Betrayer Review (PC)

Betrayer is a unique type of game, in that it presents a hugely atmospheric world of mystery, mixing a first person shooter experience with elements of classic adventure titles, having you uncover clues and piece together the grisly lives and deaths of 17th century colonists.

It was created by Blackpowder Games, a small studio made up mainly of former Monolith Productions members, who sought to employ the talent that spawned No One Lives Forever and F.E.A.R. to produce yet another stunning title.

Their debut title is certainly one that catches the eye, as in a world of shooters always pushing the envelope in the visual department with more color, more splashy effects and generally more of everything, the studio opted to make their game appealing by having less color.

There’s a slider in the options menu that allows you to turn the world black and white, with occasional flashes of color that are reminiscent of Frank Miller’s brilliant work, especially since the story interwoven in the action is also delivered in an episodic fashion, mostly through short dialogue with disembodied spirits or notes scattered throughout the forest.

The game’s setting is also an intriguing one, as you wake up on the shores of The New World after your ship is sunk, and are left roaming the landscape looking for answers while dodging or taking out conquistadors who have turned into beast-men and other such ghastly apparitions.

You find that all the nearby colonists have disappeared, succumbed or turned to ash, and the only character not trying to kill you is a mysterious Red Riding Hood looking for her sister. Your mission is to discover what happened to the colonists, putting ghosts to rest helping the girl in red.

The story is a bit mysterious in the sense that you don’t really know what you’re doing or why and there’s no one to torture for answers. In a sense, it’s enticing to discover clues and slowly gather knowledge that will assist you in getting the big picture, but, at the same time, it’s something that feels archaic and not very well designed.

This spot looks great for a fishing simulator tie-in

Hard to notice anyone with that massive helmet

Being permitted the freedom to roam without any direction or instructions is great in games which allow you to do a lot of different things, but not so much in titles which impose artificial walls and lack any sandbox content.

A pity, as the environments look great, full of the sounds of summer, and the forest really comes to life around you, with crickets, bugs and birds competing in a symphony of the wilderness that is masterfully orchestrated.

But ultimately, you’ll feel like you’re missing out on something, because although the game hints at a free-roaming experience, it’s pretty far from Skyrim or Far Cry. There are many questionable decisions that allude at the small scope of the project, and the developers have to receive some credit for being able to disguise their small indie gem in such a rich and misleading coating.

There are of course things that don’t make sense, such as not being able to find a shovel in several frontier colonies, inhabited by people who are supposedly living off the land. What did you dig all the graves with, colonists? Where are you hiding your coveted shovels?

As such, the game taunts you with rocky mounds that you can’t explore due to the lack of a proper digging utensil, and you can’t even use your musket, other rocks or bones to try and uncover that which is buried, and it just makes you feel as if you’re being set up for some backtracking later on.

There is also the way you stumble upon clues in a haphazard manner, and the fact that you can’t place markers of any kind on the map, that will make you wonder how are you supposed to discover and remember all the esoterically polluted totems and artifacts, that is until you realize that the only way to play the game is by abusing the listen feature.

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It’s definitely a swell idea, the notion that you rely on aural cues to unearth clues, locations and wraiths, but as soon as it becomes the only way in which to navigate the game world, it becomes apparent that you might as well have been given an arrow pointing you in the right direction.

It can be argued that it’s a more flavorful way in which the developers hold your hand, and it contributes in some manner to the atmosphere, but it unfortunately robs you of the journey of discovery in the same way that going to a house of horrors will not sate your craving for the occult.

The horror genre is largely based on the notion that you know there’s something out there, but you don’t exactly know what, and the ominous accumulation of tension will provide the desired effect on the audience. While it may be true the first couple of times, when you use the same tricks over and over it quickly becomes quite the repetitive and strenuous chore.

The survival aspect is very downplayed, in the sense that you have only to worry about not being mauled by the handful of enemies, which after some trial and error will prove not to be very difficult, except in situations where you find yourself in a bad spot and are quickly overwhelmed, such as a Spanish attack on one of the forts.

Shooting mechanics are a bit sketchy, and although it certainly is fun to skulk around bushes providing Spaniards with an ample assortment of arrows to the knee, their unchallenging AI will allow you to make quick work of them, even when they greatly outnumber you, by using a revolutionary notion that is completely unfamiliar to them: cover.

The mechanics themselves feel a bit weird and clunky, and although there are some good ideas such as a one-off tomahawk throw the actual implementation leaves a lot to be desired, for instance when you melee strike someone there is always the risk that you will hit the spot on the ground that the crosshair points to, just above your actual enemy, meaning that your blow somehow goes through your enemy.

Overall, the shooting mechanics feel a bit rudimentary and unpolished, which is the general vibe of the game. Apart from a couple of conquistadors and some mystical enemies popping up out of nowhere the game feels really empty, and in spite of the convincing summer forest stroll atmosphere that it conveys so well through its beautiful visuals and sounds.

An eerie and beautifully spooky forest setting

Carefully planning my attack on the deserted fort

This rough aspect of the game carries over from each area of the map, as you will have to go through the same motions every time with little variety, which is a shame, because the actual stories you uncover are genuinely moving and plausible.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion