I as soon as had a job in a warehouse that was so massive, I might by no means discover the bathrooms. They appeared to maneuver continually, like they have been being distorted by some space-time anomaly. I bought sacked after two days.
The strangeness of that have on that job suits completely with the themes and tones of GoolWorks’ first sport, Below the Warehouse. This primary-person journey sport takes you into an odd world of employees, cults, and magical areas. It’s a bizarre Lynchian journey and I for one had a good time with it.
I like video games that experiment. It’s one thing that appeals to me and my sensibilities reasonably than being handed a giant gun or sword after which informed to ‘go kill issues’. Below the Warehouse is a sport that’s near actuality, however on the identical time, 1,000,000 miles away from it. You play a personality with no identify or historical past; no preliminary function. It could possibly be you, the gamer sitting in your front room. You’re in a darkened alleyway and a telephone rings; hit by a highlight. A boy in a masks seems and units you on a quest to seek out a big vibrant egg. Then you’re off.
Your journey takes you right into a mysterious warehouse that has rooms main off it that lend their option to scientific experiments, lakes with big frogs, and unusual legendary portals subsequent to a canteen with somebody consuming a birthday cake. The story and characters you meet are fascinating, unusual, however – as you have got most likely guessed by now – very bizarre. But the writing is intelligent, humorous, and Below the Warehouse is shocking, proper the way in which by means of till the top of its three-hour working time.
At its very essence Below the Warehouse is a first-person point-and-click journey with a lot of exploration and a few very low-key puzzle fixing. The primary a part of the sport focuses on discovering gadgets, combining them, or taking them to somebody who will allow you to transfer ahead along with your quest. A straightforward instance of that is if you arrive upon a canine guarding an exit, so that you discover a bone, the canine is distracted and you may undergo. Some gadgets and puzzles will likely be as straightforward as that one, however others change into slightly bit extra summary and it’s not straightforward to seek out the reply. However the excellent news is that the unusual and fantastic characters you meet alongside the way in which gives you hints about what to do subsequent.
However there’s the odd puzzle – because it appears in all point-and-click adventures – the place logic goes out of the window and you find yourself guessing or making an attempt completely different mixtures to work. As a result of the story is so unusual as properly, there are a number of areas and moments during which nothing appears to make sense. This would possibly put some individuals off. It additionally feels a bit tough when it comes to gameplay at instances, however nothing is damaged and all is sweet for a small first-time developer.
The visuals of Below the Warehouse hark again to the PS1 retro scene. However I believe that is likely to be placing the sport down because the look of the graphics work very properly. The lighting is sweet, and the entire sense of wacky geography, places, and degree design is fairly wonderful. The sense of visible storytelling is robust right here, the place you glimpse these unusual locations as you journey by means of and might solely guess what is going on there. The soundscore all through works properly and carry’s on creating that unusual uneasy feeling all through.
Regardless of a brief working time, Below the Warehouse is one that may be loved. It delivers an odd surreal world and story, together with an ending that some would possibly hate. However that is low-cost in worth, and so value taking a punt on.
I believe a few of the puzzles is usually a bit too obtuse at instances, and you may be guessing or turning to on-line walkthroughs for fulfillment, however on the entire, it’s by no means as difficult as another video games within the style. It comes with a stable soundtrack too so it might be value a while as you look to find what hides Below the Warehouse.
