I run about a year behind on video
games. It's a combination of thrift and avaiaibility, made possible by Steam Sales, and the competition of GOG and Humble Bundle. With many excellent older games (and indies) selling for five to fifteen dollars, who wants to spend sixty just so they can have the newest title? No one looks at
books and say, better not read that because it's ten years old. Gamers should take the same approach to games, and appreciate the affordable abundance online retailers have enabled.
For this Winter Steam sale, one of the games I bought was The Talos Principle. Spoilers follow.
The Talos Principle is a puzzle game
with a story. It's comparable to Portal 2, but
with less linearity and more puzzles.
In Talos the player's avatar awakens in a collection of
ruins styled like those of ancient Greece. Later the player visits locations designed to resemble the architecture of ancient Egypt and the Middle Ages. Above shines the blue sky, green
grass spreads before mechanical feet, with walls boxing one in. Jumping, allows a vision over the walls and beyond toward the horizon. The walls stretch everywhere
at first and it doesn't look like you can escape. While you are
looking at the scenery and the view, which are gorgeous, you are
distracted from an crucial fact. If you don't look closely you might
miss a something as you complete a series of early objectives. You
are a robot.
As you begin, a heavenly voice
instructs you in the collection of sigils. The sigils look like
Tetris pieces, and are used to complete mini puzzles which unlock
more advanced areas. This godlike being, who calls himself Elohim,
explains that those who collect his sigils can advance along a path
of trials and ultimately reach eternal life with him. But, he warns,
those who wish to reach HIM, must avoid trying to climb the tower.
Before I continue with the story, I'll
briefly touch on the puzzles. The puzzles are set in walled in
areas, clearly marked with which sigil lies in an area. There are a
number of repeating obstacles to prevent you from reaching the sigil,
and tools which must be used to overcome the obstacles. The
obstacles include moving mines which detonate when you are too close,
turrets that will kill anything in a certain marked area, doors with
impassible force fields, and more. Early tools include disruptor
that negates one of these previous obstacles, as well as boxes to
place on switches, and fans to help jump into the air. Needless to
say there are many more of both obstacles and tools, and the puzzles
are interesting, fun, and don't feel repetitive.
The sigils are marked as green, yellow,
and red for two reasons. The first reason has to do with difficulty.
I found that the greens were very easy, while the yellows were still
pretty easy, but the reds became significantly harder. I never left
a room without collecting the green or yellow. There are a few times
I quit a red puzzle, but I plan on going back. The other reason for
the color is story based. Green is necessary to unlock doors that
Elohim wants you to unlock and advance. Yellows are needed to unlock
tools which are required to complete puzzles. At this point, and I
think I am about 2/3 of the way through, I assume you can complete
one of the ending (I assume there are multiple endings) with just
collecting the green and yellow sigils. The red sigils are used to
unlock the floors of the forbidden tower. I think there are five or
six floors and though I have quite a few red sigils, I have only
opened one floor. I wanted to collect all the sigils before
attempting the end game of the story.
There are other parts to the puzzles,
such as hidden bonus stars to collect, and how you need to use some
rooms to help other rooms, but again, those don't impact the story
that I've gotten too. If they do, I will cover it next Monday in
part II.
The method by which the writers develop
the story of The Talos Principle is four-fold. The most
straightforward is when Elohim commands you to fulfill his trials and
not enter the tower. His voice is one of only two audio voices in
the game, which emphasizes his power and importance.
Your second source of information is
audio files left by one of the members of the projects. She reflects
on what it means to be human; to play, to be curious, to be a
physical entity, and the value of civilization. These messages she
calls time capsules, indicating they're to be found by people in the
distant future.
Then there are the QR codes spread
throughout the areas with short messages reflecting the opinions of
their namesake. Most are pretty obvious, such as The Shepherd,
Sheep, and Faithful. Others you might not know to begin with, but
you learn along the way, such as Samsara and DOG (though if any of my
former students are reading this they should know what samsara
means). The add a bit of interesting flavor without digging too deep
into the concepts of the story.
Finally, there is the terminal. Each
area has one and some have multiple. Most have two to four text
files on differing subjects. Some are mythological, some are
philosophical, but those most relevant to the story are those written
by a team of engineers and scientists. They indicate they are
working on a massive project. Along with these text files is a
different sort of interaction. There is a being who speaks to you in
the computer, first questioning your beliefs and then trying to turn
your attention to the tower. (There may also be a second voice in
the computer, I was a little uncertain at one part).
As I played it didn't take me long to
ask whether the story was smart or obvious. It does a good job at
bringing together philosophical concepts and engaging thoughts. But
on the other hand I'm not sure if the main story isn't too
straightforward. To recap, there is a god-like (Elohim)
being that commands you to complete his trials, and to avoid a
forbidden
tower.
There is also another being
trying to persuade you to take that which is forbidden.
There is a twist. This twist, as far
as I can tell (and I haven't finished section C – the final main
section - or entered the tower yet) is that this Elohim is a computer
program designed by the people on earth who were facing an
unexplained cataclysmic disaster. If you read the text files you
discover that EL0HIM stands for [Extended Lifespan – 0] and
[Holistic Integration Manager]. There were also EL-1 and EL-2 but
the game doesn't talk about them much.
The questions left at this point are:
- Does the game explain the disaster? (not really necessary)
- Are there any humans left alive somewhere?
- Was this project supposed to be run as it is, or is there a glitch?
- Assuming there are only two computer programs talking to me, Elohim and the tempter which is right?
My guess are; no, no, glitch, and there
isn't really a right answer. I think with number three, you can
deduce that answer that a collection of engineers and scientists
wouldn't have created a world controlled by a God-like computer that
sets challenges and then offers an afterlife. Number four is a
little trickier. I admit I have looked at the achievements but they
are pretty vague. If anything they seem to support Elohim over the
tempter, but that could just be to throw anyone that looks at the
achievements in advance off the track.
I am torn, because as I consider
myself a rational objectivist and a believer in Socratic virtue. In
which case, sure, Elohim is the way to go. But on the other hand, it
would seem boring to redo the plot of Genesis straight. But
ultimately, I expect the game to stand neutral against both sides for
two reasons. One, its just a supercomputer run amok and its trials
have no moral bearing. Two, the developers have to maintain the
satisfaction of the players. If Elohim is the correct entity than
others (and myself included) would say that is too obvious and
boring. But, the developers and writers are just human and it is
unlikely that they will deliver mind-shattering truths at the end of
their game.
To finish, and I'm not finished because
next Monday will be article two, I hope there is another twist that I
haven't spotted yet. Something that turns the whole game on its
head. Short of that, I still think so far that it was an intelligent
and enjoyable puzzle game.
Talos Principle Series:
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