Chaser (2003)

Chaser is a bit like Half-Life 2. Maybe not as good, maybe better. I don' know. The post-apocalyptic future reminds me more of Oni than it does HL2, which is good, because the atmosphere in Oni is one of the best I've ever experienced.

Oni manages to never skip time, there's action all the time, never any "2 Hours Later", it just flows on and on. Of course the days go: she sleeps and does what she needs to do, but you never notice those pauses or transitions, everything is in a natural order. In Chaser they instead like to point out how much time passes in the cut-scenes, which kind of, isn't... good.

Sometimes while playing I minimized the game to do other things, forgetting that the R button was in-game used for print screens only. It could get a bit aggravating typing in some domain name and reaching some new unknown morbid corner of the net due to a missing R, or typing a sentence only to realize that it didn't make much sense with all those missing constants. Damn key-bindings that you can't change.

Also: I got lost, don't know how many times. Out of each ten doors you could open only one or two, and there were dead ends everywhere, and there were places where there seemed to be no way through. Most FPS games use symbols to guide a user: you see a ladder, or a gate, or some kind of sign, and now intuitively how you're supposed to progress. Here there was nothing. Oh wait, there's a gap behind that net... even though there haven't been any gaps behind any nets in the previous 23 levels...

You think maybe you're a bit more attentive than I am? That you have a better sense of direction? Maybe you do, but I'm sure you would agree that the game layout can be at times utterly confusing. When Jay says "go downstairs and free the prisoners" you don't expect to first walk up stairs and then down another set, when you know there is a set of stairs leading straight down nearby. Turns out it's a dead end, a door that won't open. Don't you just hate doors that won't open? It feels like all included doors should either be open or be openable in some way, like by getting a key or pushing a button - but no, in this game there are so many unopenable doors that seem to be there just for decorative purposes. Not good.

Plotwise? It's not bad. It's intriguing up till you reach the end and find out you did it all for nothing. Otherwise it's a good game! The action's good, the level design - apart from the aspects that confuse - are elaborate and varied and I enjoyed playing through it despite these defects. But after playing it once, I doubt I'd do it again.

 rated 3/5: not bad