[h1]Introduction[/h1]
It’s time to review another abstract title! Delirium delivers at least from this perspective, of a title that is puzzling and never explained properly. It sadly fails from nearly all other points of view, but not enough for me to demolish the efforts of a single developer at the start of his Steam journey. So yes, it is the Steam debut of Night Whale and many lessons shall be learned from Delirium’s narrative and even level design. You’ve been warned that this game shall not hold your hand and neither will I spoil its mysteries. I shall merely offer my own version of constructive criticism in regards to it.
[h1]Story[/h1]
How should I put this in mild terms…the story from Delirium makes other abstract titles run for the hills. How it received the Steam tag on its Store page with “Story Rich” is beyond my understanding. So what do we have? A nameless, genderless and silent protagonist who interacts with several objects within a house that looks more like an abandoned bunker in the middle of a war torn city. I’m inclined to consider the entire experience as a nightmare sequence since very little of it makes sense, even when compared to the many abstract or atmospheric games I played over the years.
Players are thus, steping in the shoes of a mysterious figure which tries to piece together, the life and most recent struggles of the house’s previous owner. Across the several rooms which may be explored, there are red journals which contain descriptions and the woes of an aging man coming to terms with his own mortality. May be cryptic drivel or perhaps there’s more to it. It’s very ambiguous and two words stand out: Samar and Innsmouth. The first is used in the books for someone’s name, so it’s not related to the island and provice from the Philippines but Innsmouth is an entirely different story. That’s a fictional town penned by H. P. Lovecraft. You just had to drag Cthulhu in this, didn’t you, Night Whale?
[h1]Graphics[/h1]
Delirium is powered by the Unity Engine, so I have no technical issues to complain about. It ran on 4K resolution and stable 60 frames per second. It’s not like there were any reasons to strain a GPU though, since the bunker is poorly lit and features relatively few objects to inspect or interact with. You can step outside the building and “admire” the desolate urban landscape in front of you. The textures and assets are of decent quality, but nothing special about them.
[h1]Audio[/h1]
Sounds are severly lacking in diversity. Most of the time you’ll just hear footsteps made by the protagonist in search of some meaning to it all. Towards the end of the game, you’ll finally hear menacing whispers and that, along with a single jump scare, form the “horror elements” of Delirium. Take it as you will, I wasn’t impressed or scared by any of the game’s meagre efforts.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
For a title that doesn’t save progress at all and expects you to finish it in one sitting, it all started on the wrong foot. A pitch-black room and facing a wall. I honestly thought that the game had frozen or something until I figured out that I had to open a door leading to the house’s first corridor. Pay close attention to all of the objects you see. Even if you can’t pick them up or zoom in, they may contain hints that will help you in your brief adventure. Read the books without skipping pages.
Two keypads require passwords that are hidden in a fairly subtle manner. You need to find and use them if you want to progress the story. I guess I could have finished Delirium in half the time it took me in the end, if only I wasn’t stubborn enough to figure things out on my own instead of relying on a solution from YouTube or whatever. That’s the low road of gaming and I strongly advise that you avoid it. The antagonist was a pleasant surprise, as was the endgame sequence. They’re also partially the reason why I still recommend you play Delirium eventually.
[h1]Verdict[/h1]
“Delirium” is a fascinating word by itself since it can represent both passion and temporary madness. It can still be better explained than the eponymous Steam game. The only reason why I’m willing to rate it just high enough to still recommend it, is that it shows promise from a developer who had the right ideas but lacked the means or skills to properly showcase them yet. This isn’t a lazy cash grab for a shoveleare platformer. Cthulhu is my witness that I had my share of those on Steam to last for two lifetimes.
So I’m not going to encourage you to steer clear from Delirium. Just be fully aware that it may not meet your expectations. Pick it up when bundled or heavily discounted and you won’t regret it. As for the developer, he really needs to add some Steam Achievements in his current and future projects. Sweetening the deal or not, it would show support for the potential player base and especially consideration for Steam collectors.
[h1]Strong Points[/h1]
+ Pleasant graphics.
+ Abstract experience...
+ Interesting concept, poor execution.
[h1]Weak Points[/h1]
- No Steam Trading Cards nor Achievements.
- Abstract experience...
- Lacks sound variety.
- No replay value.
[b]Rating 60/100 [/b]
[quote]This review was submitted for [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/ReviewExperts#]ReviewExperts[/url], through the generous contribution of [url=http://steamcommunity.com/id/danielbink]Daniel - REX Network[/url].[/quote]
