Call me a Paranoid Android or a Suspicious Stanley, but when I ask a videogame developer a question and the videogame developer pauses for exactly 31 seconds and then says “no”, I tend to assume the answer is, in fact, “yes”. Or at least “it’s complicated”, to channel a bit of antique Facebook coyness. The Alters is a complicated game. It is a moody sci-fi extravaganza in which your character, beleaguered offworld miner Jan Dolski, has to create new versions of himself by branching off his own past timeline using a "quantum computer", splitting the chain of events at trigger points by, say, having his younger self stand up to his domineering father rather than leaving home.
To kick off with some extremely half-arsed mytho-geometry, the original Frostpunk was a testament to both the design utility and the inexhaustible political symbolism of circles. When people wish to found a community of equals they commonly form a circle, with each participant visible and audible to the rest. A circle is also the best shape for defending against an engulfing ambient threat such as a global ice age, because it has no weak points, and it makes a great centrepiece for a videogame interface, a symmetrical motif that can be tuned and adorned to either suck your attention into the screen or distribute it evenly in all directions.
Created by Polish developers 11 bit, Frostpunk takes place in the middle of a circle, an Arctic crater with a huge coal generator at its heart. Your city rises in rings around that generator, each additional layer of dwellings corresponding intuitively to decreasing temperature, and the result is one of the most focused and thematically consistent specimens of its genre - a building game that feels as intimate and urgent as tending a campfire. Frostpunk 2's new campaign mode breaks the circle open. It starts where you (hopefully) ended, with the crater now fully colonised and evolved into a glaring, blue-orange geode of high-density housing and clustered chimneys. But the view has been pulled back, and construction now unfolds along the plains and canyons beyond the crater, which consist not of circles but of hexagons - another UI designer's favourite - on which you'll plot out upgradeable districts rather than assembling individual buildings.
Calling it now: this is the least intriguing article you will read about 11 bit's The Alters, a blend of Danny Boyle's Sunshine and Duncan Jones's Moon in which (deep breath) you are a marooned space engineer who must spawn different versions of himself by means of backstory-branching gadgetry in order to operate an enormous, rolling base and escape the apocalyptic rays of the local sun.
We're not going to talk about any of that hoity-toity quantum wheeling-and-dealing in this piece, however. We're going to talk about the fact that the opening stretch reminded me of Gears Of War and the many over-the-shoulder adventures it has influenced. I'm sorry. It's been a complicated week involving minimal sleep, and I no longer have the grey cells for branching timelines, though they are certainly the more fascinating aspect of this game.
Indika, unhelpfully for a desperately devout Orthodox nun in early 19th Century Russia, is in communion with the Devil. Or maybe she just isn't as piously pure of thought as she'd like to believe. In the slippery, shifting world of Indika (I'm talking about developer Odd Meter's wonderfully confounding platform adventure now, not the character - brace yourself for some back-and-forth there), disorientating, uneasy ambiguity reigns over all.
Which isn't to say Indika the game is afraid to commit; this is an astonishingly confident experience, so full of swagger and style, so fearless in its presentation and thematic reach, it's hard not to be immediately taken in. Indika opens very much as it means to go on, beginning not with a dreary pan across the snow-battered Russian landscape, but with a dreamy, expectation confounding interactive free-fall through an inverted world, brazenly presented in the style of a 16-bit arcade game and accompanied by a muffled, insistent cacophony of song. Then, as the miserable reality of Indika's convent snaps back into focus with a crash of metal on parquet and the first of many striking directorial decisions - here, the cutscene camera remains firmly fixed on Indika's wretched face as the world around her tilts and swirls - Odd Meter deals its next hand.
Indika the character, as becomes immediately apparent when the game relinquishes control moments in and her idle animation takes over, is an extraordinary creation. Not only is she brought to life through a wonderfully nuanced vocal performance by Isabella Inchbald (the game's English translation is consistently strong and its voice cast superb), her complex, conflicting inner life is evident just from the way she moves. She's a twitching, restless ball of nervous energy; awkwardly shifting her weight from one foot to the other, eyes darting back and forth, occasionally chewing on her fingernails or wringing her hands.
Indika is a good game about a good nun, and I’ll talk about why in a sec, but first - a complaint. ‘Low’, ‘Medium’, or ‘Ultra’ graphics settings? Really, Indika? Where is 'High'? Where’s it gone, eh? This isn’t cute when Papa John's do it, and it’s not cute now. You’re lucky you’re an extremely interesting game, Indika. Let’s talk about that instead.
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Hello and welcome back to What To Play! We've returned from a little hiatus, which you definitely noticed and have been very sad about, of course. It's finally edging towards spring here in the UK, but don't let that tempt you into going outside, there's video games to be a-playin'!
As ever, this is where we'll round up the best games from the month gone by, and the things we're most excited to play from the month ahead - plus, any other suggestions for what might complement it. Here's What To Play This May 2024.
Availability: Out now on PC, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
You might assume that Indika will be dour, given that it's a story-driven game about a nun in a grey, cold, alternative Russia. Then you watch its trailers and find surrealist imagery, genre-hopping, and a bleak sense of humour are part of its arsenal, and suddenly it seems, to me, irresistible.
It's out now.
V první hře se lidstvo sjednotilo pod tíživou zimou postapokalyptického světa. Po přežití se však do popředí dostávají jiné zájmy. Společnost 11 bit Studios se rozhodla více zaměřit na společenský aspekt, protože se budete zabývat různými ideály, dohlížet na radu jako správce města a plnit požadavky různých frakcí. Uspokojit všechny však není snadné
Větší měřítko znamená, že se čas odehrává v týdnech a měsících a místo stavění jednotlivých budov oživujete celé čtvrti. Beta poskytuje přístup k verzi režimu Sandbox nazvané Utopia Builder Preview, která tvoří 40 % zážitku. Při spuštění mohou hráči očekávat více frakcí, map, kolonií a „robustní“ příběhovou kampaň.
Frostpunk 2 vychází 25. července pro PC a je k dispozici hned první den v rámci PC Game Passu. Později se objeví také na PS5 a Xboxu Series X/S (spolu s Xbox Game Passem).
Článek Beta verze hry Frostpunk 2 je k dispozici, hloubkový ponor do hry pojednává o frakcích a větším měřítku se nejdříve objevil na GAME PRESS.
Fanoušci Frostpunku už nějakou dobu čekají na pokračování postapokalyptické budovatelské hry a konečně je téměř tady. Vývojářské studio 11 bit studios minulý měsíc oznámilo, že Frostpunk 2 vyjde pro PC v červenci, a nyní byla potvrzena i data pro jeho předběžnou beta verzi.
Ti, kdo si předobjednají digitální Deluxe edici, získají přístup do bety hry Frostpunk 2 příští týden, 15. dubna, oznámilo 11 bit studios. Beta bude probíhat až do 22. dubna a umožní hráčům ochutnat sandboxový režim nazvaný Utopia Builder Preview. Vývojáři také upozorňují, že beta bude hratelná pouze v angličtině a zjednodušené čínštině.
Hra Frosptunk 2 bude v plné verzi pro PC uvedena na trh 25. července a bude k dispozici také prostřednictvím služby PC Game Pass v první den. Pracuje se také na verzích pro PS5 a Xbox Series X/S, ale 11 bit studios zatím neoznámilo datum vydání.
Článek Beta Frostpunk 2 proběhne od 15. do 22. dubna se nejdříve objevil na GAME PRESS.
My city has become far too egalitarian for the Icebloods. Marxist policy choices mean the faction are now protesting in my coal mines, shutting down a vital heat pipeline and fomenting further dissent among the now freezing broader populace. It is, regrettably, time to talk. They want me to pass the Apex Workers decree, a darwinian shift towards culling the weak while enhancing the strong. That’ll mean a tasty increase to production efficiency, so I’m not complaining - but the Technocrats will, so the vote won’t pass unless I can persuade the Machinists, their less extreme cousins, to support the bill. Not to worry: I promise the Machinists they can choose the next law we vote on, and watch a chunk of undecided voters shift towards implied eugenics.
The Frostpunk 2 beta has rammed home how different my role is to Frostpunk 1’s dictator. I’m more of a smooth talkin’, palm-greasin’ mayor tasked with keeping a dozen ideologically-opposed plates spinning above a city that could be one harsh blizzard from disaster. I like it, even though at times this jaunt to the a-popsicle-ypse can feel less like solving a crunchy puzzle and more like wading through politics soup.
The Xbox Partner Preview showcase offered us a look at a number of the third-party games heading to Xbox Series X/S this year. We were shown a variety of trailers during the 30-minute presentation, including a taste of the Japanese mythology inspried Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess and the announcement of The Sinking City 2.
Whether you missed the presentation or want to revisit one of the spotlighted titles, there's a roundup of everything shown during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase below.
The showcase began with a look at Unknown 9: Awakening from Reflector and Bandai Namco. This body-hopping adventure will be arriving in the summer of 2024. Unknown 9: Awakening has a very strong Assassin's Creed vibe, so, if you're an Assassin's fan, this might be one for you.
This War of Mine developer 11 bit studios has at last unthawed a launch date for Frostpunk 2. The chilly society survival sequel will launch for PC on 25th July.
As previously announced, Frostpunk 2 will also launch straight into PC Games Pass. There's no further news on the console version today, though that will launch on Xbox Game Pass when it does arrive.
Once again, you'll be tasked with building a city to survive the elements and balance the various threats your small civilisation faces, now set 30 years after the original game.
It’s been coming up on three years since Frostpunk 2 was revealed as a full-blown sequel to the frosty survival city-management game, which itself turns six years old (!!) next month. After we finally got a proper look at 11 bit Studios' beautifully brutal follow-up last year, we now know when we’ll be able to brave the unforgiving tundra and the nightmarish climate of, uh, July?
11 bit studios are best known for grim games like colony sim Frostpunk, which is all about trying to survive in a world battered by relentless blizzards. But their latest venture - created in partnership with developers Chibig and Inverge Studios, and co-written by Rhianna Pratchett - is drastically different. Titled Creatures Of Ava, it's a fantasy game about saving Pokémon-like creatures, as opposed to, well, imprisoning them and using them for labour (Palworld, I'm looking at you).
When we first meet The Thaumaturge's hero Wiktor Szulski, we're told he's a man cursed by the vice of pride. It's a trait that sits at the heart of his personality, and in this particular alt-history telling of Polish turmoil in Warsaw at the turn of the twentieth century, such 'Flaws' can also attract the attention of otherworldly beings called Salutors - vicious creatures of myth and folklore who follow their quarry around like dark and gloomy shadows, amplifying their worst qualities and, in many cases, driving them to emotional, and often violent, extremes. It's these outbursts that Wiktor will be investigating over the course of this curious detective RPG from the makers of Seven: The Days Long Gone and the upcoming The Witcher 1 Remake, as fortunately for him, Wiktor comes from a long line of storied Salutor tamers, his thaumaturgic know-how allowing him to see these monsters made flesh, exorcise them from their human host, and use them for his own gains.
He's a man that's ultimately made peace with his own arrogance, then, but considering everything he goes through during The Thaumaturge's 25 hour-odd run-time, I reckon his pride is pretty justified. Not only is he able to brush off multiple stab and gunshot wounds and clubs to the face when he gets in a fight, but he also achieves several feats of thaumaturgy that we're repeatedly told are thought to be nigh on impossible. Indeed, at the start of this game, his connection with his original Salutor Upyr is hanging by a thread, his worst instincts having got the best of him in a recent attempt to tame and capture a second beast from the ether. By the end, however, I had six Salutors at my beck and call, out of a total of eight. Wiktor is very much a force to be reckoned with, and he makes for a highly compelling lead as you navigate the branching storylines in Warsaw's political hotbed.
Xbox held a Partner Preview showcase today, which put spotlight on a handful of third-party games coming to Xbox Series X|S. If you missed the show and want to watch the 30-minute presentation, you can check out the full video below. If you just want to know the highlights, click through to see them all.
The Thaumaturge, the detective CRPG blending together eastern-European fantasy, alt-history Warsaw and even a bit of Pokémon (or Persona, if you prefer), has been pushed back from its planned release date next week to the start of March. With development said to be finished, creators Fool’s Theory say that it’s simply to let the game breathe a bit easier.
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