Pupil Becomes Master: Albedo - Eyes From Outer Space
Out of Early Access tomorrow
There's a great deal to admire in the trailer for soon-to-be-released pulp sci-fi puzzler Albedo: Eyes From Outer Space [official site]: wobbly flying saucers dangling against the backdrop of lurid skies, toxic death planets, ocular horrors. It's an odd-looking thing, no doubt about it, and in the best possible way. Is it a horror game? A comedy game? A horror-comedy?
If there's a disappointing aspect to the trailer it's found in the player's actions. There's a tile-swapping puzzle at 2:44 and a shotgun to solve the alien problem, at least temporarily. A little bit of shooting and a little bit of puzzling then? I can live with that, particularly if the package it's all contained in is as inventive as the trailer suggests.
Astonishingly, the entire game is the work of a single developer, Fabrizio Zagaglia.
The Eyes From Outer Space emerge from Early Access and onto PC and Mac tomorrow, and I'm planning to point my eyes at it tonight. Responses to the early builds have been mostly positive, praising the point and click style puzzles and the unusual feel of the first-person interface. That unusual interface has also been described with variations of the word "clunky" by some players.
Here's the full feature list:
A 60’s sci-fi, b-movie inspired narrative, with plenty of mystery and suspense!
Stunning 3D environments and detailed objects to manipulate.
Realistic and atmospheric sound effects will envelop you in your surroundings.
Adventure-style gameplay featuring puzzle elements and incorporating first-person shoot’em-up action.
Twenty detailed rooms to explore; each full of mystery, strange visions and intricate puzzles to solve.
An advanced physics engine making object interaction extremely immersive. Pick up and use objects as you would expect to in reality.
Over 100 items to interact with.
Unique hint system using a device to “see into the future” to help solve complex problems.
Multiple challenging mini-games and puzzles.
Unearth hidden areas, discover Easter eggs and unlock achievements.
Over 8 hours of challenging gameplay!
Eight hours and twenty rooms? That leads me to imagine staring at a circuit-rewiring puzzle for two and a half hours before finding a way to move on. Hopefully I'm wrong. More on this soon.