Contrast is a single player indie action adventure game that has been Greenlit on Steam, and will be coming out on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 at the end of the year.
Set in the 1920’s, the team at newcomer Compulsion Games really appear to have a game that is unique, beautifully designed, and has true depth in its story. Through teamwork they have combined multiple inspirations to form a world that is part art deco, and part the “dilapidated architecture and winding alleyways you find in Mediterranean cities like Venice, Lisbon and Barcelona”. Their goal was a setting somewhere between reality and abstract; something that was also full of racy mystery. In this fashion, they have two environment artists, Chris and Alex from PixelNauts who helped make this possible.
Meet Didi and her imaginary friend, Dawn…
You, dear audience, will be tasked with a very important responsibility. You will be chosen to help 8 year old Didi, who must make her way through the strange, dark, and complicated adult world of Contrast. To do so, you will become her imaginary friend Dawn – an enigmatic young woman that has some interestingly similar features to Didi.
Their concept artist Whitney explains Dawn’s design:
“Dawn was an extremely challenging character to design. We knew she had to be (1) imaginary, (2) from the 20s, and (3) athletic. She had to be magical without looking too nutty, and be able to run and jump and be crazy nimble, which was not something 1920s women did in their flapper dresses and pencil skirts. We also wanted her to be super cool to both men and women, without being overtly sexual…We did this by making Dawn a Vaudeville acrobat, harlequin doll, burlesque dancer hybrid. “
“Premièring to the world very, very soon, Contrast is a mystery centred around cabaret, live jazz, fairgrounds, acrobatics and illusions.”
The excitement really begins when you look at the unique world of Contrast. Dawn has a special ability to travel in between the real world and the shadow world. Wherever a shadow falls, she too can become a shadow herself; transforming into a roughly 2-D state that gives her access to all sorts of areas in Contrast that would be off limits to one normally.
It is with Dawn that Didi gradually unravels the mystery of Contrast, and her own parents. Compulsion made Contrast to not just be about a different and unsual game mechanic, but involve a deep and personal storyline. This world is a place where “…secrets are literally shadows that you shed light on…” in order to help Didi learn about the past.
Compulsion further states that “…it’s the core actions/reactions between the player and the world that we believe make the difference between the forgettable and the irrefutably addictive.”
Contrast certainly is anything but forgettable. It’s a deep world with meaningful characters that you too can step into. Tickets will be available to audience members soon, so don’t forget to get yours!
