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| Resonance by skip 03/18/2014, 2:51pm PDT | ||||
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| Continuing my Wadget Eye games analysis, I played Resonance. I said that the Blackwell Series was the least ambitious of the Wadget Eye games I've played. That's still probably true, but Resonance is the least coherent. In fact, playing it made me appreciate the Blackwell series even more. Like my other reviews in my Wadget Eye series, spoilers incoming.
The basic outline is that a lab exploded and there's some shady dealings going on in an organization called Antevorta. You play 4 characters - the niece of a physicist, his protege, a reporter, and a cop and it's never clear who the main character is supposed to be. The protege turns on everyone and kills the niece because it turns out he's being manipulated by something called the Eleven Foundation. The plot is messy and they might as called The Eleven Foundation the Illuminati. The only characters you meet that are part of it are a geisha with a baby and some Brit hanging out in an unfurnished alley room. Their plan is to use the resonance weapon as a WMD all over the world to cause terror so they can use their project Antevorta to track all electronic activity... somehow. Remember in Watchmen, when Ozymandias kills NYC to end the Cold War? Remember thinking that that seemed sorta dumb? At least, Ozymandias was depicted to be rich enough to pull it off and with the arrogance to think he could. I'm supposed to believe those 2 bums who apparently can't furnish a room are pulling the strings and they have the connections to sell this project to everyone? What's the end point? Why do they want to track everyone? I mean, they'll become zillionaires if they sell their company to Google but what's the nefarious goal they're getting at? The characters are done in broad strokes and Ed's betrayal is met more with a yawn than a raised eyebrow. I played a villain whose motivation I still don't understand. Heavy Rain's betrayal genuinely surprised me and made me go "That actually makes total sense". In fact, Heavy Rain did the multi-character adventure better on every level. It was longer and had better graphics. It was smaller in scope, but that can make a much better story. The varied endings didn't completely rely on your last decision. Both games had a cop, betrayer, and reporter and they're all better depicted in HR. Heavy Rain's cop has a secret involving addiction to VR which is fucking with his ability to see reality properly. Resonance's cop has a secret involving . . . being gay. Fuck you. There were obvious major themes of father-son relationships in HR and loss and I think resonance tried to do something about family but it fell flat. Heavy Rain wasn't perfect but I liked it and it was such a better game than this. Thank God this game is short and the ending is rushed or else I wouldn't have bothered to finish it. The puzzles are varied with a neat one using magnets to manipulate objects in a locker that was probably designed with the idea that this thing is getting ported to tablets. There's a few flashbacks and only one puzzle I remember with a time limit that's pretty easy to figure out. There's an interesting mechanic using memories to start conversations which is a welcome change from Bioware's dialog trees. It's a shame the gameplay and puzzles couldn't find a better story. The graphics are typical low-res pixels. Metacritic and its users give this thing a score in the mid-70s, which I agree with. It's worth getting only if you're buying a Wadget Eye bundle on GoG or Steam and you're getting better games with it. |
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Resonance by 03/18/2014, 2:51pm PDT  What's the point of recommending story reliant games after you've spoiled NT by 03/18/2014, 4:41pm PDT Just read the last sentence of the review. Haven't gaming mags conditioned you? NT by 03/18/2014, 5:01pm PDT <FONT COLOR="000000">spoiler</FONT> NT by 03/18/2014, 5:05pm PDT |
