Have you ever thought about what is hiding behind your shadow? (CONTRAST)

Already at the time of the launch, when from the first seconds you are enveloped by bewitching instrumental jazz and languid female voice, humming about unhappy love, mystical fairy-tale Paris of the 20s begins to reveal in the imagination an amazing chamber world. And when, finally, the main menu with a panoramic view on the cabaret appears on the screen, this world is finally decorated in something fantastic and unusually drawn by the very fact of its existence.

They are similar, aren’t?

Finally, plunging into this atmosphere, you click the «New Game» button. And now you are already here, in the little room of a little girl Didi, who meets you as an only friend, talks sweetly and at ease about trifles. You are Don, a pretty circusage with a colorful appearance, her “imaginary” friend. For the whole game, no sound will fly off your lips, and it’s fine! Silence in Contrast is the tool that creates a feeling of detachment and emptiness, the feeling that we are only a shadow in a world where no one is doing, except for a cheerful girl for whom there are no boundaries.

Shadow is generally the main topic of the game on which both the narrative and the world are built in which everything happens

Compulsion Games, a young studio, for which Contrast became the first game, has come to the current topic of parallel worlds from a completely different, more subjective side.

“We wanted to explore the space between the world of fantasies and reality and give up the player a question with the question of whose reality he, as a player, explores,” the developers say about his vision of the world Contrast

Sometimes the shadows become frighteningly more real than the reality itself

Such a view of the world developers was reflected in almost every aspect of the game, which created a general stylistic homogeneity that distinguishes few high -quality works of art.

Speaking of the world, one must not forget about history. Being a dumb and invisible Sidie’s satellite, you observe her life through the shadows – the only echoes of the reality that are found in this deserted gloomy city. And, despite the apparent simplicity of such an approach, the authors each time find more and more ways to surprise the player with the setting of shadow Kitszen, giving the opportunity to become an integral part.

However, the story of Contrast is not red. The plot spinning around Didi’s family drama will also find how to please the sophisticated player. Kat, a single mother, interrupted by work in the same cabaret from the title menu, Johnny, a foster father, always getting into debts and related troubles, a talented foam of Vincenzo, covered by his own vanity-all these images are drawn in the game with wide strokes, without revealing some deep backgrounds or complex motives, but touchthe understandability, proximity of our problems that we have to feel and resolve.

Contrast is a very personal story about the life of little people. She explores the idea of ​​paternity and its significance for the child, the essence of our sometimes too serious attitude to the problems that interferes with their solution, explores children’s imagination, through the prism of which it is sometimes worth looking at the world. Although these questions are not new, and in art they rise for a long time, Compulsion Games has found a way to give their game unique details that distinguish it from the mass of other similar works.

Reality interferes – there www.spinsheavencasino.org.uk/ is always an illusion

As you already understood, the key of these details is a shadow that has found its own place of honor and in the gameplay. Contrast is a puzzle, the key to the solution of riddles in which is moving into the space of shadows. Here, in order to get to the right place, you can use stairs from knives, ledges from bedside tables, chandelier platforms – in general, everything that discards the shadow.

And although in words it sounds very interesting, in reality this chip is not that very good. The game has only 2-3 dozen riddles, over 5-7 of which you will have to break your hands for successful passage. And I was not mistaken, it was my hands, because the puzzles are ridiculous here are simple, since they are built on a simple manipulation of a couple of objects so that their shadows create the way to the right place for the main character, but the passage of this path is what really abandons (not vain in the genres of the platformer is also indicated). However, this call is far from as pleasant as it would be worth expecting. The fact is that the game has a fundamental problem with management: it is simply unrealistic.

One of the gaming levels where you need to fix the broken attraction, handing it well from the gun. Something native is felt, is it not true?

I went through this game both on the keyboard and on the gamepad, and I will tell you that management on the latter is much more pleasant not only because of the ideological beliefs of the console, but also because of the really sensible optimization of control for the sticks, which is almost absent for the Orthodox control method. Thus, the game is complicated not at the expense of interesting design solutions (although they, they should say, are in a couple of places), but due to a banal uncomfortable management system that provokes eternal flights, shortcomings and other typical problems for the genre.

Although key mechanics suffers from such unpleasant problems, the design of locations and puzzles brightens up the overall impression of the gameplay due to its originality and beauty. Still, the old man Unreal Engine 3 to this day boasts his ability to do beautifully in the right hands.

The level with a fairy tale can rightfully be considered a masterpiece. The authors were able to tell an independent story in such minimalistic decorations, which nevertheless complements the main plot and deepens its figurative system. This can be said to one degree or another about each of the levels

Since it was about design, it is worth telling about this component of the game. To be brief, it is beautiful. Each building, every nook sheques, every shadow scene – everything here is created with the trepidation and scrupulousness of people who really love their work. The creativity of the design in each project to this day is distinguished by Compulsion Games from the rest of the studios and puts it here, according to many players, to the same level with Irrational Games, who now rested with the legendary Bioshock. It is only worth paying attention to all these concept arts, with which my speech is abundantly in order to evaluate all the enthusiasm and love of the authors for my brainchild.

Music deserves a separate mention, because this is the basis of its jazz. He is light, situational, and well complements every moment of the game in which it sounds. The soundtrack is written with knowledge, so much so that individual compositions are quite worthy of listening separately from the game.

I postponed this moment for a long time, but now, when even with music it is finished, it’s time to go to the most painful point – shortcomings.

With all the most beautiful that there is in the game, during its passage, general incompleteness is clearly felt: unwatted resolution of textures, lack of interactive objects, a small number of details on locations, lighting (the main problem of Unreal Engine with its lights), the already mentioned broken game process – in general, rather typical things for independent games, unfortunately, unfortunately, not bypassing the partiesThis.

One of the many concepts, never added game. Unfortunately, this always happens

Developers who founded Compulsion Games are hard to call newcomers in the industry, because before independent development, they decently worked in the gaming industry on projects such as Farcry 3, The Orange Box, Darksiders and many others. And therefore, unfamiliar with the insimpensive gamdev should become doubly unclear why the game came out so short and raw?

The answer is simple and at the same time is not always obvious – the budget. No matter how well you make games, it is impossible to create anything sane without money.

And although the authors were pragmatic people, and therefore they accumulated a certain amount of money before leaving for free swimming, one can never say how many resources will be required to develop even the smallest game. And, alas, most likely this project, like hundreds of other indie games, suffered the fate of the lack of money, with which, however, the developers were able to control and release the still imperfect, but completely their game.

Sometimes I just want to look at the edge of the universe ..

So, we examined all aspects of the game, saw its best and worst sides. It’s time to make a verdict. But here I, perhaps, will take a small go-ahead and say a few words about my own view of this game outside of any objective factors, on which attempts were made in the middle of this text.

We can talk for a long time about what art makes art, the answer will never be unambiguous, but for me art has always been primarily a way to speak out and this statement to affect the hearts of other people. In this context, even simple speech at some event can be the property of art, but is it not? However, this is still a philosophical question.

Stairway to Gamer’s Heaven

What is it in Contrast forced me to look at the game from this side? Perhaps the face. A face is something that lacks huge projects, whether it be a Marvel film or another game from Ubisoft. Their work is undoubtedly fulfilled according to high quality standards, meets all the requests of an average consumer – in a word, is a product of mass culture, which has already gone to be called culture. After consumption, such products do not leave anything behind them, they only spend your time, in return giving out a portion of basic hormones that feed the centers of joy and interest.

The face is something more than just people standing behind the project, more than style or image.

In this context, it is the face of the little girl who saw in Contrast – the face of a little girl who is fighting with the whole world, even if he is not real for us and is no more real – he finally convinced me that the games can speak with the player, they can give him food for thought and emotions that promote it to eat. And if this is not the main characteristic of art, then what then?

Perhaps the things I said sounded corny or elaborately, perhaps even too loud for a simple opinion, but I think you will forgive me such a childish cries of the soul. As for the game, then with a clear bit of subjectivity, I put it the highest of possible assessments – a place in my memory.