The game begins in total darkness. The protagonist then, in accordance with the game's title, breathes life into the world around him, creating light, marble corridors, exquisite paintings, golden decorations, gardens and more. In godlike fashion, the world seems to form around Pneuma with each step he takes, so it's no surprise that our garrulous narrator initially believes himself to be a deity, creating and bending the world at his will. As the levels pass by, Pneuma begins to question the true nature his existence more deeply, culminating in something of an existential crisis in the latter stages. To say any more would be to spoil the unravelling of what I found to be one of the more fascinating narratives ever seen in this type of game, so I'll leave it there. Suffice to say that, when the game finally arrived at its intriguing conclusion, I was left in something of a ponderous state.
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| Some of the environments look more like a tech demo than a full-fledged game |
As has seemingly become the custom in indie puzzlers ever since Portal 2 was released, the game is narrated throughout by Pneuma's quirky British voice, ably performed by a voice actor who remains unknown to me (despite online research, I was unable to find his name). As mentioned earlier, Pneuma spends most of his time discussing godliness, self-awareness, the nature of reality and a myriad of other philosophical themes over the course of the game's approximately 2 hour playtime. Yes, this isn't a long game. In fact, with a smart head on your shoulders, you could probably finish it in less than 90 minutes, with the game's rather excessive load times accounting for at least 10 of those minutes. A few secret rooms and puzzles marginally extend the game's length for completionists, but P:BOL should be regarded more as an interesting little way to spend an afternoon, rather than a long-distance puzzler to come back to time and time again.
In fact, I'd say this is definitely a game that benefits from being completed in a single session. Pneuma's gradual breakdown from pompous, self-proclaimed god to lost, lonely, doubtful soul is most effective when witnessed in a single run. Like a good short story, it's best to stay in the world of Pneuma from start to finish, rather than taking breaks and coming back to it later. It was a game that had been sitting on my Xbox One's hard drive for some time, ever since I downloaded it for free as part of the platform's Games with Gold promotion. I imagine many other players downloaded it out of habit but perhaps haven't found the time to actually load it up, and to those people I would wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try.
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| The game's environments and camera tricks are very easy on the eye |
Gameplay-wise, Pneuma finds itself nestled snugly in the sweet spot between puzzler and "walking simulator". Few puzzles will rarely delay you for too long, which is definitely for the best, even if it contributes to the game's relatively short length. There is a bit of a random element to the difficulty, but I feel like this was intentional. Other reviewers have criticised the game for jumping around from tricky "re-arrange these coloured blocks in the right order" puzzles to "stare at this object for 20 seconds to win" elements, which can hardly even be classed in the same category, but I think this mixture of difficulties works pretty well. Too many easy puzzles in a row would make the game a breeze, too many difficult ones would make it a slog.
By mixing up the order and throwing puzzles at you in a sort of easy/hard/easy/hard pattern, the game grants you a nice sense of satisfaction and speedy progression. You might spend 5-10 minutes getting through a particularly head-scratching moment and then, as you're still catching your breath, the game is kind enough to offer you a couple of simplistic riddles to keep the story moving. Sure, there will be moments where you solve a puzzle and say "Really? That's it?" but these almost confusingly straightfroward sections are balanced out with genuine brainteasers. Puzzle games are traditionally associated with a difficulty curve that becomes steeper the further you go, and the same is generally true here, but I appreciated P:BOL's slightly unique take on the formula. Ultimately, this is a game with a nice little story to tell and the developers want players to witness that story, rather than giving up and missing out.
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| Always watching |
The puzzles themselves mostly consist of camera manipulation. Levels feature eerie eyes that are always watching you. These eyes act in the same way levels or switches might work in a traditional puzzler, opening doors and rotating bridges in the early stages, before things get more complex in the latter levels with rotating rooms and a couple of truly tricky moments. In general though, the camera has a large part to play in most puzzles and the developers (a small team of 21-year-olds) came up with some smart ways to play with the mechanic. There were a small handful of puzzles that left me a little bamboozled, but pretty much all of them can be figured out with careful observation and logical thinking, and few ever really reach that sort of frustrating, 'trial and error' level you tend to find in many other games of this style.
It's the sort of game that lets you feel pretty good about yourself without ever really taxing your neurons too severely. And, perhaps most importantly in this age of online walkthroughs and extremely narrow attention spans, you probably won't get stuck to the point of seeking out a solution by Googling it, and I consider that to be another point in the game's favour. It's a sign that the puzzles are well thought-out and just tricky enough to give you pause for thought, without ever frustrating you too much.
All-in-all, P:BOL is a fine game and more than worth an hour or two of your time. It asks some interesting questions agency and identity, without ever getting too far into the more pretentious or complex aspects of existentialism. It has a story to tell and a message to share and it does it brilliantly, giving your brain a nice little workout along the way.
