Cosmic Top Secret
I love the use of a game to unravel real family (and Cold War) history, and the very literal cut-and-paste use of actual photographs, videos and documents. I sometimes had trouble adjusting the camera viewpoint in the later levels, but that’s not a big issue. Rolling around as a crumpled paper ball was no problem on a PC at least. A slightly surreal, lo-fi gem with a simple, collect-em-all logic.
– Real player with 12.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Documentary Indie Games.
Cosmic top secret is quite a peculiar game. It has a very unique art-style where landscapes and characters are made of carboard, paper and photography cuts. The game is a mix of documentary and collecthaton with some puzzle elements. It tells a very personal story recollected by T, the game dev director and player in the game, whose parents used to work for the Danish Intelligence during the cold war.
The game felt like an homage of T to her aging parents while showing how “growing up in the clandestine climate of the cold war” affected her. This is a Danish game and most of the voiceovers are original audio and video interview recordings, so the game is mostly in Danish with English subtitles.
– Real player with 9.7 hrs in game
Portal 2 - The Final Hours
I bought this game along with Portal and Portal 2. I read a little bit of it earlier but I really read a lot yesterday (I was on a plane, hence the low playtime,) and even finished it. Portal 2 - The Final Hours covers the development, release and post release of Portal 2 inside of Valve. If you like betas, like the Half-Life 2 beta, this is for you. I also reccomend checking out The Final Hours of Half-Life 2. Look it up online and there is a free version.
What makes this so different, though? For starters, it includes interactive content. The second picture (Destroy Aperture) is my favourite, as you can use the mouse to destroy some areas in Aperture Laboratories! There is also music that you can listen to, like the songs that inspired the soundtrack of Portal 2, and lots of pictures. There are chapters and polls even.
– Real player with 25.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Documentary Story Rich Games.
This is my very first interactive e-book. I’m a bit suspect to say anything regarding this e-book (since I’m a crazy lover of the Portal series - and of Valve, their brilliant creators), but I loved this SO MUCH! I was honestly expecting more of a screenshots/pictures showcase and a few gadgets here and there with a little bit of text, but reading about each team and each developer of this game and the problems they’ve faced in this journey was an amazing experience. I always admired Valve products, even before falling in deep love with Portal, and I knew making games as part of such a huge (and world-class famous) company was a tough task, but I REALLY underestimated how complex the process of game creation could be.
– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game
The Mind of Marlo
Welcome to The Mind of Marlo. In this narrative-driven, point and click adventure disguised as an hour-long documentary, you will observe Marlo Davenport and you will become Marlo Davenport. Capture his life as he deals with a rare condition called Spontaneous Silly Head Syndrome. A condition that results in his transforming into various creatures uncontrollably. While living a fairly normal life, his condition becomes uncontrollable. After his girlfriend leaves him, Marlo decides to go see Dr. Davenport (The Specialist) to see if he can rid himself of this affliction. Using his recommendations you must help Marlo find a way to get rid of all of his transformations one by one, so he may once again return to the outside world and lead a normal life. The film crew is there to document everything as he tries to reclaim himself and his life in this tale of love, loss, and transformations.
– Real player with 7.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Documentary Indie Games.
The Mind of Marlo is a point and click game, delivered in the format of a documentary, where the viewer will witness the struggles of a man named Marlo who must deal with a severely debilitating condition called Spontaneous Silly Head Syndrome. This causes Marlo’s appearance to rapidly change into various animals and elements and has the player attempting to cure Marlo of his ailment. Click here to watch my playthrough of The Mind of Marlo .
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Wanderlust: Travel Stories
- Wanderlust: Travel Stories -
I’m old. I’ve played a lot of games. I’ve played games that were in cassette form. I’ve played the first Civ game off a bunch of floppies… so quite a bit of gaming history up to now, 2020. I’ve played AAA titles, I’ve played the very best the 80’s and 90’s had to offer. I’ve played some absolute stinkers, and I’ve played games that are simply unplayable. My expectations are always set to medium/ low.
Despite all of that experience, Wanderlust is still very hard to love.
– Real player with 185.9 hrs in game
Explore the world from your desk!
Overall, Wanderlust: Travel Stories is a very pleasant, calming experience, one that feels as though it should be played in the same way one might curl up with a good book. Both the stories and broader narrative are interesting and it is a strong interactive novel, however, there are additional gameplay elements and mechanics integrated with just enough subtlety. Destination, travel methods, interactions and even choice of clothes can affect both character and story but this didn’t feel intrusive or hectic in any way and all the elements combine organically to create a somewhat meditative piece of interactive escapism.
– Real player with 14.2 hrs in game
KURSK
As much as I wish to recommend this game, I simply cant.
- First thing that immediately catches the eye is the optimization. There is simply none. Even though the game is rather simple and on one of the last year English reviews the developer has replied that they are working on it and that it is currently their top priority but either those were empty words or nothing significant was done. Even if you set the graphic settings to the minimum, there is no significant difference with the maximum ones.
– Real player with 26.8 hrs in game
Introduction
Highlighting historical tragedy through fictional storytelling isn’t a common occurrence to gaming. In cinematography’s case surely there are plenty of examples which make even the most cruel and unfortunate events, a bit more “digestible” through cheesy romance subplots. That’s how you win movie awards. Alas, you did not stuble across a film critic and I shall focus on an adventure game which also describes itself as an “interactive documentary”. It could be partially true if you can set aside the espionage subplot. But it’s still there and it’s a touchy subject too, since the tragic event itself is rather fresh in the collective consciousness of the Russian people. I will do my best to keep this review as objective as I can though. KURSK is the fifth project released by Jujubee S.A. on Steam and their experience in creating a convincing backdrop is showcased once again.
– Real player with 10.8 hrs in game
Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours
TL;DR: For anyone interested in Half-Life, Valve or game development in general, this is an insightful and inspiring experience that takes great advantage of a compelling storytelling medium.
In the words of Robin Walker, this is “the story of how we fixed Valve”. The reader is privy to the conversations, considerations and concerns of Valve employees as they attempt to shore up instability and quell the anarchy caused by a company “boss free since ‘96”. This storybook provides information on previously unknown projects including story ideas, concept art, script excerpts and development timelines; brief insights into the backgrounds and work lives of various Valve employees as well as anecdotes and conversations; and a greater understanding of Valve’s shift in focus to developing both hardware and software.
– Real player with 6.2 hrs in game
Visually it looks good, it’s presented well, and like Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar it’s certainly interesting. But it reflects a flawed product, leaves a ton of stories out (including the flaws), and left me questioning if it justified a pricetag.
Missing pieces:
Reliability issues
There was a push to link the sales of the Valve Index and Half-Life: Alyx but there were a lot of hardware problems, with a critical one being the unreliability of the Index controllers - a problem compounded by poor design choices in Alyx that made playing with one controller far more difficult than it needed to be, along with a badly handled RMA system (and the impact of the pandemic ontop of that bad RMA system). Why would a book on the exact subject of those products leave all of that out, especially if it was written by a journalist?
– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game
That Dragon, Cancer
Cancer. Tragedy.
Two words that have ended as synonymous far more often than anyone cares to remember. Cancer and other terminal illnesses are something that almost all of us have been touched by in some way. Whether it be from a person very close to us, ourselves, or just someone that has influenced us in some way. If it hasn’t, odds are it will at some point in your life. These diseases invariably impact us in a negative and tragic way. We have experienced loss due to them and watched others suffer unimaginable pain trying to survive and fight to stay alive.
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game
The worst tragedy parents can experience
Really heartbreaking story, it’s sad, it’s devastating and it could be hard to play this at times. Some people might not even finish this. But I have a lot to say, not necessary about the game but i’m gonna ramble now. This is not even a proper review, just my thoughts but so is the game, it’s not actually a game, more like an interactive story.
I have this fucking disease myself, I must deal with it, I know how hard it is and how it breaks you in both – physical and mental way. And it hurts not only you but everyone around you who love you and care about you. Of course you question “why me?” or “why them?”, “what they’ve done to deserve that?” Many people turn to god and say he’s in god’s will now. That thought never occurred to me because I consider god a mythical creature as real as fairies or dragons.
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
Eye of the Beholder
My Experience
The game got off to a semi-interesting start, and I became invested in the story pretty quickly. It’s always a little odd playing a game that was designed for VR without a headset, as the sensation of being on rails and being teleported forwards is more prominent.
The game fell apart a for me during the scene that takes place after the radio repair. The character that had been helping me said to an enemy combatant, “There is no place for your kind anymore […] You Sokranian scum get what you deserve […] You don’t belong in our country.” Immediately, I lost sympathy for this character and his “side” in the conflict. As an American, I just can’t get behind this sentiment. These statements hit too close to home with respect to the way that some intolerant people see those south of our borders. Of course, on the other hand, we have a faction that is acquiring and planning chemical weapon attacks that run afoul of international humanitarian law. So no sympathy here either.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Experienced on the Oculus Quest 2
This is a mostly narrative-driven, cinematic experience with some basic interactions. You’re basically in a war-torn situation in the Middle East involving the possible use of chemical weapons. You basically have to decide which side you’ll be helping early on and then live with the possible consequences. Whole thing took me 16 minutes.
The game is running on the Unity Engine. On my RTX 3080, I was getting a steady 90 fps. There is no locomotion, instead you are automatically teleported from one scene to the next. You use a flashlight to highlight objects to either make a decision on how to act or clear an objective.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Noise
Stars received: 0.9/10 _ Note: v.5 [0.0 to 1] = personal impressions
[0.2] Controls & Training & Help
[0.1] Menu & Settings
[0.1] Sound & Music
[0.1] Graphics
[0.2] Game Design
[0.2] Game Story
[0] Game Content
[0] Completion time (level/game)?
[0] is it Enjoyable & Fun?
[0] Could it hold a spot in Favorites? (& if the Game can be repeatedly played again)
[0] BONUS point: Multi-Player related
[0] BONUS point: Review for VR
[N] - if Registration is required with providing PII
Game description key-points: sort of a City Quest game
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
another unfinished and abandoned game with buggy and broken achievements.
graphics are below average and voice acting is even worse.
story and gameplay seemed ok and workable in the first level (aka chapter 1) and i actually had some fun playing. but after that the game went downhill fast and after chapter 2 the game just ended in the middle of the story.
and it will stay like this since the developer officially dropped the game to focus on creating even more half as#ed & unfinished garbage games.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
Imaginaria
Very story driven adventure with some simplified pixelart
Interactive objects (on top part) give you more details about the environment/storyline
Lots of areas to check & explore!
Funny little details & objects, story as well has it’s funny moments
Can’t really compare it to nowadays or big adventures games for sure it has a really old classic vibe,
which is nice if you are into that kind of games!
– Real player with 5.8 hrs in game
Imaginaria is a short game where you explore an antarctic science station. It combines walking simulator and point & click elements, but the game side of it is light as you only have a handful of choices to make. It’s more of a fun, interesting exploration of the dev’s experience.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game