![]() Beyond running, jumping, climbing, and using a sense of smell and hearing to detect predators, Ancestors refuses to explain basic mechanics because, at its core, it believes the discovery of those mechanics is, itself, part of the evolutionary process, a symbiotic relationship between the player and the characters they’re controlling. I can’t overstate how much Ancestors leaves players to their own devices. Lots of games imply fate is in your hands, but Ancestors is one of the few games I’ve played that really tries to make good on that promise. Either way, only minutes and some very short tutorials later, the game steps away and lets you decide what happens. You can guide the child towards a hiding place and wait for another member of your group to find you, or try to brave the dark and make it back to camp. What would it be like to experience our journey from ape to human minute by minute, day by day, year by year? If you could guide a species down one evolutionary track or another, what would you prioritize? Ancestors opens with nature at its most brutal, as a young ape watches its parent get suddenly and brutally killed by a huge bird, and is immediately forced to reckon with a world where they’re alone-and very vulnerable. I’ve played and written about thousands of games during my 20-plus years as a journalist, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so interested to see the wider reaction to a piece of work it will be impossible to play Ancestors and not come away with an opinion on what it’s trying. I experienced so few moments of the former and so many more of the latter. It possesses a mood and an ethos that, depending on the player, is equally likely to delight and infuriate. Ancestors, the first game from designer Patrice Désilets since the revelatory Assassin’s Creed II in 2009, is frustratingly indifferent, much like the arc of evolution it's attempting to capture. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |