After an unfortunate delay on Steam, I’ve been able to trail the Desolatium Prologue from Superlumen. Will it be one to add to the Lovecraft list, or better at the bottom of the ocean with Lord Dagon?
First things first, I’m not the type to poo-poo a game. If I don’t like it, you should expect a constructive assessment rather than “this is shit!”. Fortunately, I liked it, but I will say that if you can experience it in VR, do that.
I only have access to PSVR, so had to miss out. Based on the movement in the game – one screen at a time with 360º rotation, plus the general menacing atmosphere, it would naturally be more immersive while wearing a helmet. A VR one, so put that motorcycle one away.
Desolatium Prologue Preview
What’s Desolatium Prologue all about then? It’s described as a graphic adventure based on the H.P. Lovecraft mythos. You play Samara, who has lost her child after the aftermath of King Herod and his antics.
With nothing left to lose, she wanders the desert until she comes across an ominous green light. Following this assumed omen, she finds out that her fate has already been written, and she is the messenger for The Great Dreamer.
Using scans of real places with a full 360º perspective, Desolatium Prologue sets the stage for a promising title. However, it’s not the visuals that draw you in, nor the narrative (Lovecraft did the heavy lifting on that one). It’s the sound production.
Yes, a bit weird to focus on that in a graphic adventure where VR should be the highlight, but it immediately grabbed my attention. The perfect use of silence creates a shift in the mood where your imagination fills in the blanks, but the voice talent was pretty decent and roped me in. Samara resembled Nicholas Cage at a few points, but otherwise good.
House Of The Dead
The intermittent animated cutscenes were great and expertly narrated
Within a very short time, I’d already encountered a character that you wouldn’t usually see in the street. Well, that’s a bit subjective – there’s zombie-like folk everywhere, but the one I saw here was a little bit like House of the Dead and looked a bit out of place in an otherwise unanimated scene.
When it comes to storytelling, Desolatium Prologue delivered. It’s just getting used to the mechanics of clicking where to go rather than manually walking.
No, that’s not a new concept, but it reminded me of Doom VR where your feet are firmly planted in the ground, and you click in a direction to move along. Here there’s not much happening, but chuck on some decent cans and the sounds are very immersive and create an uneasy vibe.
I’ve Been Expecting You
So, you head into the town of Ulthar and wander about a bit. Embarrassing to say, but I got lost a few times even though there were only a few exit points. Once I got my bearings, I entered someone’s home by climbing over the wall.
The fact that this woman didn’t get angry at me for trespassing wasn’t what was disturbing, but she was expecting me. Though she did think I was a man (I am in real life, don’t you know).
The dialogue scene in Desolatium Prologue offered a tree to ask your questions, but it’s best to go through them all to fill in the blanks. It’s one of those ‘chosen one’ stories, but despite the overuse of these, it works well.
The Fourth Wall
After a few clicks here and there, I was now in a graveyard checking out gravestones. The edge was taken off a little with some in-jokes and references to other IPs such as Alien and Friday the 13th – there’s also a photo of the Superlumens team in the previous scene.
It’s a demo and a bit of fun, but as mentioned, it takes the edge off of a game that is potentially pretty sinister, with an alternative spin on ‘what really happened’.
Sniffing around like a caddy for Burke and Hare, I found some items to combine and exit to a new scene. It was pleasing to see your puppet master early on – especially in the demo. Once again, the sound production was great, and the voice acting, brilliant. Alas, this is where the demo ended.
Desolatium Prologue is an intriguing one. The fact that the path is set out early on makes this a story worth following, but again, if you can, play this in VR. It’s perfectly playable as is but naturally more immersive in your helmet/fancy glasses.
Below is a playthrough of the demo. You can try it for yourself on Steam, but if it’s not available, this is what you missed.
