To be honest I’ve never been a person who plays a lot of “indie” games, I usually play a select few top title games, so I was very skeptical reviewing a game described as an “exploration simulator”. Yet, the more I played the more I found myself enjoying the experience of exploring different landscapes. The open worlds that I was tasked with exploring were expansive, intriguing and wildly different. As a change of pace game there was a lot of merit in Corpse of Discovery.
The Story
Corpse of Discovery is a clever play on words of the real life “corp of discovery” which was a United States army unit tasked with exploring the Louisiana purchase. The game even has a similar theme to the expedition, namely see if this newly acquired territory will offer an economic advantage to humanity/the United States and to categorize different flora and fauna that the explores encountered. President Jefferson, who commissioned the Corps of Discovery, even thought that the troupe would discovery woolly mammoths in their journey to the west and in Corpse of Discovery encounter some very strange creatures as well.
Now I digress from the historical and turn to the virtual. The story of Corpse, if it an be called a story, revolves around the exploration of different planets in the attempt to finish your “final mission” and return to your family. You are repeatedly exposed to the idea that you must complete this mission to return to your family and the AVA bot (a personal computerized companion of yours) injects background information about your character as the game progresses. I don’t like the “in your face” strategy that the game resorts to in order to get you to care about the protagonist. The messages from your family were cute but at the same time stereotypical which, from an indie game, was disappointing. But that’s not the whole story that is at work at in Corpse. The constant reminder that this is your last mission, even as you seemingly complete all the goals assigned to you by your employer is a part of the story I loved. It’s a constant struggle to complete your life and live happily ever after but the game constantly denies you that prize. I found this to be a better motivating factor than “go home to your family, you need to see your family, FAMILY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR LIFE”.
Gameplay
The gameplay itself is basically go here, do this, move on to the next checkpoint. Simple, clean, indie. I was surprised that you can have fun with a game that basically just asks you to walk around for an extended period of time, but that’s what happened. The different obstacles you had to avoid consisted of the environment and these strange mechanical demon ghosts that erase your memory. The game itself isn’t too challenging in confronting the dangers of sun radiation or the mech-ghosts but that’s not the point of the game. The enjoyment in the game-play comes from exploring environments in a realistic way and seeing if this mission is finally the last one.
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Miscellaneous
Some notes about the game that I didn’t think fit into the other categories
– The AVA is a great companion that allows the developers to interject quirky and funny dialogue into the game without it feeling forced.
– The data room has some fun and interesting historical connections to the futuristic “corps of discovery” and past explorers.
– The new toys that accompanied each mission were fun to use.
– The landscape looks beautiful and rich.
– I loaded a save point after I died but I was stuck in an infinite loop where I feel through a mountain and died continually.
– When I tried loading a game I sometimes faced a black screen where my game would freeze up.
-There were continual graphical issues and bugs just like the ones mentioned above.
Overall
As an overall judgement Corpse of Discovery was enjoyable but I wouldn’t want to play it for an extended period of time. The gameplay was unexciting and simple but rewarding for players who seek a simple escape from reality. I personally enjoyed this change of pace and soothingly calm game compared to others such as the stress educing random generation of Hearthstone or the intense worry of being destroyed by the big blue blob in Europa Universalis. The story was interesting and the themes present kept me interested in the game as I walked through colorful worlds and landscapes. Therefore the overall score I would give is a 80 out of 100 mostly because the game is relaxing and more complex than your average game. Yet the game falls short in it’s ability to be fun, which I would believe is the point of most games, and the many bugs that are present throughout.