Review Get Even: Polish game, for which not ashamed

⚑ 03 Jul 2017г. Category: Articles | ❤ 1112 | Reviews: 0

Contents

1 When the court is silent, secret thoughts, I call the voices of the past…
2
3 Loss all come to my mind, and the old pain I’m sick again…
4 And again I’m paying a high price for what you paid once already…

Human memory is a fragile and impermanent: how many times have we forgotten an important anniversary or the details of a first date… But what a crappy song, heard in the bus, sometimes not out of my head for hours and even days. But when you are bombarded by misfortune, we have only to rely on this strange, unreliable tool. Tirelessly to scroll in mind all the details of the tragedy, each time wondering: “Where have I blundered? What I did wrong? Missed what?“. This fruitless, desperate attempts to fix the past and is dedicated to Get Even.

When the court is silent, secret thoughts, I call the voices of the past…

“We are not aware of the importance of what is happening to us until then, until it is too late, “said once Agatha Christie — this passage perfectly describes heroes Get Even. Scientist Robert Ramsey found out that he has a dangerous and powerful enemies, only after his only daughter was kidnapped by unknown. Mercenary Cole, black thought will be able to save the girl and realized that his plan failed, only when I woke up in the yard of an abandoned psychiatric hospital with a head injury and amnesia.

But the world not without kind people: to help Blake called someone under the mysterious name of red, not the head physician of the hospital, not that mysterious agent, for the soldier of fortune a new technology. Black wants to get back to the present, but red hell-bent on kidnapping grace Ramsey, will not let him go until until I know the truth. And because both it remains only to repeatedly return to the events of that day, trying to figure out what happened and where he was admitted a fatal mistake.

In this trip down memory helps them a device called “Pandora” — something like a virtual reality helmet that allows you not just to remember but to relive the past. Complete with ultra-trendy smartphone with features of a thermal imager, a UV lamp (to illuminate the traces) and the DNA scanner and “Cornerman” — a weapon with a curved barrel allowing you to shoot from behind the corner unnoticed. But despite these fantasy elements, the plot of the game more or less realistic, and the conflict is built on the world-old themes: love and family, betrayal and treachery, malice, and vengeance.

On William of our Shakespeare, of course, the authors don’t raise, knowing that a huge production with Hollywood stars they can not afford. Instead, Get Even like the film adaptation of the classic British detective — Baltic portrays old England, the scenery and costumes wander from movie to movie, and the family jewels of the Duchess is clearly borrowed from the mother of the Director. But the actors are so good, and the story before that captures that angry at the poor picture just does not work.

Loss all come to my mind, and the old pain I’m sick again…

Get Even defies easy genre classification. It seems to be a stealth shooter so say the authors — but not quite. Maybe horror (psychiatric clinic Likert appropriate would look in any Silent Hill)? Close but not the same. Simulator walk a La Gone Home? Like, of course, but… no, missed again. After unsuccessful attempts to unambiguously classify Get Even at least some type of game, understand that it is useless. It should not be seen as representative of a genre, but as a single, integral work. About people who are fixated on the mistakes of the past, missing their own present. About the flight from their mistakes, grief and despair. About the stupid things we do and succumbing to them.

Moreover, the shooting and stealth to Get Even done badly — suddenly bad when you consider that the founders of the Studio The Farm 51 is known primarily for a shooter Painkiller. Shoot and hide is equally interesting, and both actions very quickly turn into a routine. Even “Cornerman” (obviously inspired by the very real device called CornerShot) does not help the situation very soon becomes boring. To “simulated walk” also has issues, in Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch walking through the house, jam-Packed with all sorts of interesting things, but to Get Even and then caught the half-empty corridors to find where the desired object is not difficult.

Not every Studio will be able to cope with so many game mechanics — but The Farm 51, as a rule, it turns out. The first hour and a half, of course, spend a little perplexed — what is there still to do? And just when it begins to seem like Get Even’s going to crumble to pieces, is a little miracle: the story is gaining momentum, and the elements begin to interact with each other, like parts of one mechanism. Here, you roam the asylum Likert: in the dark corridors watching you creepy wooden mannequins, paint layers coming off the walls, and the doctor forgot to release from the chambers of a couple of patients from the most frostbitten. And before this macabre splendor begins to pall, you are sent into another memory that didn’t used to and didn’t relax.

So now Cole is black life: a journey into the past, mysterious and vague, then return to the now — dark corridors of the hospital, inhabited by mannequins and patients with bizarre names (there are references to famous places, writers, poets and so on). That’s just… where at this very moment, the Ghost of grace? Why character and then stumbles upon belonged to her toy? And whose the hell memories and then burst into his own? With this “Pandora” is clearly not so simple. Even the black and red — is not what it at first seems.

And again I’m paying a high price for what you paid once already…

As befits a good detective, the closer the characters Get Even get to the solution, the stronger the tension and the atmosphere perfectly supports sound. The music perfectly captures the mood of each scene — in the corridors of the sanitarium, the patients discordant chorus sings disordered piano, and in the corridors of the office at which sneaks black, quick rhythm of electronic music reminiscent of a rapid voltage pulse.

From the composer is not far behind the sound engineer. In one of the memories black you have to act at night, and the main reference is forgotten someone’s cell phone — he’s not just rattling in the background, but combined with the other sounds, becoming part of a single audio blade. Similarly, try and voice actors: they are able to do in General quite stereotyped characters (the intellectual, the gruff mercenary, the mistress-Secretary, unloved wife, and so on) charismatic and attractive.

Perhaps, if for something to Get Even and you can complain to the visual component. For example, the version for Xbox One looks so-so — with muddy textures, ugly grass, and a sky was not impressed to be in 1998. the game has more than a modest budget, and it shows — here, for example, almost no facial animations, which are used instead of just static images of people. But even financial constraints do not prevent developers to create great scenes (especially at the hospital).

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Get Even, despite all their flaws, are worthy of attention — especially during the summer lull. It’s a fascinating story with an interesting presentation in which the gameplay and events do adjust to the player’s choice. First and foremost is a well-told drama about people who are fixated on the mistakes of the past, missing their own present. And trying — though not always successful — to survive the loss of most expensive to collect will in a fist and keep moving forward despite the loss and obstacles.

Advantages:

abandoned psychiatric hospital is very believable and scary;
many of the scenes are delivered just fine;
the voice actors with colorful accents get the most out of the scenario.
a non-trivial combination of different genres;
the script is not devoid of interesting twists and good plays with the formula of movies a La “Taken”;
the sound editing and soundtrack explicitly claim awards for the year.

Disadvantages: