When I played the public demo of Viewfinder in April, I was kind of surprised. Even with that short slice alone, that central idea of taking a picture and placing it as his 3D object in the world really appealed to me. So I jumped at the chance to play around with an early build and played with him for the first 2-3 hours or so of the game.
This game will slowly introduce you to how it works. Instead of starting with the camera itself, first find pre-made photos around the world, then use fixed cameras mounted on poles around the world. It’s a little frustrating when you know what’s going to happen, but I just want to start messing around with the camera ASAP, but these early levels really give you a solid sense of how the weird physics of photography work. Good for giving a solid foundation. placement work.
Learn how to use gravity to your advantage. For example, turn a picture inside out so that when you put it down, an object falls from an inaccessible space. Learn how the angle at which you place your photo affects the resulting change in environment and the importance of perspective. You will also learn about building platforms and structures by layering photos.
Even at this early stage, things can be daunting. It puzzled me for a long time until I started thinking in terms of photographic logic, until the battery-powered sequence turned out to be a hallucination. A consistent goal — always just trying to get the teleporter to the next level, but sometimes also needing to find batteries to power it — allows developers to explore environmental weirdness without being overwhelmed. , and keep things on the ground. you. What’s especially fascinating is when you find other 2D objects of his that can be used in the same way as photographs. For example, you can place a giant playing card as a platform and watch all the hearts fall, or you can place a robot blueprint and watch your little invention. revive.
But it’s when I finally get my own Polaroid camera that things really start to get interesting. Being able to take a picture of anything and place it anywhere is just magical. I feel like I’m breaking all the rules I’ve ever understood when navigating through the digital space on my knees. The technology behind this game alone is outstanding and must have many other developers scratching their heads.
After this point, more creative and improvisational puzzle solving is possible. Developers are often one step ahead of my antics than I expected, but I’m still able to combine level geometries to produce inelegant but very satisfying results. , I can implement a lot of puzzle solutions that I feel are unique. The game is very hard to beat. Layering pictures for fun, or just taking a picture of Frankenstein’s work and layering it on top of something else, everything works.
And every time I feel I’ve fully mastered a particular technique, the viewfinder adds a new wrinkle. Scenes that force you to find exactly the perfect vantage point in a photo to get what you need, from power lines that need to be left intact in the photo for the teleporter to work, oddities in the environment The game is constantly played, down to the responsive optical illusion. The first few hours made me nervous and rethink my camera skills.
But what I’m still waiting for is that it really sets me free. All the puzzles I’ve done so far have been fairly small in scope and basically large rooms. Find the teleporter and you’re done. You can move on to the next puzzle or return to a completely empty hub to start a new set. . Cameras are disabled when you’re not in the puzzle room, so there’s no place to really test the limits of your abilities other than replaying old levels.
The game feels like it’s calling for a fun sandbox. It’s a place where you can really go wild with the camera and possibly spawn and play with different objects. At this point, the restricted puzzle room feels claustrophobic and makes me want to spread my wings. It may be the limits of technology that keep it small, but so far it feels like the game doesn’t quite live up to the potential of his one great trick.
It’s unfair to a small development team, but I can’t help but imagine that this camera has been reborn into something bigger and more ambitious. Imagine an immersive sim with this power. You can put a picture of a door on your wall to break into a villain’s mansion, take a picture to steal treasure, have a duplicate of yourself shoot in a turret, or drop guards like MC Escher. . trap. I think it’s going to be incredibly junky, but I’d love to see it.
Perhaps a fairer comparison is the Portal game. Viewfinder has a similar feel to that classic series in that it invites you to play with the logic of one killer mechanic. But what I’ve been playing with Viewfinder so far still feels like I’m in the early testing room of the first Portal. I’m anxious to get to the part where I can break free from GLaDOS control and start messing around with everything. where you shouldn’t be. But instead of portals, there are cameras.
I hope the game will be more open in the future, even if my dream of Deus Ex: Polaroid Revolution is a little far-fetched. But based on the map screen, this isn’t a long game and my 2-3 hours of content would be worth at least his third of his, maybe half. So I’m careful not to get my hopes up too high about how far Viewfinder can actually take this concept.
Either way, even if the viewfinder ends up being a limited and linear showcase for its core magic trick, it turns out to be probably the best magic trick I’ve seen in a game so far. I still believe that anyone who loves PC gaming should try it.itself at startup later this year.
