*sigh*
remember those tests I told you guys about yesterday? Yeah, those happened. I'm going to be spending a lot of time wallowing inn self-hatred today, which isn't really good news for anyone who likes this blog, because that most likely means less coming up with things to say about Digipen games and more marathons of cat videos accompanied by spoonfuls of Nutella.
Claustrophere plays a lot like Amoeba Evolution in a 3D environment. You are placed in an arena with a bunch of destructible low-poly models and ordered by your own vicious instincts to go nuts. It's quite cathartic, or rather, it would be if the controls didn't make me so angry. Actually, fun fact: before I played this game, my mouse was malfunctioning a bit. This game's control made me so frustrated I slammed the mouse against the ground, causing it to work again. I guess by that logic I owe the game a "thank you" but only if it's swiftly followed by a "how dare you" for the most perplexing piece of game design I've yet witnessed. The targeting reticle always points slightly above where your shot will land. Thus, if you place an enemy in your sights and fire, your shot will go just under them, leaving them unscathed. Upon seeing this, I felt like a middle school teacher who just had his mother's sexual decency called into question by one of the students. I was just so shocked I didn't know how to react. Other than that, the control is fine...well, except for the fact that "esc" closes the game without so much as an "are you sure" screen. This can be quite jarring after you've been taken into the wonderful sense of flow the game creates.
And therein lies the forte of Claustrophere. This game is really immersive. There's no dialog, no story, and not a single character in the entirety of the game, but I would argue that Claustrophere handles narrative more responsibly than many AAA developers; and it does this through the thing that sets the medium of video gaming apart from all others: mechanics. As you start off, you're left with a relatively underpopulated death arena and calming music to boot. The enemies are colored blue and purple, two of the most calming colors to the human eye. As time goes on and as you kill more enemies, the music swells up and more enemies appear, colored with increasingly alarming hues. This slowly fills the mind of the player with desperation, anxiety, and all sorts of tension until it's all released in a climactic twist ending (at least, I classify it as a twist).
From a purely gameplay perspective, this game is fun. If you've ever googled "shooting gallery" because you needed to relieve some tension with the cathartic mechanics of a first person shooter, this game is for you. The real reason this game gets my seal of approval, however, is because of its masterful use of mechanics and design to convey a narrative. I and my pretentious friends could talk for hours, discussing what this game tells us about human nature, the world, or life in general.
That was a nice little trip into inspiration. Welp, back to rolling on the floor and longing for the sweet embrace of eternal slumber. Until next time, stay organized.
Links
Oh God, they're everywhere! https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=399
