The lights on the landing indicate an opportunity for the player to interact with the scene. In this excerpt from one of the game's vignettes, a procession of palm trees ascends an escalator toward a landing. Although divided on the precise message the game expresses, many critics described Islands leaving them with a feeling of renewed wonder at mundane things in the real world. Much of the positive reception focused on the abstract visuals and sound design on the other hand, some critics were disappointed with the limited scope of the gameplay. In developing Islands, Burton drew inspiration from diverse sources, including the work of anthropologist Marc Augé, the installation art of James Turrell, and the field recordings of Chris Watson.Ĭritical response was generally positive, and the game was nominated for the Nuovo Award at the 2016 Independent Games Festival. The gameplay is minimal and consists mainly of clicking on the environment and observing what unfolds, a design choice that Burton hoped would engender a sense of slight confusion in the player without overwhelming them with difficult puzzles. These scenes appear mundane at first, but become increasingly surreal as the player interacts with the scenery.Įach place is rendered in the stylized manner that characterizes Burton's work, with solid monotone colors, dark shadows, and foggy backgrounds. The game was released on November 17, 2016, on iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux, and consists of a series of anonymous, liminal environments – the eponymous " non-places". It’s always pretty clear what you’re supposed to do, and the game’s general ethos is: “Here, let me show you some cool stuff.Islands: Non-Places is a 2016 abstract art game developed and published independently by artist and animator Carl Burton, best known for the animated GIF illustrations he created for season two of the Serial podcast. “Islands” isn’t trying to stymie you or psych you out with puzzles. While “Myst” was a technical marvel when it was first released, I found it too opaque and frustrating. The most immediate influence I detected was “Myst,” a classic and/or infamous game that also involved fairly static scenes, hunting for the right place to click, and so on. The clicks and whirs and other noises from the transformations as they occur are all quite satisfying. Sometimes the ambient noise is cars in the distance, sometimes it’s conversation.
The sound is really, really well done - “Islands” recommends headphones, and you should in fact wear them. The palettes are stark, and there’s a gauzy fog. Each setting has a detached-from-the-rest-of-the-universe feel to it. When you click, or click enough, the scene will transform in surprising ways - not to give too much away, but maybe gears and levers will reveal themselves or a seemingly inanimate object will become lifelike.
0 kommentar(er)
