Status Chovus Sep 12, 2021
Played as Luke the sailor. I had very little clue what I was doing. I wandered around into the smokestacks but figured that was the wrong way with the ship being upside down. Then I found this other crewman and studied the map to try and figure out what to do. Ok, the flashing red part on the bottom back …
Played as Luke the sailor. I had very little clue what I was doing. I wandered around into the smokestacks but figured that was the wrong way with the ship being upside down. Then I found this other crewman and studied the map to try and figure out what to do. Ok, the flashing red part on the bottom back of the ship, probably where the engine is, and I can see how the stairways link the decks. Along the way I found a little girl, but she refused to come with me because her mom told her to wait right there. Well I have no idea where the mom is, so good luck little girl. Then I found 2 women in the barber, one of whom was deaf. After a lot of pointless talking, Luke got the idea to go back to the bridge to get a pen. What, I'm not doing that, after all the trouble I had getting up to this deck. Do charades or something. How hard is it to mime "the ship is sinking, come with me if you want to live". I abandoned them, but later read in a walkthrough that I was supposed to keep talking until the other woman gave lipstick. Then the other guy failed to follow me. Screw him then, every man for himself. I made it to the point on the map that lead to the boiler room, but the door was locked. Then I checked the walkthrough; no mention of keys or locked doors. Then I looked up a sensible map with labels that also showed interior areas. It took like 20 minutes of studying that map and its connections to determine that the way to the boiler was through the smokestacks. But that was where I started off! I do not feel like going all the way back or starting over. At this point the ship was almost vertical with ass end in the air. Luke reached the locked door and gave up in despair; everyone died, end of story.
I did like the concept of the game, but not the implementation. I especially liked the novel level design of being upside down, which totally makes sense for a ship, and how the orientation changed over time. Navigation and direction left a lot to be desired, and guiding dumb AI npc around was not fun. I would have liked a Metroidvania style map and gameplay mechanics. Such as having to find tools that allow access to certain areas; things like fire extinguisher, axe, keys, ladder etc. As it stands, I did not find the gameplay compelling enough to play. Not giving a rating.