrillers and fans of exciting stories – which is definitely quite an achievement.

Get Even works hard to tell a gripping story with themes of memory, mild horror, and psychological terror -- but there’s something missing from Get Even at almost every turn. The kind of polish the game lacks is comprehensive, affecting the game’s narrative, playability, level design, sound design, AI, and more, while still providing an enjoyable gaming experience. This is because Get Even is an intriguing psychological-thriller on clunky FPS rails -- a rich, detailed story muddied by its own interest in being something else.

This combination of exploration, mystery, and psychological thriller is what manages to make Get Even a decent proposal, thus overlooking its weaknesses in the action segments, the sometimes slow development of the plot, but also the totally mediocre visuals, which remind us of a production from 2013.

Get Even could have been a great game but it suffers from too many flaws to be able to really capitalize on it's strengths. It still offers a good narrative and amazing sound.

Get Even is a strange game. It's almost schizophrenic in its execution, but The Farm 51 should be applauded for trying something different. It represents what I love about independent game development: it maybe a little rough around the edges, but it takes risks and provides a truly unique experience. For that I applaud it, even if I cannot unreservedly recommend it.

A messy, unfocused mishmash of genres with a few smart ideas.

Although Get Even has a lot of pieces missing to be called a great game, it surely is one that worth the attention of players who like linear psychological horror games. It might not be the best in the genre, but it is clearly a great first try from Farm 51.

It is difficult to define what genre Get Even really is, but that is a good thing. Unfortunately the great potential of this mix of genres is not fully used in this original environment.

The result is a game that, while built from familiar components, feels unique as a whole. The Farm 51 should be commended for its bold design decisions, and for attempting to create something that dispenses with videogame conventions. That it doesn't always hang together quite as well as it could is disappointing, but that doesn't make experiencing the studio's singular vision any less worthwhile. [July 2017, p.110]