PixlBit

With hundreds of new indie games spilling onto the scene each month, it's easy to overlook some of the more deserving but obscure titles. Thus, this blog.

Abducted--iPad/iPhone--Sunside Inc.

Before the advent of the tablet and smart phone, the adventure genre was essentially dead. Often slow, plodding, and lacking in action, these games were seen as relics of a bygone time when tastes were simpler and PCs lacked the power to run much else. The genre has since returned with a vengeance, but like an unstoppable blob, the number of these titles littering the marketplace has become too vast for even the enthusiasts to keep up with.

A perfect case in point in Abducted, a competent episodic adventure title that released last December (2013) to little fanfare. The game opens with a girl named Eve emerging from a stasis pod/hibernation chamber and finding herself onboard what can be best described as an enormous biomechanical spaceship. Naturally, she can’t remember anything and the ship itself seems to be damaged as it drifts inert amongst the stars.

Despite the somewhat cliché opening, the garish, otherworldly visuals are immediately striking. Glowing alien technology shine like jewels from the ship’s cavernous walls in arrays of neon color, and are juxtaposed effectively against the crawling shadows that wait just beyond the light’s ambient reach. The soundtrack—often more a series of foreboding sounds than actual music—also frames the grim proceedings nicely. Not quite as visually impressive is the robotically moving Eve, but the environment is the true star here.

As is ARM, Eve’s personal AI assistant who serves as the game’s singular voice and interpreter. Whenever she happens upon a new threat or location, the unit will offer its own lengthy perspective on things via interactive dialogue trees. These snippets of conversation are strictly text-based and, if fully read, probably take up half the game’s overall play time, making the whole production sometimes seem more akin to a piece of interactive fiction. But because “skill points” are accrued through these exchanges, skipping them is not advised—skill points grant Eve crucial upgrades to her abilities.

Primary among these abilities are “Pulse,” a biotic-like repulsor attack handy for zapping away hostile forces and uncovering hidden objects, and “Manipulate,” which works much like a form of telekinesis. Both powers are underutilized through the course of play, however, being rarely used to do more than open doors or jolt aberrant tentacles. Even the game’s primary baddies—hulking aliens with an intent to kill—can only be fled from, which seems like a missed opportunity.

In addition to the exploration and light puzzle-solving, players will sometimes be tasked with accessing computer terminals to gain entry to other areas. Using these terminals opens one of two mini-games; one is similar to those “find the object” games popular on Facebook, while the other vaguely resembles the classic game Snake from years past. Both are welcome distractions from the usual gameplay but are also largely forgettable.

As the first part of a five episode story, this installment of Abducted feels more like a simple prelude for what’s to come. In other words, not a whole lot happens. It’s still a perfectly respectable effort, but there’s just not enough here to make episode two an instant purchase for most gamers, assuming it releases at all. The longer it takes, the less people are going to care.

It’s a shame, though, as the foundation for an engrossing tale is here. But whether due to time constraints, budgetary concerns, or simple programming inexperience, Abducted never truly reaches the stars.

 

(Although Android and Windows versions were planned at one point, their current status is unclear.)

Thanks to www.sunsidegames.com and www.appadvice.com for the images.