got_quiet: gif of Kim and Harry dancing (disco)
[personal profile] got_quiet
For those like me who prefer picspam let's plays to video versions, I thought I'd make a brief let's play post for this game, starting from the beginning to what is kind of the middle of chapter 1. This gives a good sense of the setup and what the two main characters, Rourke and Adair, are like. Please note that I'm leaving a lot of dialog out, so if this is intriguing there is still a lot to see by playing the game yourself!

So let's begin!

Opening screen of the game

Our story begins with Rourke, a young sniper in training for a nation known as The Core.

Baby Rourke being given a sniper rifle

Older Rourke looking down a rifle sight

His entire life up until this point has focused on his performing a single function. When the game starts, he's 22 years old, and about to go on his first mission as a last minute sub. He's excited and enthusiastic, and the mood at home is upbeat, with all his fellow soldiers giving him advice and encouragement, except this guy:
Adair telling Rourke not to stare at the sun
(He's talking about the sun!)

He bumps into Adair in the locker room and tries to introduce himself, but Adair brushes him off, tells him he's a noob, and walks away. What an asshole!

You can do a little more snooping before you go to bed for the night, and if you follow one of the side quests you might find yourself in one of the basement levels

Rourke in the basement, looking at a baby making facility

Every military facility has a baby incubation chamber, right? You can also go through some of the game menus, which provide a little lore and context.

Notebook text for The Core

Wow! What a utopia!

The next day Rourke hasn't managed to sleep a wink, but he's still raring to go.

Rourke in his room

He's the last one there, whoops. After a rousing speech by the Father General himself, which gets everyone excited, everyone piles into the surface trams and they're on their way.

Unfortunately for him he sits next to that asshole Adair, and they have a small conversation. It turns out Adair was under the impression that Rourke was trying to get on his good side so that he would be well treated in the event of injury. Rourke assures Adair that he doesn't care about that and just thinks Adair is an asshole, which actually makes Adair feel better about the relationship.





Oh, you're not a brown noser? Well then we can maybe be friends. They bond a little over confusion about what the point of the sun is.
Soon it's show time. We get a nice little cut scene of Rourke's first look at the sky.

Rourke looking up as the hatch is opened

And then it's time to murder some people. In the dead of night everyone takes their positions and Rourke is directed to take position on a ruin on a hill.

Rourke preparing to snipe

He's an eager beaver, ready to play his part.

A look down Rourke's sights

But hmm, does that look like an enemy combatant to you? In Rourke's defense he hasn't even seen trees before so he's at some disadvantage here. After every moving thing gets a bullet to the brain, it's time to group up and sweep the town, uh, I mean enemy base of all remaining life. During the sweep Rourke spots a figure and gives chase, until he's cornered it. Surely the enemy is leading him into a trap, he thinks, but when he approaches, he realizes to his horror that his adversary is just a small kid. His little soldier brain short circuits. The Core doesn't want him to kill a kid, right?

Rourke cornering a shadow
The Shadow is a cowering boy

Wrong! The unit commander shows up and shoots that kid dead, then orders Rourke to report back to his captain. He manages to make it to the captain, but faints during his attempt to make his report, and wakes up with Adair tending to him.

Adair asking Rourke what happened

You fucked up Rourke. The two of them have a spirited conversation as Rourke tries to understand why they are shooting civilians.

Rourke questions the Core's purpose

And Adair reveals that everyone else knows exactly what they are doing, which was starting a false flag operation to incite a war. Rourke, being a noob and a substitute, was not given the memo. This is too much for Rourke, who bought in to the whole "Hero Army of the World" bit hook line and sinker back home.

Rourke refuses to shoot civilians
He would rather be executed

Adair is a little exasperated with Rourke's drama, and thinks that all he needs is a little time to calm down, and then he will see straight, so he suggests diagnosing him with a minor ailment and taking him to the field hospital, effectively removing him from the front and giving him a chance to maybe not commit suicide by firing squad.

Adair hatches a plan
But it's overheard

Unfortunately for Adair, big sister is watching, and he is now an accessory to treason.

---

Things start to fall apart from there. I might continue the let's play if there is an audience of >0 but even if no one reads this I think it makes for a good teaser, and I encourage people to look at some of the playthroughs that were posted on youtube or check out the developer's tumblr for art, info and updates. The game is clearly a labor of love from a small team so I hope that they get more attention for it and that the see success when the final chapter comes out!

Date: 2023-01-09 09:18 am (UTC)
rionaleonhart: top gear: the start button on a bugatti veyron. (going down tonight)
From: [personal profile] rionaleonhart
This is about the point I'm up to! I'm enjoying myself so far.

An interesting oversight on the game's part: I looked through the sniper scope on Rourke's first assignment, went 'uh, these are clearly kids' and let the timer run out. Rourke took a hit to his morale for running out of time, but the game still progressed under the assumption that I'd shot the kids; he still said eight targets had been taken out via sniping when making his report. If it's essential to the plot that Rourke shoot the kids, you can't leave in a loophole that means I can just not shoot!

Date: 2023-01-10 06:08 am (UTC)
alias_sqbr: the symbol pi on a pretty background (Default)
From: [personal profile] alias_sqbr
This was interesting to read!

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