[REVIEW] TEST. FAR: Lone Sails - The Atmospheric Adventure Carried

[#Dobe~ClasSy!☠]

This dreamlike crossing is imagined by the young developers of the Okomotive studio in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 2017 by Don Schmocker and Goran Saric, FAR: Lone Sails is the first studio game published by Mixtvision on the 17th but 2018 on multiplatform privileging PC and MAC output. The rest of the machines will be entitled to their own version later.

Man and machine against nothingness

It is under a sky lined with clouds at the foot of a stele in tribute to a friend that the player begins his journey in a machine that will require care and attention to reach an unknown destination. The oceans have dried up, become real cemeteries for submarines, super tankers and other marine vehicles. With the scenery on the vehicle, the island colonies once full of life collapsed on their own weight of their former glory. One thing is certain: you are alone; probably the last person still standing in this broken world devoid of a reassuring company, comfort and a reason to exist. The past is far behind under the ruins of modern civilization, the hope for better days may lie on the other side of the horizon. What could have caused the catastrophe and is there still life?

FAR: Lone Sails takes you into a stylized post-apocalyptic universe
However, it is already too late to find an answer to these questions: the most important goal of the trip remains to be elucidated by the player without any clues about the purpose of his epic. At the controls of a little red guy who will have mourned, we hasten to board a kind of hybrid between the ship and the locomotive on wheels that serves as a mobile fortress that will transport the silent character at the end of his trip. During his journey, despite the blatant lack of life in the area, the world is teeming with stories to discover and places to explore. The hope of the better days begins with the presence of this person dressed in a red cape to convey the memories of a lost civilization; alone, he unknowingly conveys the ultimate hope of his civilization to avoid sinking into oblivion.

Into the wild?

The crossing of the desert looming on the horizon has its share of obstacles in the form of puzzle-game and small puzzles to solve and a weather that can quickly become threatening for the iron giant who, as a reminder, is the only way to reach the mysterious destination. FAR: Lone Sails is above all a journey to the unknown, to an uncertain future, to a hope to give meaning to its existence. Although the character is a tiny speck of dust that travels with the winds in this vast world in decay aboard an impressive machine, crossing sumptuous sets each telling their story by their appearance without saying a word makes the trip both fascinating and mysterious.

"Life is a journey and not a destination." Ralph Waldo Emerson
While the journey leads us to insert itself more and more in the darkness, the imposing machine as for it, is nothing but a cold carcass without soul which can be animated only by a series of push buttons located in the key places of the vehicle. The pilgrimage is punctuated by a succession of relaxing moments that allow you to contemplate the landscapes in the distance and more committed episodes that require a lot of attention from the player: manage the fuel supply, monitor the condition of the vehicle and repair it if necessary, react at the right moment to approach obstacles on the road and untie the situation to get the vehicle.

Playable on the keyboard, the use of a controller is highly recommended
The odyssey will lead to finding additional parts to integrate into the vehicle to enhance its functions and these additional functions are a decisive factor to hope to reach the end of the journey. The gameplay of Lone Sails wants to be simple and effective: within the reach of all those who trust their intuition. Managing an archaic inventory or complex key combinations is not necessary to reach the horizon. It is not about being the best equipped or the most efficient to progress, the game requires to show initiative and to approach the expedition as one hears and to experiment the possibilities at hand. It is a way of being alone with oneself and becoming aware of one's own abilities in the face of this desolate surrounding beauty.

The artistic angle worked

FAR: Lone Sails draws its inspiration from various backgrounds, citing Stephan Biesty "Incredible Cross-Sections" as a major inspiration for conceptualizing the title as well as the work done by Theo Jansen for his "Strandbeest" invention. Films like "Mad Max II" or "Das Boot" and games like "Limbo" or "Journey" have also had their influence in shaping the artistic direction of the young studio's game. The color palette is deliberately limited by a balance of colors on the tones of red, blue and variations of gray. These few cleverly measured colors bring all the solitude that the world of the game needs to the point of disturbing the mood by a few lights delicately posed at the key moments of the progression. Despite a small color palette, the world of the game wants to bring its touch of realism through special effects and changes in shades of colors that remind that nature can be both warm and cruel.

The world of FAR: Lone Sails is a world close to ours, devoid of fantastic creatures and that makes it at the same time more sinister; He allows himself to provoke reflection on our own future and existence on this planet by pursuing the path of industrialization without thinking about the range of consequences. The post-apocalyptic atmosphere rests entirely in its setting by a total absence of a major source of life: water. Alone, the feeling of loneliness is an integral part of the gaming experience in a vast, empty and barren world that makes one realize that the little character we represent is nothing against the world. The remains of the huge metal wrecks and the once-inhabited structures collapse, the glorious past of an advanced civilization slowly rotten to become dust again.

"Wonderfully strange ... a game of a moving experience. "Holly Nielsen, The Guardian
In a world that is bent on itself, we are still dependent on our vehicle that carries in him the state of loneliness. He does not exist without us and we do not subsist without him. This interdependence is very strong because any hope would be lost without this vehicle that can be sometimes capricious, it is important to take care of it so that it continues to live and take us to the horizon. The technology is part of our lifestyle, illustrated by a simple tracking shot framing the two elements on the screen when we move too far from the iron juggernaut (to recover raw materials for example) to respect their scales respective to the world in which they still exist.

The atmosphere becomes heavy, see depressing because the trip seems to lead nowhere and yet hope is looming with the miles accumulated on the meter of the machine. The message is full of hope: rather than pitying one's fate but taking control of one's destiny for a risky journey to unknown lands for better days makes an impact and the urge to overcome obstacles is most beautiful .

Rewards on the horizon?

Without revealing all the pleasure of the trip, to prepare for the adventure, two DLC (7 €) are available separately or with the digital collector version since the release at 14.99 €:

A digital artbook of about forty pages with concepts arts, sketches, visual developments and image rendering characters, buildings or environments. The evolution of character designs since the first arts concepts is in order and will give fans the opportunity to immerse themselves more strongly in the world of FAR: Lone Sails.
The soundtrack of the game (digital format) which takes a very important place in the experience creating a unique atmosphere, telling through the notes the sad destiny of a glorious extinct civilization. Written by Joel Schoch in 18 compositions for a total of 45 minutes of happiness for the acoustics of our ears.

FAR: Lone Sails is a real little nugget to discover, developed at the base in 2015 as a thesis subject at the University of the Arts in Zurich by Don Schmocker. The positive reception for such a work motivated its creator to lead the boat until the end of May 17, 2018. The prototype will have matured to address a theme more relevant than it seems allowing room for reflection for the more sensitive about the near future. While works of fiction prefer to see a flourishing technological future or even the colonization of new planet; few dwell on the limited resources of the planet and the "after-glory" of our civilization. Success is well deserved for a cleverly crafted title. The change of scenery is guaranteed if a trip by boat train tempts you!