The Void [PC] Review

"The dream of the future you see dissolves / And with time so does the apprehension"

These lines, translated from a poem by Luís de Camões, are your introduction to The Void. A feminine voice continues to read, as a series of enigmatic images appear on screen; the stark external faces of large apartment blocks, a lone tree, a slow-turning vision of the sky through an enclosed urban square. As this introductory cinematic fades, it is replaced by an options screen painted in broad, emblematic brush strokes. From the outset, Russian developers Ice-Pick Lodge (whose previous game revolved around plague, necessity and despair) are showing their artistic colours.

Indeed, colour is everything in The Void. Colour is your sustenance, your soul and your gift. All interaction with the world of The Void is through the use of colour. Actions require colour. Survival requires colour. Naturally, colour is in short supply.

Although it makes use of the classic First Person perspective, The Void is quite unlike any other game. It casts the player in a bleak, barren afterlife and leaves him to discover his own fate. Or perhaps, to create it. Upon entering The Void, guidance is forthcoming in the form of an ethereal voice, which instructs you to 'take your heart.' Once claimed, this heart is able to process raw colour found in the void (known as lympha) and convert it into usable stores (known as nerva.) Other hearts are out there - 21 in all, but they will not be so easy to take.

Suddenly, a tree in the grey wasteland springs to life with brilliant gold hue. Inside this tree is a lady - the instructive voice you heard before - who reveals herself to be a 'Sister.' There are other Sisters in The Void; all of whom have preferred colours on which to feed, all of whom are hungry and all of whom are protected by a lumbering, grotesque fusion of steel and flesh known as a Brother (or Keeper.) For now, the Brothers will accept your appearance in The Void, and some will even train you as an apprentice - but for how long?

Time is crucial. Whenever the player leaves a Sister's chamber and emerges on the main map of The Void (which is structured like a series of pods or cells, connected by synaptic passages), time begins to pass. As time passes, colour is processed through the player's heart(s). Run out of raw lympha to process, and what remains of your self slips through The Void into eternal darkness. It is vital, then, to keep these reserves of colour topped up.

The colour can be harvested in numerous ways. Small flowers will sprout naturally inside chambers every 'cycle', and can be taken for minimal reward. In order to cultivate higher yields, it's possible to paint trees in garden areas with a special glyph (drawn on-screen using the mouse), infusing the plant with colour that will blossom over the next handful of cycles. As the game progresses, other methods, with their own specific glyphs, become available - such as extracting colour from seams deep within rock faces, or catching shy fireflies. Whatever methods you choose, there will never seem to be enough. It certainly doesn't help that rogue Brothers can invade your precious garden chambers and bleed them of colour; though traps can be left to dissuade them. The traps, of course, require colour as well.

Pressure is constant. It's no coincidence that the Russian and German titles of this game loosely translate as 'Tension.' Having to juggle resources, eke out every last drop of colour you can and ensure that you will have enough for the next cycle is extremely stressful. When the pressure is ramped up even further by time-limited tasks set by the Brothers and a need to pursue other long-term strategies, it can become almost unbearable.