Another Perspective (PC)
Welcome
Ladies and Gentlemen to the No Holds Barred review of the latest game to spawn
from the mind of indie developer Shawn Spalding. I’m the Guardian, and this is Another Perspective.
Ah
another week; another review and with the new release drought continues ever
onwards as game publishers endeavour to put another 200 layers of shiny onto
the graphics of their new games, I’m left with a conundrum of what to review next.
Thankfully however,
my prayers are answered in the form of the Steam new release tab which has
inevitably lead me to an interesting little indie title that seemed to not only
hold a fair amount of promise but also a very interesting game mechanic as well.
All of which leading me to this point right here, with an eternal question to
ask. Is Another Perspective any good?
Well,
starting off with the story we find a misleadingly simple tale that seems to
play out as nothing more than a little bit of text to help give meaning to the
events unfolding onscreen as well as some tutorial advice for the player. However,
as the game progresses onward; it starts to come to light that this hardly the
case and instead we find a slightly dark and interpretive tale – much akin to
the final episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion in some respects. Though, as
such, the story is quite easily one of those love it or hate it deals with a
fair amount left up to the interpretation of the player rather than the game
spelling out every little detail. Reflecting, in part, the cryptic nature of many
games and the interpretation and arguments created by gamers in their stead. Though
this is just my personal theory on the matter.
As
for the stories impact on the game? Well for the most part I found that the two
aspects blended fairly well together, with some interesting moments of gameplay
being crafted through the words of narrative (or to be more exact, the thoughts
of your character) such as the character asking you to pause the game so he can
think; which uncovers a door, or even causing you to question your own morals
and sanity as one of the inactive perceptions calls out for you not to abandon
him. Something that really stuck a cord with me and made me honestly question
if I was too hasty with my solution to the previous rooms puzzle, in turn leaving
a savable character to his death. A pretty clever, if not a little sadistic,
way to mess with the players head but at the same time I would be lying if I
didn’t say that it was a brilliant way to twist the story from fun puzzle game
into something of deeper meaning.
So
aye, the story of Another Perspective
isn’t too bad at all. Nor the ending for that matter, which I found quite
touching in its own way. And even though it took me a bit of time to get into it;
the whole story did made me think, which is nice change of pace as not a lot of
games go for that angle these days. With many games electing to go for overly
simple plots that are a tedium to play through and walk you through every
blasted plot point under the sun as if it’s some form of toddler’s story book. So
yes it’s a good story in my opinion, hardly Shakespeare but still good
nonetheless.
Moving
onto the graphics, we see that Mr Spalding has electing for a basic 2D
cell-shaded aesthetic which admittedly serves the game very well, giving off a certain
charm in its art style. Though with that said, what really steals the show in
my opinion, is the games dynamic use of light and shadow effects which smoothly
shifts around the little sprite on screen, illumination the dark swirling fog
in the background as the player endeavours to solve the puzzles laid out before
them. In turn creating a spooky, almost ethereal, dream scape around them and
helping to forge some very nice visual effects that you wouldn’t necessarily
expect when you first load the game up.
And
as for the games audio work?
Well to put it
this way. For an indie title that only cost me a couple of quid (£) I wasn’t
expecting a fully orchestrated soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer himself but
at the same time, I at least expected more than 2 tracks in the entire game. Especially
when one of those 2 tracks is played throughout next all of the screens in the
game; short of the ending and credits. Though credit where it’s due; the songs
are fairly decent with my only complaint about them, minus the lack of
variation, being that the games main song needs the bass turning down - going so far as to giving me a bit of a
headache by the end of it all. Though that’s not to say I don’t understand what
they were going for with it as it does set up the atmosphere of the game pretty
well, even going so far as to adding a sense of disorientation to the mix of
the puzzle solving. However at the same time, some minor editing on the mix
wouldn’t go amiss ether. Unlike the second song on the soundtrack which is
nowhere near as uncomfortable for me to listen to, instead being much more
simple and elegant as well as fitting in perfectly with the games ending.
Also, on one
final note, the games sound assets are of a good quality as well and quite
pleasingly - unlike other indie games out there that utilise whatever sound
assets they can get their hands on; good quality or not - matches up perfectly
for each effect.
And now we
finally move onto the realms of gameplay, and given what I’ve said in this
review so far; you be forgiven for thinking that my opening description of Another Perspective’s gameplay is once
again going to be “simple”, and you’d be at least half right as the gameplay at
its heart, is your simple 2D platformer. However this is where the games simple
nature ends as Mr Spalding has not only used these mechanics to brilliant
effect but via the implementation of the games primary selling point; the ‘perspective
switch mechanic’, he has turned what would otherwise have been as simple indie
game into one of the most creative puzzle games on the market. Also made
possible by the masterful balancing of the games difficulty, with the puzzles
running the gambit of simple to complex, with the occasional couple straying into
the realms of “frustratingly hard”, though thankfully never into the realms of
the “impossible”, which helps to keep you engaged enough to push on through the
game but at the same time not to the point where you wish to set the game on
fire and toss it into the deepest oceanic abyss you can find.
Also,
as for game modes, the story mode of Another
Perspective is not all the game has to offer as on top of the story mode there
is also the “Mystery Mode” which adds several new and more challenging puzzles
to the game, as well as a continuation to the games main story. However it is strongly recommended (even by the game
itself) that you complete the games main story mode first as the game can only
hold 1 save at a time. This in turn means that the moment you start the story
or mystery mode; you overwrite your original save and thus all of your previous
progress. Also, it should be mentioned that the game has a built in “speed run
timer” (no doubt for all of the YouTube lets-players out there) and a strange
option called “Believe in your Dreams” which I assumed to be a Roughlike option
to disable saving and end the game the moment you die, though I have no idea
whether this is the actual case; as the option appears to ether be broken or a
dud, seeming to have no effect on gameplay in any way.
It
is also quite clear from the moment that you plug in a controller that this
game is geared up for use with a keyboard in every sense. Though that’s not to
say you can’t play the game with a controller if you so wish, as Another Perspective does have controller
support though only in a limited fashion, as proven by all tutorials being
aimed solely at keyboard users as well as certain options such as quitting the
game and overwriting the previous save file, requiring a keyboard button press
- with no controller alternative available. Also, while I’m on the subject of
controls, for some reason the ‘perception shift’ is bound to the ‘Shift’ key.
Now normally this wouldn’t be so much of a problem, as proven by many past
games which utilise the shift key in their gameplay (i.e. Call of Duty, Mass
Effect, Bioshock, Crysis, etc.) but the problem with its use in this context is
that you will find yourself pressing the shift key multiple times in a row
which inevitably causes the sticky keys warning to flash up on the screen and
minimise the game (or at least, this is the case on Windows PC’s). Now
admittedly this is an easy fix as you can simply follow the on-screen
instructions and disable the sticky key warning, but at the same time it has to
be asked why the ‘perception shift’ was bound shift key in the first place
rather than a neutral key such as ‘z’ or ‘CTRL’. Though if I had to hazard a
guess, I’d assume it’s an attempt to make a joke - ‘press shift to shift perceptions’ as it were.
I also have to
wonder why there is no option to allow for players to change the games
keybindings to a personal preference, though this can be excused to some degree
when it is considered that this game was practically made by one man who was
undoubtedly on a tight schedule as well as budget. Even so however, it should be
mentioned all that same.
And
with that, all that’s left for me to do is to share my final thoughts and
verdict.
As
it stands Another Perspective is a
fun little game, and even though it only clocks in at around 2 – 3 hours (if
that) I think it’s an okay length for its price. It should also go without
saying at this point that the puzzles are brilliantly fun, if not a little frustrating
from time to time, and have more than enough variety in them to stop the game
from feeling too repetitive. Though with that being said I have to wonder how
much replayability a person can get out of the game when it’s considered that
the puzzles are the same with every play through.
I
also think that Mr Spalding did a brilliant job when putting this game together.
Creating not only a winning formula in terms of puzzle game mechanics but also
one of the most interesting puzzle games that I have played in a while. At the
same time however, it has to be said that a more varied soundtrack would have
been nice addition; A different song for the games main menu perhaps. Also a
bit of extra thought in terms of the games controls and a bit more fleshing out
on the controller compatibility wouldn’t have gone amiss ether as, even though
the stuff we have here works, it could have been ever so slightly better – or
at least a bit more refined.
So
aye. All in all Another Perspective
is a nice little game that is sure to not only entertain for a few hours but to
also give a headache to many people as they try to wrap their heads around some
of the more complex puzzles that this game has to offer and a definite recommendation
for any big puzzle game fans out there.
And so, with all said
and done, it’s time for me to give my Final
Verdict. I hereby give Another Perspective a solid score
of…
6/10
(A
Decent/Good Game)
Another Perspective is available right now from Steam for the
price £4.79, or your regional equivalent.
And with that Ladies and Gentlemen, all that’s left
for me to say is a deep thank you to all of you for reading this review. I’m
the Guardian, stay safe out there and may we all meet again.
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