The Luminist

[h1]Overview:[/h1] '[i]The Luminist[/i]' is a short third person horror adventure game where you play as "Dietrich", an engineer that works in what looks like a mine overseeing the technical equipment and ensuring everything runs smoothly. An unfortunate twist of a events involving a faulty elevator sends Dietrich into a hellish nightmare as he's plummeted over 200 feet below ground and ends up in an abandoned mine shaft that was left dormant for over a decade. The mine itself contains an abundance of oil-rich fungus which explains the reasoning for the mine shafts existing and is ultimately the resource that Dietrich ends up relying on to survive. And after stumbling upon a makeshift rifle that uses this particular oil to fire projectiles, Dietrich can relax a little knowing he at least has some form of defense. The game takes around 20 or so minutes to complete which is pretty short but at least the game doesn't feel dragged on. With rifle in hand and his only means of communication being a two-way radio, Dietrich pushes onward, in hopes that he'll finally escape the hellish mine shaft. The story itself is pretty neat and the concepts the game introduces are also original and something I haven't quite seen before. That being said however, the game still has a few setbacks and flaws regarding the gameplay but considering it was developed by a student (or students), a bit of leeway can be considered. The horror aspect is definitely there but doesn't throw cheap jumpscares at the player but instead relies on ambience and suspense to draw the player in. It's actually pretty decent in that regard but sadly the gameplay fell flat and somewhat tilted my opinion on the game. [h1]Gameplay:[/h1] The game plays in third person which is fine but the perspective feels awkward as if you're a bit [i]too[/i] close to the playermodel so moving, looking around and fighting tends to feel awkward. Especially for a game that mostly takes place in closed spaces and small areas, it starts to become tricky to do even the simplest tasks such as picking up a health kit. This is one of those games I feel should've been done in first person because having to manoeuvre in tight spaces whilst in a third person perspective is not the best experience in my personal opinion. Gameplay wise, the game is alright for a student project but definitely not the best. Moving is slow and sluggish and makes you wish Dietrich had infinite stamina because overall movement is just [i]so[/i] stagnant. Considering you're up against creatures that can jump, climb, run and pounce, you could imagine how annoying it becomes to try and avoid these things. It's also possible to get stuck on simple paths with the slightest elevations and some players have even reported falling through the map. Thankfully I personally didn't experience that but if that really [i]is[/i] a thing, then that isn't good. Fighting is another story, the gun doesn't do much justice either due to the number of impracticable drawbacks it has. These range from only being able to fire 3 shots before the gun overheats (you can cool it quicker but that [i]still[/i] takes a good amount of time), a huge consumption of ammo and a low overall base damage. There's also a charge shot that deals radial damage but that consumes twice as much ammo and overheats it more, on top of that it also requires time to charge. It also feels awkward to aim and shoot (probably due to the perspective) and most of the time my shots seemingly miss despite my aim being perfect. Enemies also take about 3 hits to kill which means your rifle is going to overheat a hell of a ton making mob combat difficult. Ammo however is abundant as there are mushrooms scattered all over the caves and tunnels, the only issue is being able to get to them. Thankfully, the game [i]actually[/i] has an option to turn on invincibility as well as infinite ammo so if you're having so much trouble to the point of not being able to progress, these options are readily available to you to activate whenever you see fit even if it's in the middle of the game. Honestly though despite my complaints, the game is still pretty easy as well as short so turning these on is only really a last resort kind of thing. Still though, it's nice to have and at least ensures that players of any calibre will be able to experience the whole story. Overall, '[i]The Luminist[/i]' isn't terrible by any means and offers a pretty dark story as well as an unsettling environment for the player to journey through, but the number of flaws revolving around gameplay made this particular experience for me not as great as it probably would have been had things been more polished. I [i]do[/i] like the story and the creepy and questionable things that can be read through pages and journals found throughout the game, but the main deal breaker for me would be the gameplay, which if I have to be completely honest, didn't hit the mark. [h1]Controls:[/h1] Honestly not bad but also not very good. The plus is not having to worry about having a crap ton of keys that you have to memorize. But the minus is just how playing the game feels. Like many [i]Unity[/i] games, looking and aiming has again, that awkward flow that makes shooting more difficult than it needs to be. It honestly could just be me but I seriously had trouble killing many of the monsters in the game. The control settings are also a bit peculiar in the way that it doesn't tell the player at all how to play the game. Although the game [i]does[/i] explain how to play it during actual gameplay, the settings menu shows nothing related to the controls besides mouse sensitivity which I find a bit strange. [h1]Graphics:[/h1] Not too shabby and looks pretty decent in certain areas but there are also plenty of places where it doesn't look as good. Lighting thankfully isn't so dark you can't see anything does work favourably. Textures are either very detailed, or barely detailed leaving a huge graphical inconsistency throughout the game. It's hard to tell when an area looks good or bad because the quality of the textures are either pronounced well or not at all. Video settings are also nonexistent which is a con but a full screen option is available as well as a gamma meter. [h1]Audio:[/h1] Actually pretty good. Sound effects are above average and doesn't sound cheap, choppy or out of place. It gives the setting the right amount of ambience and the horror cues aren't overly dramatic. Music is also nice and suspenseful and suits the setting nicely and the voice acting is also done very well without sounding too forced. Overall, sounds and music are done well and no complaints are present here. [h1]Conclusion/TL;DR:[/h1] '[i]The Luminist[/i]' is a short third person horror adventure game clocking around 20-30 minutes that revolves around a man finding a way out of a seemingly abandoned mine shaft after falling from a brittle elevator. Fight your way through monster ridden caves using an illuminated oil rifle that uses mushrooms found around the world as ammo while also maintaining your health and utilizing flares to keep the monsters at bay. The gameplay and controls are functional but are very shoddy and require a much needed polish. The story however is decent and provides storytelling much better than the game presents gameplay. Unfortunately, gameplay (for me at least) has a way more significant stance than storytelling as despite the plot being well written, the game was hard to play with sluggish movements, janky aiming and an awkward perspective. But for a free game created by student(s), it isn't completely terrible.

The combat is rough and doesn't feel very good if I'm being brutally honest. But considering the context this was made in and that it's free I consider that a nitpick. The real prize here is this team's incredible polish and effort in worldbuilding through in game lore, art direction, level design, scripts, vo better than half of what aaa provides to this day, and atmosphere in spades. The pacing is on point and and its incredibly engaging and intuitive and seems almost effortless, which means it took a lot of effort. I wish they made a whole game, just tune up the combat ;)

The Luminist Positives: + Good idea + Ok story + Dark and creepy atmosphere + Well made mining place + Good sounds and music + Nice graphics and lightning effects + Exploration is rewarded + Two game modes (story & horde mode) + Its free Negatives: - Zhe german acczent iz parodical and quite hilariouz (to zhe point where youre not underztanding what he iz trying to zay) - Bad camera angle and low FOV - As a shooter its not good (the gunplay and aiming feels off) - Movement in general is quite slow and quirky - Only one weapon and one type of monster - Horde mode is not that good - Very short (over in under an hour) If we call this a third person shooter, its not by any means good. But if we call it a horror game, then its way better, so lets stick with that. The atmosphere is dark and creepy as it should be. And its got the sounds, music, graphics and lightning effects to match it. Zo if you've got an hour to zpare, letz get zhe german zafely thru zhe minez. Enjoy! Total Score: 7.5/10

In story mode, good luck trying to get past the second level unless you set the game to invincible and unlimited ammo. The enemies attack with a speed and frequency that doesn't even make normal mode remotely fair. A fine waste of about an hour. Rating: 4/10

A free short game to play and it was okay. The story is simple and there's some lore with the pages around to give some world building. The mechanics of the flare, ammo and second fire type are cool concepts but rarely felt like I had to use it direly in any situation. Combat is very simple yet it does need some polishing for it feels awkward at most. The ending felt bland and it could've been improved on as the mc just closes the door and the story ends there. For a student project, this is well done. Keep up the great work!

It's short and has a couple of bugs (in the end fight an explosion bombed me into a barrel and I couldn't move for a while) buuuuut it has a compelling story, great world building and design. All in all, I wish the Luminist was a full fleshed out game to spend several hours on. I'd gladly pay for that.