I Developer: The Farm 51
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Release date: June 23, 2017
Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One (reviewed)
First person shooters can be a varied bunch, but for the most part, even those with a strong story, you’re moving from point A to point B and shooting lots of enemies in between. It’s not often to get one crossed with a story oriented “walking simulator”, where you’re trying to interact with items to uncover a mystery. This is basically what Get Even, a new game from developer The Farm 51 and publisher Bandai Namco is. But how successful is such a genre merger? For the most part, I’m happy to say it works pretty well. There are some hiccups along the way, but the story told proves to be very engaging, growing more interesting the farther you proceed.
Get Even places you in the ill-named shoes of Cole Black, a security operative tasked in the beginning with rescuing a kidnapped girl. Things go horribly wrong, and Black awakens in what seems to be an asylum with a strange device attached on his head. He is guided by the mysterious Red, who tasks him to move through memories in order to uncover the mastermind behind the kidnapping. Red guides Black through these memories, where you search for clues and occasionally have to engage in some stealth and gunplay. The mystery grows deeper as you uncover more memories and clues. Later in the game you’ll transfer to another person (who I won’t disclose here due to spoilers) that adds a few new twists plus some new helpful abilities. There are 19 different sections (or missions, if you’d prefer) that can take you anywhere from 10-15 hours to complete, depending on how much you search the levels and if you try to 100% everything as you go along (don’t worry if you miss things- completists can return to memories post credits to find hidden content, change decisions, or uncover more clues).
Helping you through the game are a couple of nifty gadgets. The first is a cell phone, which does multiple duties such as being a flashlight, a scanner, a UV light, and a map that shows where enemies are (highlighted in red, naturally, with cones of vision shown). It can be a little awkward to use initially, but once you get the hang of it it becomes useful not only in uncovering clues but hidden passages as well. The scanner is especially a bit tricky, since you need to line up corners until you get a green rectangle on your screen which lets you know you can then scan for data. You’ll also do plenty of reading as you find documents and photographs. There are also some occasional puzzles where the phone is useful in highlighting the solution. Very few of the puzzles are real brain teasers, but they do require at least some minimal thought. Finding hidden passages can be harder. One area in particular was a source of frustration until I found the anomaly that offered passage to the next area.
As far as dispatching enemies, you can stealth melee them from behind, or use you various weapons. Guns are your standard fare- pistols (both silenced and not), assault rifles, and machine guns. The most unique is the CornerGun, which can bend around obstacles to allow you to take out enemies from behind cover. The CornerGun has your phone mounted on it for convenience. It’s a neat idea, but it can be very awkward to use. Enemies often shoot from cover themselves, only providing the briefest glimpses for you to shoot back. It’s often difficult to line up a shot when using the weapon as intended. Too often it was just easier to leave the barrel straight and move around to take enemies out. The biggest advantage to using the CornerGun over one of the regular firearms is that you have the phone acting as a scanner, picking up enemy soldier’s heat signatures. The gunplay is serviceable but nothing special. Reloading is slow, and it’s hard to line up a shot while being shot at, as you weapon will get jerked around by enemy fire, whether you’re getting hit or not.
Being stealthy is preferable to getting in a firefight. Only problem is, the stealth doesn’t work very well. Enemies seem to spot you a bit too easily, and you can’t climb or jump over obstacles or get low enough to get under cover to evade pursuit. Fortunately, your foes do give up fairly quickly, so if you’re patient enough you may be able to sneak through. Loose inmates in the asylum are another matter, as you need to shoot quick to put them down in a hurry, as they can end you quickly. Dying never sets you too far back, which makes it a bit easier to take risks.
The environments are pretty standard and a bit lackluster. The asylum is nothing we haven’t seen before, along with ruined factories/warehouses and office buildings. You have some outdoor environments that make for a welcome change, but there’s nothing notable about them either. There is some creep factor in the asylum with all of the mannequins you will find throughout. Some are posed, some just standing there, but all are a little unsettling and can make you waste a bullet or two when you come across one in the dark. While the game does have psychological thriller elements, this is in no way a horror game. Only those easily gotten by jump scares will be affected, though it does maintain an air of tension in spots. The most effective parts are when you move through memories, observing conversations and finding clues. These parts reveal most of the story, and hold whatever emotional heart the game has. Watching a couple revel in their newborn is touching, and it’s saddening when you watch the same couple deteriorate. The game has two endings, which you can choose in the final mission. Both make your journey worthwhile.
Get Even is a bit of a different game with familiar elements. It mixes an engaging mystery in with standard first person shooting, and that mystery becomes more interesting as it twists and turns in the game’s later sections. It’s a flawed journey, however. Stealth doesn’t always work well, the CornerGun can be clumsy to use, and you can get hung up on scenery. The game did crash on me once, forcing a hard restart for my Xbox One. Late in the game I noticed plenty of framerate drops and a couple of noticeable lags. Fortunately these passed quickly and didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the game. Story is the key here, and one that makes Get Even an experience worth checking out, complete with a very satisfying ending that plays out through the credits. It’s a first person shooter with a bit of a twist, and that should make it a welcome addition for those looking for something a bit different.
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