We spent minutes, at a stretch, dumbly staring at the screen, trying to work out which choice was the least damaging. Yet, of course they were – play As Dusk Falls again, and you come to realise that every branching path is dealt with in this way.īut that’s not to say that the choices are easy. It treats the player with supreme empathy at all times, as the characters and events understand why you made the choice, and make you feel like no other option was realistic. At no point did As Dusk Falls laugh in our faces or make us feel like we picked the wrong options. Once a choice is made, there’s no remorse, either. It felt good to not have to make compromises. We had a choice in mind before we even approached a fork in the road, and – lo – there it was when we arrived. In As Dusk Falls that was rarely the case. Too often, we play narrative games that railroad us into choices that feel unnatural or unbelievable, simply because the narrative needs those choices to function. As Dusk Falls is very good at snapping back into a prescribed flow, without giving the impression that it’s doing just that.Įven better, As Dusk Falls has a natty habit of offering you the exact choice you want to make in a given moment. But other choices are smoke and mirrors, offering choices that are momentary or more inconsequential than you might think. In some cases you are, and that’s clear from a choice map that appears between each chapter something that conveniently allows you to see the community choices, and also leap back to previous choices, should you want to. ![]() It makes you feel like you’re making significant, divergent choices to the plot. But As Dusk Falls is masterful at pulling out a bag labelled ‘smoke and mirrors’. Significant moments are labelled as ‘Crossroads’ choices, and you have as much time as you need to determine which fork in the road to take. Part of this sidelining is down to the way As Dusk Falls handles choice. Finally, we skip to the future, reflecting on how the trauma has swelled up and enveloped everyone involved. Then the kidnapping accelerates forward, as your player-choices determine who lives, dies, escapes or resides in a cage of their own making. Equally, we skit over to see why Vince has had to abandon his old job, and the tension it caused on the relationship with his wife. The plot takes a breather to flit back to the moments before the robbery, to view the Holts’ motives. This is the set-up for some narrative shenanigans. The desperate sheriff arrives, and we have ourselves a hostage situation. After some car issues, the family make a stopover in a local motel, where the Holt brothers make their entrance. ![]() Vince has been made into the scapegoat for some corporate malfeasance, and has taken a different job in a different state to escape the shame. Little do they know, but among the bundles of money is a black book that details all of the backhanders that the sheriff has received, and he will do anything to get it back.Ĭut away from the robbery, and we meet Vince and his family, making a trip to their new home in Colorado. Three brothers from the local Holt family (notorious for getting into scrapes) have chosen to rob the safe of the town sheriff. ![]() The largest piece is a robbery gone wrong. ![]() The plot is supremely simple, but it’s been left to fracture and split in the sun.
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