After producing the recent Command and Conquer games, most memorable for their FMV sequences, the EA LA team split apart. Seven of its finest members then formed Supergiant Games, which still operates today inside a bedroom in one of their homes. Their first game, Bastion, is now available on Xbox Live Arcade and Steam. If my feelings are any indication, Supergiant is well on its way to some proper office space.
The game starts you off with an isometric view of a boy laying in a bed. Forgive this cliché, for it will be the last. As you wander around, tiles of the world drop into your field of vision. This effect is similar to certain action-adventure board games (including the new Gears of War,) except these pieces are dropping in with each individual step you take in a new direction. It is the game’s most striking and unique visual gimmick, and it sparked in me a childlike urge to explore that few games do.
In the childlike theme also exists a narrator. He fills in backstory as you discover new places, but also quips about almost everything you do ranging from your failures to your weapon choices. He is also a character in the story that you directly interact with, and a lot of what makes the narration special comes from this. His actions and positions on certain topics eventually make you, at a minimum, wish that you could hear other perspectives on what has happened in the world. The more you learn, the more you wish you knew. The story is more impressive in its restraint, or how it’s not told, than it is when you scrub over what’s actually there. I wish more game stories were told this way.
The structure of the game pushes you on little ten minute adventures that involve an ordinary blend of attacking, counter-attacking, blocking and dodging. What keeps this otherwise standard formula fresh throughout its eight hour duration is the variety of weaponry.
Instead of the classic RPG format where the weapons will mostly work the same but have different statistics, each weapon here has a unique feel and purpose from the rest. The most clever aspect of this system is the way you are incentivized to actually try these new weapons, instead of sticking with your favorites and ultimately getting bored. This is accomplished by offering arena challenges for each weapon that force you to get a good feel for it, and then give you goals to achieve that more or less require you to upgrade it a bit. In my experience, that process resulted in me changing weapons out often enough that the gameplay never felt stale.
The charming art and Firefly-meets-Diablo soundtrack complete a package that rivals full retail games, but is outstanding in the $15 category.
Recommended for players who…
- want an action-adventure game that can be consumed in small bites.
- have been wishing they could take the Contra spread gun back into the old west since finishing Sunset Riders.
