Eclipsium is a surreal, mind-bending first-person adventure, where in the first minutes, I cut my tongue off with a pair of scissors to put on a scale to open a door. All done in first person with your tongue in view and everything as you do it, it was shocking, surreal, and terrifying. I was hooked. I first got a taste of Eclipsium with its first demo during a Steam Next Fest event, and was very much intrigued then and very much totally enveloped in this world now.
Let it Bleed
Eclipsium plays as any other first-person game, moving around and looking around freely; however, instead of a focus on using weapons to shoot enemies, the player is tasked with taking in the surreal world by solving puzzles and experiencing moments like the one I described at the start of this review again and again. This is an experience, as cliché as that sounds to use in a review, that is the goal the developers had here.
The game is meant to make you comfortable with the uncomfortable, while other games will task you to use medkits and bandages to heal your wounds, Eclipsium wants you to let it bleed. It is difficult to talk about this game without spoiling it, every moment has a visual, event or puzzle that will leave you horrified, mystified, with your jaw left open or all 3.
First Person Hell
The developers fully take advantage of the first-person perspective when creating these moments and the puzzles you will have to solve. The game takes full advantage of old-school techniques to animate what you are doing in the first-person perspective. Used all the way back in the early 1990s with games like DOOM and more, video of a human arm grabbing items and more is then ported into the game as a 2D sprite. Using this well-known technique automatically gives the game a retro style, which lends itself well to the surreal and hellish world it creates. Similar to how PS1-style graphics would perfectly fit well with a potential indie Silent Hill-style inspired horror game.
The game pushes you to take in every little detail and potential item you can touch, interact with, pick up, or use in some way. Some things won’t yield any result, as I kept trying to interact with everything I could find, as the entire world felt so alive. This gives the game that same feeling as in point and click adventure games, where you want to touch and see what can all be interacted with. With the various puzzles thrown into the mix, those moments truly felt like I was playing a classic adventure game in first person.
Cut It Off, Pick the Scabs
Every bit of this game’s audio and visual experience is filled with detail. The audio knows when to be loud and when to be quiet, with areas having music to enhance a moment, while the total lack of sound, with only eerie sounds of the wind and unrecognizable beasts you may never see. Everything feels very intentional, pushing the player to feel uncomfortable in every sense.
As I have said already, the game looks absolutely beautiful in its ugliness; it has chosen a perfect retro visual style to achieve a game world that feels like nothing I have ever explored before. From walls of eyes, to horizons of hell and mundane places you see every day, Eclipsium creates environments and levels that not only look outstanding with amazing art direction, but also are well designed and paced as you explore and make your way through this surreal experience.
Conclusion
I don’t use the word masterpiece often, but Eclipsium is definitely in that realm, a unique adventure that I won’t soon forget. Every moment in the game provided a lasting mark on the entire adventure, the developers have pushed the limits of artistry within a game world, with some extremely creative environments you rarely see in a game.
I did have some bugs when grabbing items, causing it to be unusable until I walked back a bit, and I had one crash, so there is a tiny bit of technical polish needed here. However, the developers have already patched the game for some of these issues and have also increased the player’s movement speed a bit as well, from player feedback.
If you are looking for a surreal, fun, and unforgettable adventure, Eclipsium should be on your list!
Eclipsium
Pros
- Surreal environments that are fun to explore
- Amazing art direction and sound
- Thought provoking puzzles
- Numerous memorable moments you will never forget
Cons
- Some bugs and crashes
