In one of those weird moments where we discuss a completely different game before moving on to the subject of the actual review, let's talk about The Talos Principle for a bit. Croteam's first-person puzzler was terrific and had some superb level design, but one of the most interesting parts involved the moments where you have philosophical debates with Milton, an artificial intelligence, entirely through choices in an old DOS setup. The description of it may sound odd to those who have never played the game, but trust me when I say that those parts were highly engaging indeed. And now along comes Event[0], an entire first-person sci-fi adventure revolving around the idea of communication with a computer/chat program in order to progress. It's ambitious, to say the least, but can such an idea carry an entire game? And a good one, at that?
Event[0] sees you in an alternate present day where space travel has become more advanced, and after selecting your character's background, you get the story about how they finally achieved their dreams and found themselves as a spaceperson bound for Europa. Unfortunately, the exact second you arrive there, it hits the fan as the space station you're on goes kablooey, leaving you drifting in an escape pod until you find the Nautilus. A relic of the (alternate) 1980s, you board it with the hopes of finding some help and eventually returning to Earth...only, unsurprisingly given these scenarios, no one seems to be on board, and the place is an absolute wreck where something clearly went down. The only thing you can speak to is Kaizen-85, an AI that appears through a series of terminals as a cheerful blivet-shaped mascot. They want to help you escape ASAP as well, and tell you to follow their instructions and head to bridge. And you can trust them, right?
The unique selling point of Event[0] is that not only are all of your significant actions performed through Kaizen and the various terminals they inhibit, but you can interact with Kaizen by typing in whatever you want - virtually anything - and they will respond and react appropriately, able to tell you whatever they can about the Nautilus and its crew. It's a true test of artificial intelligence that isn't perfect, but at the very least is a truly ambitious bit of gameplay, and one that invites players to experiment with the dialogue as much as they can. It's all done through old-school text prompts, of course, with Kaizen even sounding out each syllable of their reply in a low-tech yet endearing fashion. It's the type of gameplay and zeerust style that can best be described as - to steal a term from Yahtzee - "DOSpunk," and the game pulls it off incredibly well. And it helps that Kaizen can be a bit adorable, let's be honest.
Visually, Event[0] isn't that much different from the likes of, say, Alien: Isolation, with cluttered messes in each room, busted machinery, various retro knick-knacks as decorations, et cetera. But it still all looks impressive nonetheless, and does its job in creating an effectively mysterious atmosphere that leaves you wanting to know more. You also get to learn about the past Nautilus crew through the various access logs Kaizen has regarding each section, with a lot of entries that are conveniently corrupted, but that provide some insight into what it was like for them. I had some difficulty getting invested in them myself, but definitely found the greater mystery overall to be interesting. The terminals are also notably used for a few hacking puzzles, which can get a bit creative and provide a good level of challenge.
The emphasis on communications through a keyboard even affects the default control scheme as well. Since typing in WASD around Kaizen will create nothing but mindless wads of text on the terminals, movement is instead done simply through having the left mouse button move you forward and the right mouse button to move backwards, moving it around to essentially aim yourself, and stopping and focusing on an object to get a description. It takes a moment or two to get used to, but it does work quite nicely, and does feel a tad more immersive. The controls for when you're outside the ship are a bit trickier, with the right mouse button slowing your thrust down instead. Incidentally, these sections make for the game's most tense moments, where you have to carefully monitor your oxygen as you maneuver around the outside of the ship, and having to work with other terminals and convince a stubborn or puzzled Kaizen to let you in before you perish. It really captures Event[0] at its greatest potential.
However, Kaizen is kind of a double-edged sword for the game, oddly enough. Sure, they're an interesting character that you can chat with for quite a while, but as hinted at, it turns out they apparently have some limitations and difficulties when it comes to understanding human speech or conversations. More often then not, Kaizen would answer a question I had by revealing some sort of fact about the ship or the crew, and when I gave a follow-up question like "What do you mean?" or even something more specific, they would reply with something unrelated. Maybe Kaizen was intentionally trying to avoid the subject, but even if they're ultimately endearing, moments like these got incredibly frustrating.
Exploring The Wonders Of Cantra: A Guide To Its Location And Resources
Unlocking The Secrets Of Zombie Tycoon: Active Codes And More
Explore The Dystopian World Of Half-Life RP: City 8
