This is a very minimalist game. You play as a cave explorer, deep in the heart of a complex maze of twisty little passages, all alike. You have no source of illumination, and must map your path through the combined use of a laser radar system and something that looks suspiciously like a VR rig.
The LIDAR acts essentially like an aerosol can of luminiscent spray paint, which can either change colour like a thermal map, hotter as you get closer, colder as you move further away, or to pick up different materials. Other upgrades are occasionally available, such as improved resolution, or the ability to switch focus from a tight beam to a wide spread. This is important when it comes to looking through the bigger structures in the game.
This system generally works fairly well, though you can occasionally get a bit confused and turned around. The game is pretty good about guiding you through it, and there is very limited path choices, but you might find yourself getting frustrated at a couple of points. In particular, taking a leap of faith onto a rocky outcropping that you're only painting as you jump can get a bit tricky. Power through it, as it'll likely only catch you out for a couple of minutes.
Those couple of minutes are important, as it is a very short game. I burned through it in a single sitting of a couple of hours. Consider this to be in the interactive film style of game, where it's more about enjoying a story or particular experience than racking up kills etc. There is at least a very frequent save state, which reduces the annoyance.
The lack of side paths also cuts this down. I suspect that the linear nature of the map (which you'll be able to observe in the game) prevents you spending too long ambling in circles. This game would struggle to provide you with useful landmarks.
That's not to say that the scenery is boring. Indeed this game's best moments come when some significant cavern, containing some past glory or horror is revealed to you, with very skillfully chosen audio. The soundtrack, such as it is, works very well here. There are a number of points where either music or audio snippets suddenly appear and they always add to the effect, never detract.
This sense of discovery is persistent throughout the game. At any turn, your beam can suddenly alight upon a feature or structure that was hidden previously, and give you a lovely little thrill. The creepy factor slides up quite nicely as you travel through the caves, including past mining accidents and a murderous cult. Oh, also, try not to fall in the water. You won't like it in the water.
The scare factor is rather well done, with shadows of previous scans and other aspects suddenly appearing. The plot also tends to drop into some fairly dark places, being provided entirely through a text log that pops up on the screen as you explore.
Overall, it's a good experience. It's currently on sale, and at that price, it's reasonable. A little under the price of a film, which is right, given the length and relatively little replayability factor. It's apparently not selling very well though, which is a shame. Go try it.
Recommended.
Tagged: Game Walking simulator First person Easy difficulty PC