I'm usually reticent to offer reviews for early access games. There's a lot that can change between now and whenever the developers decide to alter their material - and that isn't even getting to the point of addressing that most early access playing experiences deal with raw mechanic devoid of a story's body. Especially by way of direct genre comparison here, The Long Dark comes to mindI'm usually reticent to offer reviews for early access games. There's a lot that can change between now and whenever the developers decide to alter their material - and that isn't even getting to the point of addressing that most early access playing experiences deal with raw mechanic devoid of a story's body. Especially by way of direct genre comparison here, The Long Dark comes to mind as a Canadian blood relative. Still, the differences are important to recognize.
I'll side-step for a second to applaud CMF's involvement with both of the mentioned titles here. Does the US have a similar kind of public-private funding structure for games? I haven't really ever thought to put the research in to see how competitively the NEA keeps up with that kind of stuff, if at all.
I'm compelled to encourage the development of this title, and I'd be remiss in not starting by mentioning that I can't wait for more. Incredible art direction. Obviously touted and enveloping atmospherics. If you're buying into this game early, it's because someone recommended it for its fathomic aesthetic. It feels like the 1970's. It feels like The Great North. If you weren't Canadian before playing this game, you sure as hell are now.
As an American who grew up in the New England area in the early '80's, I found myself continuously drawn by this game into my own childhood memories hearing and seeing about the massive blizzard of 1978, having myself grown up living through winters in the anecdotal shadow of a time not too long ago when North America was susceptible to the bottoming out of society's infrastructure in the face of extreme weather. In fact, I often tell my illustration students to "trust the negative space", and I think this game does that very well. Often, what I'm looking at through the windshield of Carl's pickup is nothing but fading plow scrape in the road ahead of me and some nebulous impression of grayed-out forest caught up in a gale. The wind is convincing enough to make me feel shielded by the auto glass, the driving (helped along by a clever, jerked handling that makes correcting difficult) is enough to make me feel as uncertain as I do in actual snow-driving situations. It's Parabole's remarkable triumph that I haven't felt more convinced of a vehicle's simultaneous risk and reliability in a video game. It's subtle and perfectly handled.
I'm seeing lots of reviews hitting hard against the game's story and narration. I'm reserving judgement for the former and may just wait the development cycle out before exploring further with that. I like what Parabole has shown me thus far and trust that they're making tweaks to a story that someone has obviously loved for some time. I agree that the narration can be, at times, obvious and hokey (a common complaint), but I was never really personally taken to the illusion that the writers were going for something other than exactly that. In fact, the confusingly-charming initial tenor of games like this get me every time.
You're given a constant tablespoon of 1970's Canadian razzle dazzle - the uniformity of the goofball music, the snazzball whir and click of '70's design and appliances (everything seems strangely intended for some kind of pasteurized breakfast use), the matter-o-fact go-on of the narrator. You're allowed full tastes of an aesthetic and have inescapable moments of alarm when you're ripped away from that, when the music starts to slow and distort, a tape or record or radio signal battered and lengthened by the cold, when the narrator comments on things in real time as opposed to looking back on your experiences cheerily, when the voice becomes terse, quick, and speaks in the immediate present tense. You get cozy with an idea of yourself and your safety in space, and the game toys with that definition perfectly and with perfect rhythm. This is the first game I've played in some time where the effect has caused me to feel unquestionably watched by something dark and knowing. Nearby, even.
I could go on, but I'll leave it at this: Parabole has released early content of a game that does a great job leaving you feeling isolated and anticipatory in the face of what comes next. It has the disturbing thrum of The Long Dark's survival bend without beating you over the head with it, the unsettling pause-and-rattle of the Silent Hill franchise without jumpscaring you out the door (yet), all while rocking to the desolate rhythm of a Cyan Worlds joint. The aesthetic is thick and well-researched. The models are dynamic and shift convincingly. The sound design is a gaming experience entirely unto itself. If this game can deliver a thorough story that avoids patronizing the audience (an unfortunate hallmark of most Kickstarted/indie games, the "here, let me be really crowd-fundedly clear about the game you're playing" trope), it's a near-perfect 10.… Expand
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