Somerville is a spiritual sequel to Limbo, but with blockbuster scope

First things to know Somervillea spiritual sequel Limbo When inside, is that the story makes sense. Its predecessor lived on the narrative’s edge, somewhere between “Buñuel’s Nightmare” and “That time you smoked salvia in college and got disconnected while reading Orwell.” did.However Somerville, well, that’s a bit normal. at first.

of Somerville One floor elevator pitch is enough. space war For a decent video game? H.G. Wells’ novels (and their myriad variants) have achieved such a tenuous level of pop culture ubiquity that their early beats become familiar. The collapse of the earth from the perspective of people on the ground. A remote possibility of a counter-operation to save humanity from total annihilation.

This time around, we have a guy who just wants to see his wife and kids again, rather than chasing a president or the sexiest scientist in the world. The man has no talent for violence, no talent for survival beyond a slightly higher ability to solve problems on the fly. He’s like an ant that’s especially smart and/or lucky to stay alive during his family’s picnic.

all space war adaptation, Somerville It has the most in common with Steven Spielberg’s Tom Cruise vehicle, released years after the 9/11 attacks. The car sprints erratically down the highway, escaping in a direction where conditions are probably the same or worse. Survivors hide in sewer drains or gather in makeshift shelters. The open-air festival is abandoned, as if the party-goers were enraptured.

Since this is a video game, our man hikes at night with superhuman strength. With a tap of his finger and a period of unconsciousness, he receives a gift that transforms light into a world-bending instrument.

Touching a desk lamp, ceiling fan, or spotlight can channel blue energy into an electric current, transforming natural white light into the glow of sea foam, dissolving alien matter into a kind of living goo. . After a while, he gains red energy, and in a shocking pulse, hardens the alien slime, like lava instantly solidifies into rock. Most of the game’s puzzles involve melting and restoring materials, liquefying stone to fill gaps with melted otherworldly sludge, hardening its surface, and allowing a man and his dog to tumble across the crust. including doing

And Dad travels through a world a little like ours, but moodier and utterly destroyed. In this way the game is very similar to that of Playdead. You walk left and right in more or less 2D space, solve puzzles, hide from unstoppable enemies, and piece together a story that takes place in pantomime rather than dialogue.

Image: Jumpship via Polygon

But this is not a Playdead game. following the release of insidePlaydead co-founder and executive producer Dino Patti left the studio to found Jumpship, which hired new talent. Somerville‘s director and writer Chris Olsen hails from the world of animation, and that experience has given him a keen interest in movies, not only for big set pieces, but also for little things like wide shots and closes. -Up.

So the game will appear as another blush at first, Limbo Also insideas its journey continues, the similarities wear off like a snake shedding its skin.

What does that mean? Basically, games work best when they’re not much of a game. As the man exits the demolished house, he leans against the door frame and stretches his neck to search for the dog. As he evades the spotlight of the giant alien ship, the camera is pulled back until it’s a spot on the screen. Turns out I had better control than We’ve seen this level of detail in how characters interact with the world and the people around them in big-budget projects such as: The Last of Us Part 2, but rarely in a game of this size. Prioritizing animation means deprioritizing other things.

Image: Jumpship via Polygon

Speaking of which, as the adventure finds its footing, its creators seem to have lost interest in the puzzles entirely – frankly, for the better.In the second half our man’s journey is skewed closer 2010s walking simulator, the only real obligation is to keep moving forward. This is also somewhat frustrating, as the game’s dark visuals and small size of characters can lead to confusion about how to interact with the world. However, it was not immediately clear how they were expected to climb rocks or swim across ponds. The action sequence had to retry 3-4 times.

These defects have been suppressed inside When Limboand perhaps tracing their creative genius from one studio to another, it’s disappointing to see them span three games over twelve years.

To counter myself, the problem may be an inevitable side effect of this style of game. For example, the way you play these kinds of platforming adventure games has changed over the years. They are narratively static, built like a movie, moving from scene to scene in exactly the same way each time. So now I treat them like movies that I act in. The first playthrough acts as a script notation and dress rehearsal, allowing me to work out any kinks and catches. A place to become itself. I hit my mark and in return the game always plays like the spectacle it was meant to be.

Image: Jumpship via Polygon

Kashira Somerville expects most players to have a similar experience, hitting the credits and starting over. Less interest in puzzles and more interest in movies this time around. The game’s short running time (just a few hours) and possible alternate endings (he leaves the unpacking to Reddit and YouTube) hints as well.

For the second playthrough, we switched from the Steam Deck to the big TV, making the second playthrough even more of a jumping off point. This game doesn’t look like a AAA game, but it feels like a AAA game. Play on the biggest screen with the best headphones and speakers.

Somerville A fun and delicious bite to finish off a memorable year with a course meal. I think you can leave it as is. But I would like to return to the gaming pedigree one last time. More than just a fun video game, Somerville It carries an insane amount of gaming industry importance, or baggage, depending on the angle of approach.

Image: Jumpship via Polygon

Released by Danish studio Playdead in 2010 Limbowas one of the first indie games to benefit from internet-connected consoles and digital storefronts. A small team can reach a large audience without a Walmart shelf and all the associated overhead. inside Six years later, the same online store appeared at the height of the “indiepocalypse”, overcrowded with dozens of new releases every week.Its predecessor guaranteed attention from reviewers, and its quality earned it high marks, raising the dystopian thread above thousands of its contemporaries. Got Somerville, a game that shows that indie games are no longer so indie, showing that established talent has fallen apart and has the money and cash to do separate things. Additionally, Jumpship has partnered with Microsoft to make it available for Game Pass at launch. Limboof The original look of Xbox Live Arcade. The start-up has become an elder.

of course, inside Developer Playdead still exists. In 2020, the studio announced a partnership with game publisher and storefront Epic Games. When this deal comes to fruition, we may be able to see the official conclusion of this historic indie game trilogy.When Somerville As a tentative conclusion in the world, it’s safe to expect both the original plant and its cuttings to branch out in their own sullen and lovely ways without issue.

I have kept one thing from you. That is the final act. Limbo, and especially inside, We knew that a memorable ending would make for a memorable game. Somerville Retaining this lesson, for the sake of familiarity and narrative clarity, the game loosens its grip on the steering wheel and suddenly plunges off-road… something you need to experience for yourself.

Given that Somerville Starting with a familiar game, then climbing a slow exponential line to ride the strange, it’s the most welcome of the three games. For all the technology needed to create clear, playable movies, nothing beats the otherworldly weirdness of video games.

Somerville It launches on November 15th on Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X via Game Pass. This game was reviewed on PC using a pre-release download code provided by Jumpship. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.