Gloomwood — Through the Shadows to the Light

It seems that the big publishers have not been looking at them for a long time -- but there's an indi-scene that's been happy to be a fan of genres that have come out of the mainstream. Here's the Gloomwood. The game has just come up in early access, but it's already overrun the players with its wretched and mysterious world, an incredibly intense gameplay, and a wide-ranging field for bizarre experiments. And even though so far there are only three levels that will take only a couple of hours -- there's definitely something to tell about them.

♪ Darkness, blade and other allies

The adventure begins in a pit from which there seems to be very few people to choose alive, where the stories would end, but our ward is not so simple. A little resourceful -- and we're already moving into the light of a distant lighthouse, squeezed in the hand of a deadly whip blade...

However, the lethal power of a weapon is unbreakable with nuance — the blade only breaks when hit in the back precisely. In all other cases, the blade can hardly be the equivalent of an answer to a huge axe or even to a gun, and their owners, hunters, are stronger, faster and more resilient than the protagonist, which completely eliminates the chances of a favourable outcome of a frontal confrontation.

But you can't brag about trickery and inventiveness, which means you can't use shadows and darkness to avoid them, or you can throw objects in your old age to catch a hunter for a short time, and then you can either sneak past them carefully, or you can hit them in the back with a crumbling blow.

Or you can come up with something more clever. Take the trap that we've been assigned to and lure the enemy into it, not very elegantly, quite cruelly and terribly loudly, but unusual. Or make a lot of noise and attract all the soup-stats in the vicinity, and then set all the craftsmanship manipulations in the nearest fire. And of course, the main object of interest at the levels is red barrels, which are spectacularly exploding and effectively rids us of all the hostile creatures in the range of impact.

There is also a pleasant variety of ways to achieve different short-term goals. For example, to enter a locked room, you can steal a key from the hunter's belt. Another option is to find an alternative route to the desired room. For example, through a window, a roof climb, or an unsuspicious acrobatic pirouettes. Or you can make it easier to knock on the door with a blade. Hunters on that side will come to see with great interest who sows the fuss by opening a sacred room.

Beyond each door, something very important can be hidden, like a very material reward, which will help us survive and be filled with slices, which will open as we look at the level, but the difference is that the battle enemies do not rise from the dead after using a patthephone, and it is clear that there is no equal battle, and the cost of error is too high, but the study of atmospheric locations in this format is incredibly exciting.

♪ In the light of the blood moon

The locations are exclusively atmospheric, with lots of details that reveal drama and a particular place and, in part, the world, and the authors are able to use the light, play with the accents, and use the extremes of scene construction.

The same is true of sound design, which creates a rich gamma of emotion and, without a balance, envelops into a creepy event — a chilling squeak of old floorbugs, a violent winding of storm wind outside a window, or, say, an incredibly unconscionable pathephone melody that will be your favorite sound in an hour's time at the Gloomwood.

All of this will certainly bring joy to those who appreciate the dark and atmospheric steaks, but, of course, the project has a very long way to go, and although I have not personally encountered any critical problems, a variety of small bugs are slightly damaging the atmosphere, as is the smoking behavior of artificial intelligence -- for example, when hunters hide themselves and continue to walk into walls or into each other -- but these are little things.

And the critical short duration is more upsetting. The current version of the Gloomwood breaks down, as it goes, in the most interesting place. And it's not even that -- it's breaking down where it's just beginning to develop a pathetic story and it's getting motivated beyond mere survival. It's a sharp stop that's really ruining the engagement, because we're just getting into the taste. And on the other hand, the final events are intrigued and make you look at the development of the project with a keen interest.

***

If you're really hungry for an intense game process that requires patience, strong nerves, and the ability to adapt, then certainly, yes. You're going to spend two great hours, or even a little more, if you want to go through all the paths and try all the possibilities, but if you expect a whole adventure and wait for the full development of history, or you just want to play it a little longer, you're going to have a better patience. There's a feeling that the final version of Gloomwood is going to be a masterpiece if it's not a masterpiece, it's definitely a remarkable project.

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References to the topic:

• The Victorian Stellar Scooper Gloomwood has entered the early access Steam Early Access Gloomwood will be delayed, but its place on the New Blood Interactive release schedule will be taken over by another Victorian Gloomwood-style Stellar Scooter project, Thief will appear in Steam's early access in two months.