1916: Der Unbekannte Krieg

[Jeroen D. Stout]

I came onto this one through Miss Khaw on IndieGames. Last weekend I played it with Thomas Papa (of whom we shall hear more in due time) and I thought I would recount some of our observations as it does quite a few things very well.

I though I would just discuss it with spoilers, so here is the game link first: http://1916.dadiugames.dk/

Something we were quite struck by is how the simple textures and models of WWI trenches are made very evocative by use of clever shading in bloom and chromatic aberration. Everything is black and white but with the lighting, the subtle blur and lens distortion it works quite well. It is even deceptively well done: the camera even has a one-sided vignette that shows you are wearing a helmet.

Then there is something which I found is really good for the immersion: there is a big, huge, camera bob. It quite feels like stomping through muddy trenches and, when you run, it makes it incredibly hard to see where you are going; which to our surprise gave a panic that is in some ways much on par with Amnesia. The sound is quite well-done, it would not surprise me if they had been taking notes while playing Amnesia in general.

The action and dying actually feels tremendously horrible. Because you loose each and every sense of orientation running madly there is a particular sense of panic that is only thwarted by that it actually is very easy to die, meaning you only get sincere panic a few times before the 'try again' routine settles in. Thomas could be bothered with that a lot longer than I could be.

The action itself, however, is dinosaur based, and the least said about this the better. Personally I feel that to ruin a game, with this quality and this so very self-evident display of talent, is probably some conscious act of some Philistine.

The atmosphere in general is good and there is a small moment of faux-symbiosis as the character shows a 'shield myself' reflex on finding a shell exploding nearby. There is a small bunker where a pinch of music brings up memories of Carnivàle and its sporadic depiction of WWI. In general, it has a nasty, sad feeling of WWI that is done quite well.

The game also blatantly features German, which is nice, as it is not that fluent for us to read, so it added to the overall scene. I am very much in favour of games being more than just English, in any case.

I believe it made us both feel excited that games of this diverging class are made, but both felt aggravated they chose to focus it on reptiles rather than just keep it about WWI. It shows that there is a lot of talent that is being kept back by a lack of thinking.

[Albin Bernhardsson]

I quite disliked this game. It has simple yet very effective graphics that simply look great. But two things completely ruined it for me:
1. The head bobbing. I disagree with you on this. I like head bobbing in general, as it can give another dimension to the game and effectively pull the player into the role of the main character. But this was far too much. It made me nauseous and unable to play. Instead of immersing me, it pulled me out of the experience. No one runs like that, and even if you would, the brain would compensate for it so it won't look like you have a major seizure whilst running.
2. As you said, dinosaurs... Really, that's all that needs to be said.

It's a great atmosphere ruined by two fatal flaws that I just can't overlook. One because it's too stupid, the other because it quite literally makes me sick.

[Jeroen D. Stout]

Out of curiosity (as opposed to defending my point), do you mean the bob when walking or when running?

Because the latter made me feel like the moments of mental breakdown in Amnesia. It is odd how it is highly subjective whether that adds or detracts from the experience, I found in both games it gave a strange sense of realism, imagining that in blind panic I would not see things clearly.

As for 2, yes.

[Albin Bernhardsson]

The latter, yes. I haven't played Amnesia yet so I can't quite compare. I've got it sitting on my desktop but haven't had much time outside of school lately (and when I've had time, I've wanted to take a break and relax, not get scared or tensed up).

I think the problem I have with it is that if it's done to just signify that you're running, it's way too exaggregated to be realistic. If it's done to signify that you're scared and going insane, that would've been ok. But since it's really only there (to that huge amount) when you're running, that would mean you're only scared/going insane when running, not when standing still or walking. So either way, it's unimmersive to me.

Another experience that I felt was just odd was that when I first encountered a fallen soldier, I clicked on him... and tore off his arm. ... Now, I guess you're supposed to use that as bait or something for the dinosaurs, but I hadn't even seen a dinosaur yet.

[Thomas]

I thought the game was quite interesting too! Very good use of little means and with interesting mechanics. I did not like the game that much though after I died the second time. The dinos did not bother me much and made me think of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_Monster_Maze

I really disliked the head-bob, and it made me feel nauseas in the worst way possible. I do agree it added to the mood a bit, but it just felt too excessive to me. I usually like a bit of head-bob though and really enjoyed it in for instance Mirror's Edge (and Amnesia duh..).

[Michaël Samyn]

Having grown up amidst the actual trenches of World War I so to speak, I'm afraid the mere thought of dinosaurs makes me pass on this.

Some developers seem to forget that many people cannot play first person games without becoming sick. For all I know, this may be one of the reasons why video games don't seem to be able to get through to the audience at large. Head bobbing only makes it worse. I guess the physical nausea may contribute to the experience for some, but I think for many there's limits to just how realistic a simulation can be.

[Jeroen D. Stout]

Michaël; That is a sentiment composed out of equal amounts of rashness and just rightfulness! I really wish they had not had the dinosaurs so it would not chafe in this way.

I am a little surprised overall at the mentions of nausea - I have never had it from computer games. (I get absurd amounts of vertigo standing near edges of cliffs in games, though.) Perhaps I only ran while in panic and I associate it with it for that reason.

The overall effects made me think about the new game, though, and specially thinking about 'quality reducing' effects like lens shapes, glare, diegetic vignetting and chromatic aberration.

[Michaël Samyn]

I am a little surprised overall at the mentions of nausea

They always are...
(but they seldom care)

[Michaël Samyn]

I have never had it from computer games

They never do. 

[Jeroen D. Stout]