An Exceptional Review By Haulz.NapkinZ
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Foreword
The Void is a single-player adventure computer game developed by
Ice-Pick Lodge – a Russian video game development studio (known
as Tension, Russia: ……)
. The Void first appeared in April of
2008 in Russia and various other Commonwealth of Independent
States. Although the game was developed by Ice-Pick Lodge it was
published by ND Games. On October 23, 2009 it was released in
Europe by Mamba Games and Bitcomposer; however, the German
and Polish versions were published by Atari and Techland,
respectively. At this point in time the game was also translated and
released to English-speaking regions, but was not made available for
digital download from Steam until December 16, 2009. the void has
won Russia’s “Most Original Game” award at the Russian Game
Developers Conference in 2007.
Ice-Pick Lodge – a Russian video game development studio (known
as Tension, Russia: ……)
. The Void first appeared in April of
2008 in Russia and various other Commonwealth of Independent
States. Although the game was developed by Ice-Pick Lodge it was
published by ND Games. On October 23, 2009 it was released in
Europe by Mamba Games and Bitcomposer; however, the German
and Polish versions were published by Atari and Techland,
respectively. At this point in time the game was also translated and
released to English-speaking regions, but was not made available for
digital download from Steam until December 16, 2009. the void has
won Russia’s “Most Original Game” award at the Russian Game
Developers Conference in 2007.
Summary
The Void takes place in an area literally known as the “Void”. This
“Void” can only be described as an abysmal place where everything
is neither dead or alive, but caught somewhere in between. This Void
is populated by lost souls that accidentally stumbled into it on their
way to Hell before reaching what is referred to as “Absolute Death”.
In the Void the most valuable resource is Color, a liquid that seems
to represent the essence of life itself – and if your soul runs out of
Color you will reach the aforementioned “Absolute Death” where
your soul finally descends into Hell from the Void. However, Color
is very scarce in the Void and famine inflicts great difficulties in the
search for it. The games main objective is to escape the Void and be
reincarnated again on the surface, but in order to accomplish this
task he must seek the help of naked Sisters found dwelling in the
Void. Meanwhile, the Brothers are constantly trying to make you fail
and finally reach Absolute Death and descend into Hell. The
Brothers are the Void’s guardians and are there to protect it from lost
souls. The player must take the role as a Brother and eventually
defeat them to escape to the surface.
“Void” can only be described as an abysmal place where everything
is neither dead or alive, but caught somewhere in between. This Void
is populated by lost souls that accidentally stumbled into it on their
way to Hell before reaching what is referred to as “Absolute Death”.
In the Void the most valuable resource is Color, a liquid that seems
to represent the essence of life itself – and if your soul runs out of
Color you will reach the aforementioned “Absolute Death” where
your soul finally descends into Hell from the Void. However, Color
is very scarce in the Void and famine inflicts great difficulties in the
search for it. The games main objective is to escape the Void and be
reincarnated again on the surface, but in order to accomplish this
task he must seek the help of naked Sisters found dwelling in the
Void. Meanwhile, the Brothers are constantly trying to make you fail
and finally reach Absolute Death and descend into Hell. The
Brothers are the Void’s guardians and are there to protect it from lost
souls. The player must take the role as a Brother and eventually
defeat them to escape to the surface.
Gameplay
The Void is played from a true first-person perspective presented in
such a way that the developers want it to feel as if the player was
actually there. The Color exists naturally in the Void when it can be
found; this is known as Lympha. The second type of Color is known
as Nerva. However when you collect Lympha Color from the Void it
cannot readily be used: first it must be transformed through your
soul into Nerva. Using this Nerva, the player can talk to NPC’s, fight
and kill predators and Brothers, grow plants, and use Nerva-infused
Glyphs to interact with the environment. Although you may have a
plethora of Color on both your Lympha and Nerva pallets, you must
always have some color in your hearts inside your soul or your soul
will run out of Color and you will reach Absolute Death and lose the
game. The Void features 7 colors – Silver, Gold, Violet, Azure,
Crimson, Amber and Emerald – with each Color having its own
positive and negative effects on your soul, depending on how much
of each you have in your hearts. For example, Gold increases the
Sister’s trust with you while inside her Hearts, lowering the amount
of Color required to open more of her Hearts, but when used in the
Void it incites jealousy in the Brothers, making them more prompt to rip the Hearts out of the Sister’s. There are various chambers to
explore where time stands still and you will not process Color and
die. However, in the actual Void time moves freely and your Color is
constantly being transformed from Lympha to Nerva. The game
consists of 35 cycles. It is thought that each cycle represents 1 day in
the Void. At the beginning of each new cycle, Color will randomly
appear in chambers, but the type of Color that appears is also
random.
such a way that the developers want it to feel as if the player was
actually there. The Color exists naturally in the Void when it can be
found; this is known as Lympha. The second type of Color is known
as Nerva. However when you collect Lympha Color from the Void it
cannot readily be used: first it must be transformed through your
soul into Nerva. Using this Nerva, the player can talk to NPC’s, fight
and kill predators and Brothers, grow plants, and use Nerva-infused
Glyphs to interact with the environment. Although you may have a
plethora of Color on both your Lympha and Nerva pallets, you must
always have some color in your hearts inside your soul or your soul
will run out of Color and you will reach Absolute Death and lose the
game. The Void features 7 colors – Silver, Gold, Violet, Azure,
Crimson, Amber and Emerald – with each Color having its own
positive and negative effects on your soul, depending on how much
of each you have in your hearts. For example, Gold increases the
Sister’s trust with you while inside her Hearts, lowering the amount
of Color required to open more of her Hearts, but when used in the
Void it incites jealousy in the Brothers, making them more prompt to rip the Hearts out of the Sister’s. There are various chambers to
explore where time stands still and you will not process Color and
die. However, in the actual Void time moves freely and your Color is
constantly being transformed from Lympha to Nerva. The game
consists of 35 cycles. It is thought that each cycle represents 1 day in
the Void. At the beginning of each new cycle, Color will randomly
appear in chambers, but the type of Color that appears is also
random.
My Thoughts
To me, The Void was a profound surprise. This is like no other game
ever made to date, which in my humble opinion is a good thing.
From the original story to the stunning level of detail in the
Chambers, everything about this game screams magnificent! Also,
considering that this game was developed by a studio that has only
released one previous game is impressive just in itself. I have played
some games released in 2010 by very large developers that did not
even come close to the authenticity of The Void. I do not want to
spoil the game by speaking of my personal experiences with it so I
will not go into detail of things I have done since The Void is made
to be played and experienced in its own way by everyone. However,
I can tell you that I am extremely astonished by The Void, and I look
forward to seeing new releases by Ice-Pick Lodge in the future. I
only paid $4.99 USD for it, but knowing what I know about it now I
would have no problem paying the full list price of $19.99 USD. I
must warn you though: this game is not for the ADHD button
smashers that need constant action-shooter games to keep them
interested in it. Expect to have to actually use your brain to think
while you play this game. Take it slow, it is remarkable.
ever made to date, which in my humble opinion is a good thing.
From the original story to the stunning level of detail in the
Chambers, everything about this game screams magnificent! Also,
considering that this game was developed by a studio that has only
released one previous game is impressive just in itself. I have played
some games released in 2010 by very large developers that did not
even come close to the authenticity of The Void. I do not want to
spoil the game by speaking of my personal experiences with it so I
will not go into detail of things I have done since The Void is made
to be played and experienced in its own way by everyone. However,
I can tell you that I am extremely astonished by The Void, and I look
forward to seeing new releases by Ice-Pick Lodge in the future. I
only paid $4.99 USD for it, but knowing what I know about it now I
would have no problem paying the full list price of $19.99 USD. I
must warn you though: this game is not for the ADHD button
smashers that need constant action-shooter games to keep them
interested in it. Expect to have to actually use your brain to think
while you play this game. Take it slow, it is remarkable.
Bibliography
“The Void (video Game).” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 29 Dec. 2010.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Void_(video_game)>.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Void_(video_game)>.
Anonymous, Austin J. “ID :: Haulz.NapkinZ.” Steam Community. 29 Dec. 2010. Web. 29 Dec. 2010.
<http://steamcommunity.com/id/sukomabawls>.
<http://steamcommunity.com/id/sukomabawls>.
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