PERSPECTIVE

The Independent Games Festival is a great opportunity to rediscover little known or ignored in late games because of a particularly dense today. Taking a look at the nominees for technical excellence, our gaze falls on a name: Perspective. Two or three clicks later, here we are faced with a free puzzle game developed by students at DigiPen, a school video game located in the United States. A project well worthy of attention, here's why.

A TRON IN THE EYE

To back in the game, the first effort is to dispose of any aesthetic prejudice. Perspective is in the minimalist. In narrow rooms devoid of curves and interconnected by rectangular channels (!) Long fluorescent blue stripes running along desperately black walls, occasionally embellished with one or two posters to give a little color to this world if so dull. The floor is littered with dark rectangular blocks, apparently collapsed from a previous upright. The few still standing monoliths seem to integrate within them often off a monitor, sometimes on when a green band travels the land to them. And these screens turned on, an image display also bluish-gray tones invites us to delve into the world from which it originated. We are in an arcade abandoned, modeled in three dimensions with the bare minimum of polygons.

Despite the lack of progress, unnecessary options to keep sticking the highest quality in the drivers to overcome the staircase effect on the straights. The counting allows the game to run in background on small configurations, passing the anisotropic filters and the most visionary anti-aliasing that you can find to make it presentable in the resolution of our choice. Another tip: do not forget to turn up the volume to enjoy the excellent soundtrack of the game, especially fans of electronic music rather asked. Navigating through the levels, you can enjoy such a great version of the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, like Blade Runner or A Clockwork Orange, while synthesizers. The record is absolutely magnificent and terribly depressing at the same time. So, it is not uncommon to start a game and go to a room whose music we like, then let bousin turn by something else just to enjoy the compositions.


EVERYTHING IS ON

After these minor considerations, it remains only to try these terminals mouldering. Easier said than done ... At the beginning of a level, the view is centered on a small blue man while sleek, geometric silhouette. But when you start to want to move to the right or left a little surprise waiting for us. While our avatar remains absolutely still, this is the camera that is the trunk and starts off in the direction indicated. The arrow keys and mouse allow us to direct and guide our convenience. It is therefore around the room freely to understand what it is then, after spotted arcade without knowing what to do, we return to our starting point. Left-click later, the screen is surrounded by an orange frame and the camera now refuses to obey. Instead, it is our character that starts running on the bands of the same color as his streaking decor. Pressing the space bar blew, and by dint of experience, here he eventually disintegrate by touching the orange edges of the image. At the second attempt, pressing the mouse before the burn see again allows the block in the middle of the race and the iron hand cameraman. Just have to shift the point of view to allow the actor to proceed without turning into small pile of smoking ashes.

The bases are now asked: one click, one passes the camera moving in a three dimensional world the true hero, he stuck in a fixed environment in two dimensions, the solids are blue objects on his way. It has nothing to do with the configuration of the room. The carpet, angles, whatever it as the view of the player allows him to walk on blue elements, even when the latter is separated by a hundred feet in the real world. The notion of depth is foreign. Everything is a matter of perspective. Thus he was able to achieve its first terminal in which it does not take long to get sucked. He just has to join the output level for the playroom acting hub gets a little power and a green line then shows the way to his next target. Again, if the concept is simple, the execution is fast becoming more complex as you might think. The first challenges are quite easy and simply ask to be placed behind in the center of the room to fill a gap platform on the blue wall block. But after two or three tutorial levels, things get tough, our neurons start smoking and then includes the appointment of title to technical excellence.


A PLEASURE TOO SHORT

Perspective has been quite a chore to code, but the result is really convincing, thanks in part to a level considered, generally smart enough and tough not to immerse the player into a torpor due to repetitive design. On one level to another, the manipulations required change beyond recognition. From time to time, we will only align the decorative elements at an angle, other times, it will interrupt our character in mid-air before our eyes move several meters so it can properly receive thanks a member located at the other end of the room. At still other times, the act of lifting the head change the lines for leaks and allow the little blue heroes to start a fall that accompany several steps to the door. Because the perspective is also handling lengths and angles, an illusion that misleads our brain and makes him see three dimensions where there are only two. The game runs well with this principle and really force out of our comfort zone to solve its puzzles.

If there had to keep only one regret, it would relate to the life of the title. With a little over an hour just to see the end, Perspective can be served by consuming more readily in small steps, so as not to swallow in one go. In addition, except for sports addicts to speedrun, the title does offer some replayability. Alternative solutions to puzzles are relatively few and apart improve his time, there is little reason to start a game. In addition, some levels are reused in the introduction of new mechanisms such as rotating walls or moving lava, probably to facilitate the integration of our brain already applied. Another minor complaint, the options are so thin they do not allow to reconfigure our keys, and must play the alt + shift every time you start to be able to move properly. In short, we are still far from perfect, but one thing is now certain: it will carefully monitor future work of developers because if the next title is also smart and offer more content, there will be no shame in letting go few dollars to enjoy.