0°N 0°W from developers Colorfiction has been by far the most mind-blowing game that I have played to this date.
The Cinema
Honestly, when I first heard of it I had lower expectations. Mainly due to the fact that it was an indie exploration game on beta. I have never really liked these sorts of games, but boy did this one surprise me. I felt generally satisfied with the art, music, and the overall concept.
Just want to point out, that you need to keep your mind open for this. So without further ado, let’s travel down this rabbit hole of a journey, and see what is waiting for us.
The mixing of styles really ends up working great.
Where It All Began
The game starts with a video of a grey scaled city. As you get into your car and travel away from the city colour starts to come back as the scenery increasingly becomes more peaceful. Then you finally finish your drive at a rural abandoned town in the middle of the night. Only a cinema seems to be open, as you enter the building, you enter a screening room and the magic begins. You are taken to a room full of doors like the matrix, and upon taking the first door, my breath was literally taken away by the art.
Another fantastic comparison.
Living Concept Art
The best way I could describe this is living concept art. There were many environments, each filled with their own colours and style that just meshed well together. Throughout each world, there is a door which you can take to continue to other worlds. As of this writing, I do not know if there is an end, but I still found not only what was offered but just the exploration along quite fun.
Though it was repetitive going through each world to find a door to go through, and I think I spent hours on the first world alone, but the repetition didn’t really bother me that much. I continued because of a sense of discovery, to see what else this game had, I wanted to know more. The knowledge that there will be more worlds to explore was enough for me to push myself through the game, I needed to see more. I legitimately felt like I had to find the end (after four hours, I came to the conclusion that I was either terrible or there wasn’t an end).
While exploring each environment the music and the overall sound effects come together so well. It was truly peaceful to explore the bright cities or the hilly white deserts. So many aspects of this game complement each other. I could listen to the serene music of the city, at night, on top of the tallest building. I could relax amongst the sounds of cascading water exploring a winter white world. The stuff that 0°N 0°W throws at you, in an audiovisual sense, is simply amazing.
Minor Flaws
Sitting under the map, luckily I was able to screenshot it.
Of course, not every game is without flaws, and 0°N 0°W has some. At times there were moments where I had given up on looking for the door, as it wasn’t necessarily clear where I needed to go, so I’d just jump off the map to reload the next world. There was also one specific moment where when I did so, and I became stuck under the world (as seen above). Sometimes when I felt like I would make a jump successfully, I would actually fall short or I would miss before bouncing up the wall.
Sometimes the jumping and the overall movement felt clunky. At times it was difficult to control and I found it too sensitive, so much so that it was difficult to climb up staircases. Also, as much as it was amazing leaping from building to building, I truly wished that there was some way to fly around the world. Again I understand that the game just came out, so I can’t hold it against it.
0°N 0°W is a beautiful game. The idea, music, art and even the fact that it completely ignores the general norms of most games makes this a true diamond in the rough.
Personally, I’m not a fan exploration style games. With that being said, however, this game alone makes me want to give the genre another go. I feel like this game is one that is dependent on the interpretation of the player, so I’d advise that you play this game for yourself. You won’t regret the journey, nor will you regret it’s magic.
You can check out 0°N 0°W now, on Steam.
Let us know what you think of the game in the comments!
Review Summary
Overall a good game. It completely throws out the concept of games out the window, and does it nearly flawlessly. It’s art, music, and the concept just compliment each other well, so much so it is relaxing to just play it. It’s worth trying, it’s worth playing, and it’s worth going back to it from time to time. I truly recommend it for those that are stress and need a break.
