The Swapper (PS3 - PSN, 1st completion)
Another digital game that I had on my PS3 since 2015 and was on sale, The Swapper was released to great acclaim in 2013 to PCs and then consoles in 2014. The game is like the love-child of Metroid and Portal: with Metroid's atmosphere of isolation and corridors to explore, and Portal with it's puzzle mechanic and use of a special gun. The game looks great on PS3 though I wish I played it on the PS4 or Xbox One for sharper graphics. I did like being sucked into the game's world and wish it were longer. I beat it in about 4 hours of gametime and got all PS3 trophies by finding all hidden message logs, though there is no platinum trophy. While I'm somewhat late to the party of playing horror-themed games this month, The Swapper was a good start even if it's not horror, but more sci-fi.
Humanity has exhausted its natural resources, and seven remote outposts are established in distant space to extract and synthesize useful materials from their neighbouring planets, to send back to Earth. The crews of the space stations must survive independently off Earth for several decades. First, Station 7 loses orbit and disintegrates into its closest sun, then Station 6 goes offline for unknown reasons. When the crew of Theseus explore an uninhabitable desert planet called Chori V, with abundant natural mineral deposits, they find a more durable steel amalgam, an alien life form similar to Earth's silkworm, and highly complex rock formations of unknown origin. The rocks display unusual electro-chemical activity, leading some to believe they may possess rudimentary intelligence. The crew call these rocks 'The Watchers'. The player, a Scavenger, arrives at the station via an escape pod and hears a woman on the radio who alternates between berating them and asking for their assistance. The plot is slowly revealed through messages on data terminals and the Watchers on the station.
To watch the whole game, which includes both endings but no end credits, go here or below:
Click to view
Graphics/Art-9
+ Excellent graphics, animation, and lighting. The environments were actually models made of clay that were built by the developers and then digitized.
+ Very atmospheric environments! It feels like something out of Metroid but with no enemies.
Sound/Music-9
+ Like the graphics, the music is very atmospheric too. It very much matches the environment and pulls you in.
+ Good sound effects and voice acting.
Control-8
+ Controls aren't complicated but can take awhile to get used to, mainly cloning/swapping and turning your character around.
Gameplay-9
+ The Swapper is a side-scrolling puzzle-platformer in a science fiction setting. Your character is stranded on a damaged space station and is looking for means to escape. To do so, you must explore the station and find orbs that are used to activate certain doors, allowing you to progress further into the game. The game uses some concepts of "Metroidvania" games in which you may have to backtrack through the facility, divided into a number of rooms, to proceed within the game.
+ You'll acquire a hand-held cloning tool early in the game through which you'll solve puzzles to collect orbs. The tool offers two functions: the ability to create up to four simultaneous clones of the player character, and the ability to swap control to any of these clones as long as they are within line of sight. Once created, the clones will move with you unless otherwise blocked by the environment; for example, if you move left, all the clones will move left unless they run into a wall. This allows you to complete complex steps to activate doors and switches as to acquire the orbs. Like the player, clones can die falling from a large height or through other environmental hazards. Clones are reclaimed if they die or if they physically move into the same space as you. When using the cloning tool, time slows down, allowing you to execute more difficult maneuvers involving the clones. One example is to scale a vertical area by repeating the process of creating a clone higher than the currently active clone and immediately swapping control to the new clone while it is falling in mid-air, until a safe platform at the top of the area can be reached by a clone. Later levels include sections of the station where gravity has been reversed, increasing the difficulty of the puzzles.
+ The cloning functionality is limited by certain light sources. Blue lights will prevent clones from being created in the illuminated area, while red lights will block the control swapping ability; purple lights block both actions. Touching certain white lights, moving off the current stage, or touching another clone will otherwise destroy those clones.
+ Every room you enter both activates a checkpoint and saves your game so death doesn't penalize you much.
- Some later puzzles require some precision in clone placement and being able to swap, which can be a little frustrating.
Fun/Story/Misc-9
+ Like Limbo (review here), I enjoyed the short length of the game though wish it were a little longer.
+ The story is quite fascinating and is told mostly through computer log entries. If the game was a little longer, I would have liked to have learned more about this world and the Watchers. The story does bring up its own ethical dilemmas of the soul and the mind in relation to the swapper gun.
+ There are two endings in the game and it involves a decision at the very end. I chose to swap and force my own rescue instead of being stranded. You cannot go back on the decision and see the other ending - you have to replay the whole game.
Total: 44/50 (Grade Level: B+)
The official website of The Swapper is here and contains some basic information and media. Gametrailers.com did a video review back about a decade ago here and the Wikipedia article is here.
Next Game: Resident Evil: Revelations (Xbox One)
Currently playing: The Legend of Zelda: Oracles of Seasons & Oracle of Ages (3DS Virtual Console - GBC)
