Developer: Punch Punk Games
Publisher: Klabater, WhisperGames
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Apocalipsis – Review
Have you ever wondered how computer games in the Medieval Age would have looked like? Well, it would probably look like Apocalipsis – Harry at the end of the world. This game is the first solo Steam release of developer Punch Punk Games, but they worked on Dead Island, Dying Light and Beat Cop before the creation of this title. Apocalipsis doesn’t only take place in the Middle Ages, but it looks like it was designed then too!
Story
The subtitle gives much of the Who and the Where away. You’re Harry and you’re at the end of the world. And then it gets more complicated. In several episodes, shown between the levels, your story is unveiled. These short episodes take place in a giant eye, where the iris is replaced by the animation of what the narrator is telling. In the levels themselves there is mostly nonverbal communication with the player and you have to rely on the characters mimic and behavior. The puzzles and hints are mostly based on symbolic or behavioral challenges.
Back to the story: Your girlfriend (Zula) and you saw a falling star, but she was somehow compelled to follow it to the place where it was crashed onto the ground. Townsfolk believed this was weird, and in real Medieval fashion they named her a witch and tried her with the ‘drown or burn’ method. Just before Zula died she called on you to go the witches cabin in the woods, and try to get her back. This is the point where you start Apocalipsis and embark on a story based on Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”!
Graphics
This whole game is made of beautiful hand drawn images and animations. The characters and surroundings are based on real 15th and 16th century engravings (from real artists such as Hans Holbein, Michael Wolgemut, and Albrecht Dürer) and the Book of Revelation. This means that characters, monsters and the environment not only look authentic, but also really dystopian. It takes Apocalipsis no effort to convince you that you’re in an age of misery. Harry is coughing while standing still and you pass through lands torn by war and famine.
Most of the levels are based on convincing medieval places: a witches lair, a torture cellar, the outskirts of a besieged town with siege equipment, the besieged town itself in its depleted and plundered state, the deck of a ship, … Many monsters look like they came straight out of someone’s nightmare. After reaching the underworld and paying for access, you’ll need to face some more horrors in order to reach and (possibly) safe your wife. All these horrors are in greyscale, and only a little color is used to indicate something flowing or important.
The interface is kept tidy with only a minimal overlay for your inventory. The menus are simple and clear, and as you progress in the levels you’ll see the route as a miniature develop in the level section.
Sound
The background music is created by the group Behemoth. The songs are somber and a perfect support for Apocalipsis’ general atmosphere. Levels with a monster in them sound a bit more uplifting, but the music is never overwhelming. The narrator, who is the lead singer of Behemoth, has a calm, cool and dark voice, resulting in a very nice experience.
The item pickup sounds are a bit minimal, and the sound of machines you turn on or use are mostly lacking. There is the quite ‘sigh’ as your character shrugs its shoulders when you make an invalid combination though, but successful actions mostly only results in the background music turning up a notch.
Gameplay
This point and click 2.5D puzzler might look a lot different from the others, but it plays the same. You walk around, collect stuff and use it to make combinations with items in the world. Two levels are different and rely on your agility and timing though, as you must move around and dodge cannonballs or debris. Walking is a bit weird as the path you take sometimes resembles a trapezium.
The main feature of Apocalipsis are the puzzles however. If you like them, you’ll be spoiled in this game. There are many puzzles to crack, and most are unique from each other. There are modern ones, like the one where you create a drain. There are classics like the towers of Hanoi and there are several others (e.g. math or sound). And they are hard. There are some clues, but often you’ll yourself busy clicking everything until it suddenly works (without working out the why) which kind if defeats the purpose.
Some of the combination puzzles are quite long, but they are luckily logical. A good example is the one where you need to bake a bread for a hungry women, and where you have to do everything from prepping the oven to planting and growing some wheat. There are two possible endings, but because of the level selector you don’t have to replay the whole game to experience them. Finally, there are a bunch of achievements to reach, so you might redo some parts with newfound insight anyway.
Conclusion
Apocalipsis is a wonderful game, especially if you’re into the medieval atmosphere and into puzzles. The bizarre monsters work, and the story is short but convincing. The riddles are hard however, because they are different from each other and because of the minimal amount of clues. The reward for solving them is even greater, at least if you don’t succumb to mindless clicking anyway. The hand drawn graphics are convincing! They look realistic, and might even fit in a philosophy or history class. More like this please!
Apocalipsis - Review,
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