BENGALURU : Amid conflicts of opinions on a lot of issues, gamers are rest assured that one was laid to rest last week. The now accepted fact is this — the new Xbox series X console looks like a fridge. Microsoft also discussed the tech aspects at the Game Awards — how as a PC-console hybrid it would finally end the PC console war (shocked emoji), it would now have complete backward compatibility, and the usual less important 4k at 120FPS, 8K capability and Variable Refresh Rate related details.
With the Game Awards feeling like the new E3, a lot of us will have to wait a bit for the prices to slash on “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice”. This Japanese-based stealth, exploration and combat adventure won the Game of the Year 2019.The win pleasantly surprised the public opinion that Hideo Kojima’s much-publicised Death Stranding would win the award this year.
I would be remiss if I didn’t review another obscure indie game in the column as is tradition. Keeping up with the spirit of block-like consoles (now advertised as an aesthetic product that does not feel out of place in a room), here’s a game about a block-shaped protagonist called Kevin. ‘Break the Game’ is available for the PC on Steam and is a fourth-wall breaking platformer that can be finished in a few hours.
‘Break the Game’ starts with a title screen saying, ‘don’t press anything’. The gamer’s lack of interest in rule-following will lead us to start the game, where Kevin tells us that he wants to escape it all. The writing is cheesy, yet entertaining, and it dictates the flow of the story. A few bouncy jumps and random shoots later, we get teleported to different levels‘destroying’ the game along the way.
The game is truly unafraid of its own weirdness — the graphics are purposefully glitchy, each of the characters have their own font, and the game intentionally draws our attention to the graphics, music and the environment. It seems to be self-aware to a comical fault. A combination of these almost gives you the gift of patience as you fail upwards in each level. A good break to see things from the perspective of a sentient game.