Review: Contrast

(Please Note, this was intended to come out much sooner... stuff happened)

It’s review time!  And for the first time ever, a game that was released in 2014! Yay! What’s the game for the week? Contrast, the humble indie title that was free on PS4 during launch (which I got on PC because fuck Next Gen consoles). This will be a short review so we’ll probably talk about something else as well, don’t know what yet, let’s go!

Far as games go, this was short. Surprisingly short. I got to the end of the game and when the credits started rolling I put the controller down and literally asked, “Was that it?” And not in the bad, “That was it?” that your girlfriend likely says to you after thirty seconds of passionate love making that abruptly ended because you blew your load too quickly. But in the “Was that it?” in that it as building up to have more beyond the third chapter, only to then not. Kind of like how we reached the end of a short movie that was just alright, having been fully expected for something bigger, only to then be smacked in the face with the surprise short film. 

I have nothing against short games for brevity can sometimes make a game better than having it go on forever. This is why Portal was so great, because while it wasn’t nearly as short, it was short where the concept didn’t get old before the end of the game. And, much to its credit, the concept of Contrast didn’t crack and crumble by curtain call (try saying that five times fast). The shadow-shifting mechanic, which I’ve seen in flash games before, was done quite well both visually and mechanically where I was somewhat disappointed we didn’t get an additional chapter to try out even more ideas with the concept.

But, as I already stated, the shortness of this game prevents it from going stale and becoming a chore more than an exciting little burst of fun. I’m also currently playing Far Cry 3, a game that seems to be padded with repetitious gameplay, NPC’s with the durability of paper you’re required to guard, and just a big fucking map. A game like Far Cry 3 certainly has great moments, but due to the relative size and scope of the game, there are also plenty of space for exceedingly shit moments that lead to frustrating bouts of rage after replaying a section for the twentieth time because some fuck you had to protect didn’t have the common sense to hide behind cover or, God forbid, shoot his fucking gun. 

Back to Contrast, the story of the game is somewhat of a weak point in that it is simple. You have a mother, a daughter, and a supposedly invisible friend named Dawn (the player character). The real people were supposedly abandoned by the girl’s supposed father who has made a deal with the mob to help get a circus rolling in order to make ends meet. From there the story is, at its core, about reuniting the family by making sure the “father’s” plan all comes together and that Didi (the daughter) learns the truth about her father.

No spoilers, but the fact that he isn’t her father and the identity of her real father never really came as surprising. The fact that the family was willing to give him another chance wasn’t surprising. And the fact that Didi is constantly neglected by her mother, allowing her to go off on these shadow-adventures with Dawn is also not surprising. Everything, from a narrative perspective, feels rather straightforward and trope-heavy. Not that there’s anything bad at work, just that nothing really imaginative comes out of the woodwork. 

This really only leaves the visual design and the gameplay to sell us on the actual game. Visually, the game is certainly impressive for an indie title. It has a unique aethestic that is reminiscent of the Bioshock Infinite world, but also channels aspects of the Scarecrow levels from Arkham Asylum. It certainly looks good, but that, to me, isn’t enough to sell the game, which leaves us with the gameplay. And, as I stated earlier, the gameplay is really solid and intriguing. It’s a concept I like very much but because of how short this game ended up being, you don’t get as much time to play with it as you would really like. Certainly another chapter or two worth of content to give us more challenging puzzles or trickier levels would have been worthwhile.

But, for what it is, it’s a decent game. Certainly worth the price on the PS4 if it’s still going for free. If not, then wait for a sale because full price, to me, doesn’t seem worth it. Again, not because of quality, but (for once) about quantity. Contrast gets a recommendation, but a tentative one.

I’ve also recently finished another game, Super Mario 3D World for the WiiU, which a review will be coming shortly. I just haven’t really gotten around to it yet since the WiiU user-based is so small, I doubted very many would really give a shit three months after release… but it’s coming. See ya next time.