There are also some nice environmental effects, such as showers of rain and dust motes swirling in the air. Crisp and smoothly animated, they forswear detail for smooth gradients, creating a look that's clean and simple without being bland. The visuals in particular are delightful, in an understated, highly stylised way. The graphics and sound really help to underscore these differences and build atmosphere. The fact that they're otherwise so similar, with the same objects in more or less the same places, gives an eerie sense that whatever killed the world, it happened fast. All the same fixtures and fittings are found in both versions, but where in the ‘70s they're shiny, new and well-maintained, in the future they're rusted, smashed and weather-worn. Pretty much every location you visit is accessible in both time periods and can be switched between at will, with a whoomph that sounds like an old-fashioned flashbulb. The game makes much of the contrast between these two worlds: the vibrant, richly-coloured ‘70s and the grey, abandoned future. That old guy wasn't kidding about it being the end of the world! (Which, by no great coincidence, happens to be pretty much the present day for us.) The world he jumps forward to, though, is very different than ours: it's a post-apocalyptic wasteland, deserted, broken and decaying. Once he gets it charged up, it allows him to jump between his present in 1972 and the time the mystery traveller came from, 40 years in the future. That pocket time machine turns out to be central, both to Joe's quest and the game. He just takes it all in stride and gets on with the monumental task at hand. Did his experiences in 'Nam make him this way, or was he just never a very curious person? Regardless, he makes a refreshingly understated change from your usual protagonist, being neither a gung-ho, super-confident hero nor a mousy type who never asked for this and spends the whole time in denial. Joe just gets on with things as best he can. Not even when security arrives and finds him standing over the dead body, leaving him to try explaining all this to the police. Dead guys, time machines, only you can save mankind? It's a lot to cope with. Now, most people would be freaking out right around this point. Could Joe take the man’s handy-dandy pocket time machine and go visit his “present” (future)-day self to explain things? leading to an old guy who takes a break from dying just long enough to tell Joe that he's come back in time to save the future, but got shot before he could complete his mission. (Just think of all the extra responsibility! Of course, they can't spare him any more money or give him a fancy title, but they're sure he knows how it is.) Down in the lab, everything's spick-and-span. Until, that is, the janitor who does the top secret labs downstairs goes missing and they ask him to take over that job as well. Life's good when you just keep your head down and don't question anything. They even gave him an award for it that he proudly displays on his wall. Archon needed him to help them out, you see, and he obliged because that's just the kind of guy he is. Not that anything's very mysterious in Joe's life, as he stolidly goes about his business, unfazed even by the drums of almost certainly toxic chemicals that are stored in his "office" (supply closet to you and me). It's 1972, and Joe's a Vietnam vet who's now working as a janitor for the mysterious Archon National Defense Services. Can the sequel live up to the early promise and send the series out with a bang? The answer, for the most part, is yes – episode two may be more of the same, but that's no bad thing. After ending last year's impressive free first episode on a cliffhanger, Danish developer House on Fire is back with the second (and concluding) commercial installment of The Silent Age, available now for iOS and Android. And a janitor named Joe who's quietly getting on with trying to save the world, cleaning up the biggest mess of his career. Time of free love, bandanas, mustaches and bell-bottoms. This review is based on the original iOS release.Īh, the 1970s. Note: Since time of writing, this game has been enhanced and re-released on PC and iOS with HD graphics and full voice-overs.
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