Review and ratings The Town of Light is a walk down memory lane. The Town of Light - Review When reality becomes an illusion, nightmares take on flesh

Similar games They are attracted primarily by their subject matter. Even if the developers do not have millions of dollars or sufficient skills to create a modern blockbuster, there is always a unique idea, the competent presentation of which makes their modest project attractive. In our case, the focus is, albeit not very original, but quite capacious and fascinating topic: the life of mentally ill people at the beginning of the 20th century. No matter how many works of art there are dedicated to cruel treatment methods at the dawn of psychotherapy, we continue to excitedly and as if for the first time observe crowds of insane patients, dirty chambers, shock therapy, lobotomies and other medical techniques of the beginning of the century. It tickles our nerves, allows us to touch these unpleasant but important pages of history and once again thank fate that this did not happen to us.

Fantasies sooner or later turn into schizophrenia

So, The Town of Light is based on real events that took place in psychiatric hospitals of the last century. Moreover, the developers did not limit themselves to repeating the general concept, but used real medical documents and recreated a real abandoned mental asylum Volterra, located in Italy. This monastery was once home to 6,000 patients, among whom was the main character of the game, 16-year-old Reni. Many years later, an elderly woman returns to the place where she spent the most terrible years of her youth. Among the forest, she finds an already abandoned building of a former hospital, which we have to slowly explore, simultaneously listening to the thoughts of the main character and indulging in memories, most of them unpleasant.

Abode of the Damned

It is clear that a lot of time and effort was devoted to recreating the location. The developers transferred a large hospital complex into the game in detail, diligently paying attention to the details. Thanks to the painstaking work, you immediately feel the gloomy atmosphere of this place. Shabby walls, empty beds and a wheelchair abandoned in the corridor, broken tiles and the remains of ominous medical equipment leave no doubt about where the main character ended up.

The journey at first causes anxiety and the expectation of a catch around the next corner, but after a few minutes the understanding comes that the only thing that will scare us here is our own thoughts. Volterra Hospital is a gloomy place, but not scary in the usual sense of the word. Despite the oppressive silence, in which every rustle can be clearly heard, there is no fear that something will jump out from around the corner. Therefore, the game cannot be called a horror game even by a stretch, which may disappoint those who saw a typical indie horror story in the trailers. The Town of Light is a psychological adventure that moves at a leisurely pace and leaves the main character and us alone with our own thoughts. And this is its big plus.

When reality becomes an illusion, nightmares come true

The absence of an immediate threat does not change the fact that what is happening on the screen is sometimes very difficult to perceive. It seems like we knew in general terms about the notoriety of such psychiatric hospitals, but The Town of Light often surprises with its scenes, or even shocks.

A certain role in this is played by the fact that we do not observe the “treatment” process from the outside, but are in the very center of events. This is possible due to the mental state of the main character, due to which, while wandering through an abandoned hospital, she is periodically visited by vivid hallucinations woven from memories. In moments like these, Renee is transported back to her 16th birthday and relives the nightmares of her youth, and we see it all from her perspective.

Here it is worth paying tribute to the courage of the developers, because the game does not try to please idealistic moralists (for whom the rough treatment of Lara Croft in captivity is a reason to cause a scandal throughout the world) and communicate with the player with soft half-hints. Therefore, the faint of heart will have to prepare in advance for scenes of outright cruelty, bullying and violence, as well as detailed textures from anatomical atlases during surgical operations. The Town of Light is not trying to idealize anything, to pay tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. She shows everything as it is, so that we understand and realize the depth of the tragedy that befell Reni in her youth.

After such flashbacks, the main character usually comes to her senses in unexpected places, and we are again treated to a walk through shabby corridors. To the accompaniment of quiet instrumental music, we are given enough time to comprehend what we have seen, be it the rude treatment of orderlies or the delusional products of a sick fantasy.

Memories also have an important plot function: Reni focuses attention on some controversial issues, after which the player is tasked with finding some clues to clarify the events of the past. Most often, the necessary information is contained in documents scattered throughout the hospital. Looking through the found records, sometimes you need to independently draw conclusions on which the further direction of Reni’s adventures around the hospital depends. Thus, the plot has several branches associated with walking through different offices, but they all ultimately lead to a single ending. However, the game does not try to create the illusion of choice, because important events have already happened, and our task is to help the main character remember. And the outcome of the game, although unexpected, is quite logical and does not imply other options.

Yesterday I visited a psychologist - he cried

However, we also need to remember that we're talking about not about a fiction essay, but about a video game. To create an exemplary psychological adventure, the plot and scenery alone are not enough. But in terms of gameplay and technical execution, The Town of Light has nothing special to brag about.

Firstly, interaction with the outside world is performed at a primitive level. We play as a disembodied entity whose hands only occasionally appear at the right moments in the plot. There are no interesting environmental impacts, just doors and some drawers that open in front of your nose. There are no puzzles in the game; all the necessary documents are on the tables or in the drawers of these tables. Therefore, apart from the plot, you can only walk and read, which is why most of the gameplay becomes an unpleasant wait for the next plot miniature.

Secondly, the graphics technology leaves much to be desired. The efforts of the artists cannot be fully appreciated due to the dim unnatural light and the low level of detail of objects game world. And the secret appeal of the abandoned hospital is spoiled by objects loaded from thin air (the computer configuration fully complies with the recommended system requirements). At the same time, the overall visuals are good, but the backward technology does not allow the game to shine with all its beauty and stand out from the background of modern projects. The independence of developers today is no longer an excuse, because there are enough similar indies on the market with excellent graphics, take the recent Layers of Fear. Therefore, it remains to wish the developers of LKA creative development and improving their skills so that their future projects not only touch the soul, but also please the eye.

Verdict

It is clear that the developers have concentrated their main efforts on transferring the Volterra hospital with all its horrors into the gaming environment. They coped with this task brilliantly and were able to reliably tell us about an entire cultural layer within the framework of the history of one person. But this does not negate the fact that technically the game is made at an average level, and game process It does not stand out at all from the background of walking and reading simulators. As a result, we get another paradox: a stunningly informative and heart-tugging game that is not fun to play. But apparently, this is already an established genre, and we just have to get used to it.

Final score: 8 points out of 10!

Developer and Publisher: LKA
Genre: adventure, indie, horror
Platforms: PC
Minimum system requirements: Win 7 64, Core i3 2 GHz or Athlon II X3 455, 4 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 460 or Radeon HD 6770, 10 GB hard drive.
Recommended: Core i5 2.4 GHz or Phenom II X4 965, 8 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 560 or Radeon HD 7790.
Age rating: 16+

These types of games attract people primarily because of their themes. Even if the developers do not have millions of dollars or sufficient skills to create a modern blockbuster, there is always a unique idea, the competent presentation of which makes their modest project attractive. In our case, the focus, although not very original, is quite a capacious and fascinating topic: the life of mentally ill people at the beginning of the twentieth century. No matter how many works of art there are dedicated to cruel treatment methods at the dawn of psychotherapy, we continue to excitedly and as if for the first time observe crowds of insane patients, dirty chambers, shock therapy, lobotomies and other medical techniques of the beginning of the century. It tickles our nerves, allows us to touch these unpleasant but important pages of history and once again thank fate that this did not happen to us.

Fantasies sooner or later turn into schizophrenia

So, The Town of Light based on real events that took place in psychiatric hospitals of the last century. Moreover, the developers did not limit themselves to repeating the general concept, but used real medical documents and recreated the real abandoned Volterra psychiatric hospital located in Italy.

This monastery was once home to 6,000 patients, among whom was the main character of the game, 16-year-old Reni. Many years later, an elderly woman returns to the place where she spent the most terrible years of her youth. Among the forest, she finds an already abandoned building of a former hospital, which we have to slowly explore, simultaneously listening to the thoughts of the main character and indulging in memories, most of them unpleasant.

Abode of the Damned

It is clear that a lot of time and effort was devoted to recreating the location. The developers transferred a large hospital complex into the game in detail, diligently paying attention to the details. Thanks to the painstaking work, you immediately feel the gloomy atmosphere of this place. Shabby walls, empty beds and a wheelchair abandoned in the corridor, broken tiles and the remains of ominous medical equipment leave no doubt about where the main character ended up.

The journey at first causes anxiety and the expectation of a catch around the next corner, but after a few minutes the understanding comes that the only thing that will scare us here is our own thoughts. Volterra Hospital is a gloomy place, but not scary in the usual sense of the word. Despite the oppressive silence, in which every rustle can be clearly heard, there is no fear that something will jump out from around the corner. Therefore, the game cannot be called a horror game even by a stretch, which may disappoint those who saw a typical indie horror story in the trailers. The Town of Light is a psychological adventure that moves at a leisurely pace and leaves the main character and us alone with our own thoughts. And this is its big plus.

When reality becomes an illusion, nightmares come true

The absence of an immediate threat does not change the fact that what is happening on the screen is sometimes very difficult to perceive. It seems like we knew in general terms about the notoriety of such psychiatric hospitals, but The Town of Light often surprises with its scenes, and even shocks.

A certain role in this is played by the fact that we do not observe the process of “treatment” from the outside, but are in the very center of events. This is possible due to the mental state of the main character, due to which, while wandering through an abandoned hospital, she is periodically visited by vivid hallucinations woven from memories. In moments like these, Renee is transported back to her 16th birthday and relives the nightmares of her youth, and we see it all from her perspective.

Here it is worth paying tribute to the courage of the developers, because the game does not try to please idealistic moralists (for whom the rough treatment of Lara Croft in captivity is a reason to cause a scandal throughout the world) and communicate with the player with soft half-hints. Therefore, the faint of heart will have to prepare in advance for scenes of outright cruelty, bullying and violence, as well as detailed textures from anatomical atlases during surgical operations. The Town of Light does not try to idealize anything, to pay tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. She shows everything as it is, so that we understand and realize the depth of the tragedy that befell Reni in her youth.

After such flashbacks, the main character usually comes to her senses in unexpected places, and we are again treated to a walk through shabby corridors. To the accompaniment of quiet instrumental music, we are given enough time to comprehend what we have seen, be it the rude treatment of orderlies or the delusional products of a sick fantasy.

Memories also have an important plot function: Reni focuses attention on some controversial issues, after which the player is tasked with finding some clues to clarify the events of the past. Most often, the necessary information is contained in documents scattered throughout the hospital. Looking through the found records, sometimes you need to independently draw conclusions on which the further direction of Reni’s adventures around the hospital depends. Thus, the plot has several branches associated with walking through different offices, but they all ultimately lead to a single ending. However, the game does not try to create the illusion of choice, because important events have already happened, and our task is to help the main character remember. And the outcome of the game, although unexpected, is quite logical and does not imply other options.

Yesterday I visited a psychologist - he cried

However, we also need to remember that we are not talking about an artistic essay, but about a video game. To create an exemplary psychological adventure, the plot and scenery alone are not enough. And in terms of gameplay and technical execution The Town of Light nothing much to brag about.

Firstly, interaction with the outside world is performed at a primitive level. We play as a disembodied entity whose hands only occasionally appear at the right moments in the plot. There are no interesting environmental impacts, just doors and some drawers that open in front of your nose. There are no puzzles in the game; all the necessary documents are on the tables or in the drawers of these tables. Therefore, apart from the plot, you can only walk and read, which is why most of the gameplay becomes an unpleasant wait for the next plot miniature.

Secondly, the graphics technology leaves much to be desired. The efforts of the artists cannot be fully appreciated due to the dim unnatural light and the low level of detail of objects in the game world. And the secret appeal of the abandoned hospital is spoiled by objects loaded from thin air (the computer configuration fully complies with the recommended system requirements). At the same time, the overall visuals are good, but the backward technology does not allow the game to shine with all its beauty and stand out from the background of modern projects. The independence of developers today is no longer an excuse, because there are enough similar indies on the market with excellent graphics, take at least the recent Layers of Fear. Therefore, it remains to wish the LKA developers creative development and improvement of skills, so that their future projects not only touch the soul, but also please the eye.

Joys:

• Interesting topic
• Well presented story
• Exciting and explicit scenes
• Great environment for reflection
• Suitable musical accompaniment

Nasty things:

• Weak gameplay
• Modest graphics

Rating: 8.0

It is clear that the developers have concentrated their main efforts on transferring the Volterra hospital with all its horrors into the gaming environment. They coped with this task brilliantly and were able to reliably tell us about an entire cultural layer within the framework of the history of one person. But this does not negate the fact that technically the game is made at an average level, and the gameplay itself does not stand out at all from the background of walking and reading simulators. As a result, we get another paradox: a stunningly informative and heart-tugging game that is not fun to play. But apparently, this is already an established genre, and we just have to get used to it.

The Town of Light is an adventure game developed by LKA for the PC platform. The style of the game, unfortunately, is not defined, but the following features can be highlighted: sexual content, nudity, indie, steam achievements, trading cards, virtual reality. You will have access to these game modes as "single player".

Worldwide game The Town of Light is distributed on a one-time purchase model by publisher LKA. At the moment, the game stage is launched, and its release date is 02/26/2016. You cannot download The Town of Light for free, including via torrent, since the game is distributed according to a one-time purchase model.

MMO13 has not yet rated The Town of Light. Metacritic rates this game 6.4 out of 10. The game is distributed on the Steam store, whose users have not yet left reviews.

The official description of the game reads:

“On March 12, 1938, the world that was familiar to 16-year-old Reni suddenly ceased to exist and the only reason for this was her ignorance of her place in this very world.”

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I walk around some dilapidated hospital, look at non-interactive objects, twirl interactive ones in my hands, listen to the heroine’s comments and understand that this location, in which there is not a single monster, not even a hint of a trap or danger, makes an exceptionally gloomy impression. This may be due to the fact that The Town of Light is inspired by real places and events, and one of its main themes is the brutality of psychiatry in Fascist Italy. By the way, the authors recommend that impressionable people not take up their game.

The events take place mainly in our time, although there are some exceptions: the heroine’s walk through an abandoned psychiatric hospital is constantly interrupted by hallucinations, memories and outright delirium, and therefore it is sometimes very difficult to understand exactly whether we are now seeing reality or fiction. Most of all, what is happening is reminiscent of Gone Home, to which they added not only an intriguing backstory, but also something else. In fact, there is a lot more. In other words, we are not just trying to understand what once happened here, it is important for us to find out what is happening now Same.

The heroine's monologues are confusing. She sometimes talks about herself (or?) from the past in the first person, sometimes in the third, which makes it very difficult to understand the essence. Leafing through the medical history (I don’t know exactly whose), she asks questions, which they suddenly ask me, the player, to answer. This is not a meaningless shifting of “responsibility” onto the person in front of the monitor: the first third of the scenario ends in a fork - then two branches go in parallel, almost to the very end, where they break into two more branches each.

Another question is that the ending is still the same. The developers claim that nonlinearity allows you to look at events from different points of view, but in my opinion, tying all the threads into the final knot is bad idea. Although, I admit, the fat point turned out to be one of the most memorable and at the same time nauseating scenes that I have seen in a video game. The effect of presence is deliberately destroyed: show This for studio LKA it is more important than to adhere to the original legend to the end.

The huge hospital and surrounding areas are full of eerie artifacts from bygone times. Familiar interiors and landscapes revive the memory of the events of those years - the late 30s - early 40s. Mixed in here are the experiences of a young girl who is really sick with something, and the cruel abuse of guards over, in fact, prisoners of a real prison.

This "pedestrian simulator" does a lot of things right: the peeling walls don't become boring because almost every room has something unique, be it an object, a note or a memory. This place is unpleasant to explore, but simply leaving it is very difficult. All that remains is to be happy (or scared) for those who will go here wearing Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses.

pros

• A powerful story inspired by true events
• Nonlinearity
• Large space to explore
• Decent amount of content: you don’t have to just walk along the corridors and look at the walls

Minuses

• All scenario options ultimately come down to one ending
• Disgusting denouement

Verdict

Psychiatric hospitals are not so rare in games, but usually their role is reduced to trivial decoration. Of course, The Town of Light didn't tell me anything really new. Perhaps this is not so important, since Gone Home, for example, didn’t really try to do this either. What is important is the unique atmosphere, the sensations that this strange, sometimes surreal story that has something in common with Mulholland Drive creates. Written in blood and soaked in the suffering of real people.

What do we know about psychiatric hospitals at the beginning of the 20th century? Almost nothing, if you do not take into account some films that show complete madness and chaos on the part of the staff. The game called tells exactly this.

The product is based on real events that happened a long time ago in one of the mental hospitals in Italy. Even the buildings presented in the game are completely copied from those that existed in reality. Remarkable, but not the usual horror, but psychological thriller, aimed primarily at surprising us with its plot.

The plot of The Town of Light - a loner in a herd of madmen

The storyline takes us to one time or another. Initially, we find ourselves in a beautiful place filled with foliage and singing birds. But having gone a little further, we discover an abandoned psychiatric hospital, from which the fear of patients who have not been there for a long time emanates. The story tells us about the girl Reni, who was one of the patients of this terrible place.

The girl’s main goal is to remember everything that happened to her during that terrible time. To do this, she is forced to wander through abandoned offices and corridors. Here and there Reni encounters echoes of the past, which each time fill out the full picture of events. Sometimes we ourselves become participants in the girl’s past and are transported to the beginning of the 20th century in a hospital where there were still mentally ill patients and doctors who constantly mocked them. The girl recalls how the hospital staff mocked her - they undressed her, forced her to have sex and other things that broke her consciousness.

All this happens as if in reality, since we are presented not only with hints of everything that happened, but also demonstrate it in the most detailed way. Some things also play a huge role for Reni. For example, a doll, which, at first glance, does not represent anything special, means a lot to a girl. It is with her that some moments of Reni’s past are connected, appearing before her eyes as she progresses.

It should be noted that story line The game is non-linear. More precisely, some parts of it. By reading this or that document, we ourselves make a decision about Reni’s past. Of particular importance This, of course, does not affect the development of history, but such nonlinearities still make their contribution to the overall narrative. Reading the notes takes up the lion's share of the entire plot, since without them it is simply impossible to guess some things. Sometimes you even have to re-read the same document several times so that in the end all the misunderstandings come together and we learn the details of the main character’s past.

Another walking simulator or something new?

In fact, the gameplay is nothing special. We still need to walk around locations, read documents and solve simple puzzles. All this is present in more than half of all games of this genre released over the last ten years. There is no need to say that you can see something new here.

The mechanics of the game do not make it fun to experience every element of the gameplay. Any interaction with objects is done a little crookedly, which sometimes makes you want not to rummage through drawers and cabinets, but to quickly run through the game to the victorious finish. By the way, you will often have to tinker with all the toggle switches and switches, since the gameplay involves manual adjustment of many mechanisms and objects. But everything would be fine if the game was properly optimized. Constant lags and drops in FPS make themselves felt as soon as we move from one location to another.

This is especially felt when going outside. In such moments, it stops for a second or two, making us think about whether to give up everything. Such carelessness in the technical component of the game greatly spoils the overall impression. With the release of patches and other nonsense, the developers will most likely correct all the shortcomings, but now it’s impossible to call the optimization tolerable.

Visual bells and whistles

In the description of the game you can see the inscription “realistic graphics”. Is it so? The design of the locations and visual style leaves a pleasant impression. On the walls of the abandoned hospital are visible all sorts of reminders that the building has not seen a person for a long time. Items and various objects look quite realistic, but do not produce a special “wow” effect.

WITH technical side The graphics in the game clearly don’t claim to be the best this year, but it doesn’t look terrible either. The only thing that makes me wonder is the textures that are drawn while moving. Sometimes you can clearly see how certain objects are drawn right before our eyes. You can still put up with this minus, but when the game, on top of everything else, also slows down, patience comes to an end.

General impression

It’s not yet possible to call it something “must-have” and bright. The reason for this is terrible optimization, which does not allow us to immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of that psychological drama, which is the main highlight. It is immediately clear that the main goal of the developers was to create a game with an interesting and unpredictable plot. The game makers showed themselves to be excellent in this.

The in-game story really makes us re-read the notes, worry about the main character and, together with her, remember what happened in the mental hospital. It is also worth highlighting the good sound component. The music fits perfectly into the essence of what is happening, giving us more opportunities to immerse ourselves in the inner atmosphere. You can only become frightened as you progress through the realization of what happened to the main character in her early years. No screamers, monsters and other things from the world