Technomancers, ASCII, virtual reality, sex bots, floppies and DDoS attacks are only part of the vocabulary of VirtuaVerse, what could easily be a subreddit populated by computer obsessed moderated by minds like those of Alessio Cosenza, Vittorio D'Amore and Ralph Meidl, the (only) three developers behind the project who managed to give life to an old graphic adventure school that tells of a much closer and more catastrophic future than we are led to believe. In doing so, Theta Division used the classic cyberpunk imagery full of sparkling neons that illuminate the pitch-black and metaphorical darkness of dystopian megalopolises, in which a pixel art of yesteryear tells the worst night in the life of Nathan, disillusioned hacker who makes non-conformism his daily bread.
Awakened with a start by the notification from Gizmo, an Alexa from the future, Nate realizes that his partner Jay she did not come home and moreover in rolling out of bed she collapsed on the very precious ones AVR lenses. These are indispensable for anyone who wants to stay connected with an increasingly alienated civilization that lives through electronic reflections dictated by an AI that governs the lives of everyone connected to it, able to re-evaluate the seedy alleys of the city by flooding them with spam and holographic graffiti. Nathan rejects these principles by living on the fringes of society by reselling altered hardware and software, including his own viewer modified so that it can be turned on and off at will which allows him to see reality for what it is giving life to an alternation between reality and VR that creates a double visual level on which VirtuaVerse sets its identity.
// In a thousand years but with the same (gameplay)
The switch between reality and VR allows the game to create interesting puzzles as well as spectacular setsProbably because it is already so perfect, VirtuaVerse gameplay brings back the classic point-and-click dynamics that are still explained to us through a bewildered Nathan in the first moments of the game: the key J recalls the handheld arm (found similar to that of the fellow countrymen of Invader Studios for Daymare 1998) which shows the current objective of the mission; the left button the mouse is used both to move around the suburbs and to analyze or interact with an object or character; the collected objects go into the bag which can be accessed via the icon at the top left while on the other side of the screen the icon with the viewer allows you to activate or deactivate virtual reality.
The difficulty, as always, lies in finding the two right objects to combine with each other to obtain a third useful for solving the puzzle, a task not easy given the many lures that often lead to mislead the player forcing him to long sessions of backtracking to make sure you have everything you need by exploring areas that are not huge but often branched and full of interactions between dialogues, events to observe and objects to collect. To move from one area to another Nathan gets on his motorcycle like a new Kaneda, but sometimes he will have to rely on other means including a submarine.
// Virtual puzzles, frustration (real)
The hyper-computer imagery that exudes from each pixel is aided by thoughtful dialogues and varied puzzles that the characters that crowd VirtuaVerse will submit to us in order to proceed in the search for Jay. Strange and untrustworthy guys cross the path of Nathan who will often have to deal with somewhat crazy requests ranging from procuring sex bots to blackmailing married men, trying to join a gang and ruining a band's evening, all often passing from more or less articulated puzzles ranging from using the right object at the right time to the famous "thinking outside the box" which translates intoenter the creator's head to understand what she had in mind at the time of giving birth to that sequence.
VirtuaVerse boasts a huge amount of often computer-based puzzles such as scanning a QR code or translating a text according to the ASCII code, which at times can confuse those who are not so familiar with this world. Nothing insurmountable, but it's worth clarifying this point bearing in mind that Nathan is ultimately a hacker living in a world dominated by technology. Solving a puzzle gives a healthy sense of satisfaction given the average level of ingenuity required to complete it, but several will force you to search the web to share your frustration with others in despair before headbutting the wall for not having us. thought before. It is not uncommon, however, that following the resolution of a puzzle after having tried them all you come to say "why did it seem like a logical solution?".
// Beyond the pixel straight to the (heart)
From a technical point of view, the work of Theta Division is really impactful. The close-ups of the sprites in the cutscenes and the pixel art scenographies created by Ralph Meidl do justice to the 2D historical adventures of the caliber of Monkey Island and Indiana Jones and perfectly represent the cybernetic flavor that the work wants to give above all thanks to the clever neon / darkness. VirtuaVerse gives its best especially at the beginning of the adventure when the setting is focused on the classic cyberpunk giving away some boards worthy of becoming your next wallpaper, but with the progress of the story one encounters much less inspired and cheap natural scenarios that clash with the tenor of the work.
USEFUL INFOI had to play VirtuaVerse on my very old 21st century PC in NON-augmented reality thanks to a print code provided by Theta Division, because like Nathan I destroyed my AVR.
Duration- Approximately fifteen hours which should be enough both to complete the story (there are no crossroads or multiple endings) and to unlock all thirty-three objectives. Count ten if you are more inclined than me., ∞ if you do not know what you are going to meet
- A classic old school point and click in pixel art
- Game Name: VirtuaVerse
- Release date: May 12, 2020
- Platforms: PC
- Dubbing language: Not present
- Texts language: Italian
The sound accompaniment does not betray the excellent pixel art and strikes for the 80">80s / 90s style with 8-bit synth rock salsa pieces that marry perfectly with the dystopian-computer setting. If you want to get excited, the audio tracks of Vittorio D'Amore (aka MASTER BOOT RECORD) are available at this link, which alone would deserve the purchase of the game, unfortunately not available on Steam in the standalone version. The code cleaning work was flawless since during the whole run I did not find the shadow of a bug or problems whatsoever, if not a recurring micro-glitch to the inventory that does not affect the experience in any way.
// Who are you talking to (V irtua V erse)?
Theta Division definitely winks at the geeky people who will be able to grab the dozens of quotes to science fiction classics and the myriad of computer-based inside jokes that characterize Nathan's reality, but at the base of the project there is not only the will to pay homage to masterpieces of cinema such as the Matrix but also to make an effort of abstraction by imagining a near future made of progressive destruction of nature ed alienation of individuals in favor of a virtual world governed by AI. VirtuaVerse's scream warns the player by placing him in an imaginary violent and disillusioned of which Nathan is the emblem perfect because of his detachment from reality and his morally ambiguous action, which makes him incredibly human in a world of increasingly virtual entities.
In fifteen hours it is possible to complete an adventure that probably won't change your life, but it will certainly make you think. Strengthened by a very solid technical sector, an interesting plot for large sections (especially without excessive forcing, if not in the Squat sequence) and sometimes too crazy puzzles, VirtuaVerse proves to be a satisfying marriage between the old generation of graphic adventures and a highly futuristic dystopian future which is exalted in the first hours of the game and then lose something towards the end. Who is it for? To all those who know what they are getting into, who may have loved the classic Sierra and LucasArts of the nineties and try to relive that feeling with lively and funny characters; to those who live on bread and circuits; to target hunters; to lovers of the cyberpunk genre and linear stories.
Videogamingallday.com reviewGraphics
A high-impact pixel art welcomes both polygon-hungry gamers and fans of cyberpunk imagery among its neon signs, giving life to close-ups of characters and truly suggestive and captivating settings, although it does not go beyond the already seen (which not bad, in this case).
80">80
SOUNDTRACK AND DOUBLE ROOM
Two things to report: a very high impact soundtrack, capable especially in the first part of pressing the player and lowering him into the cybernetic reality of the VirtuaVerse, and an absent dubbing as per tradition, however compensated by the translation of the many dialogues in Italian without practically any smudging. .
80">80
GAMEPLAY
Classic point and click, for better or for worse. VirtuaVerse inherits the model of the classic Sierra and LucasArts from the cross pointer with which to interact on objects and characters, which apart from some sporadic smudging of the inventory does not show uncertainties despite limiting itself to re-proposing a formula now seen and revised with the only addition of the AVR viewer . The puzzles are sometimes exaggeratedly bizarre and not very intuitive but they work.
