It's been 22 years since Alida graced our screens, the product of a single multimedia artist by the name of Cos Russo. Set on a guitar shaped theme park island built off the coast of Australia, I remember it as a challenging 'world' to experience, rather than just being a game to play (think Riven). The boxed copy remains in my collection.
Cos is just up the hill from me, in the southern highlands of New South Wales whereas I am on the coast. I mention it only because it's cool to be playing a local product.
Absolution casts you in the role of a possible saviour, asked by the island's creator to overcome the Entropy that has ripped the island apart. Bits and pieces remain, places you can visit if you can program the hoverflyer correctly.
Played in the first person, it looks and sounds a treat. A 3D world in which you have complete freedom of movement, the smallest details are meticulously crafted. Watch and listen to the small birds that dog your footsteps in the mangrove location as an example, or observe the manta rays in a different place, present for no other reason than to embellish the environment. Music is sparingly used (which is how I like it), the ambient sound and the various effects providing most of the aural landscape.
While much of each setting is still, there is sufficient movement throughout to ensure it doesn't feel sterile - banners billow, the sea ripples, birds flit about. Then there are the cutscenes, genuinely impressive when involving a 'ride.' The hoverflyer is the first example.
I have met one other character to date, a live-action full motion video image inserted into the environment (think Riven again). I expect to meet more given what I have been told.
I am just over 3 hours in and have arrived at my fifth location, very pleased with myself for having programmed the hoverflyer thus far (there is more to be done). The first two locations are limited in scope and puzzling, helping you settle into the game, but with a progressive escalation that builds on what came before. The third location is where things begin to open up, both in terms of where to explore and the puzzles involved. Plus, there is the joy of getting around in the tree canopy, about which you can discover more for yourself. This broader canvass is present in my current location; puzzles being solved leading to more puzzles to be solved.
Bringing power to machinery has been a recurring theme.
The cursor is not present all the time, appearing when you position your point of view over an item of interest. A small golden arrow, it might also appear as a magnifying glass when you can pull into or out of an item (e.g., look through a telescope, enter the hoverflyer). WASD moves you around, the mouse rotates your view, and left-clicking or using the keyboard interacts with the world. You can save at will to one of two save points and the game saves automatically, seemingly on exit.
My pen and paper remain at hand, covered thus far in scribbles relating to the hoverflyer codes, but with drawings about puzzles still undone. I expect to be making many more notes.
A release date is to be announced, and while I confess it is playing to my preferences, so far Absolution is hitting all the right notes.
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Thanks Marian.
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