Building environments to brag about the artistic mastery
Beautiful Desolation visually takes us back to the pinnacle of the isometric RPGs, that so many of us have grown up playing. But the DNA of this game is a lot more complex since it inherits traits from the previous games developed by the tiny studio. You will be able to recognize some elements hauled over the sci-fi horror, Stasis, but also a bit from Cayne. The result is a game with its own personality, that although reminds us of arguably the best RPGs in history, remains a pure-blood point-and-click. If you are an old rider like myself, based on the info snippets above you will already start to have a feeling that this is a game for you. If we add the fact that the soundtrack has been produced by Mick Gordon, who became well-known thanks to his work on Doom, the clues will point to a hidden gem. If you still have doubts, because Beautiful Desolation did not show up on your personal radar, your doubts will be vanquished by the testimonials of numerous PC gamers, who will confirm this is an adventure you do not want to miss. This is the reason why I was so happy to see the game released on consoles as well. The unique atmosphere of the game is now available to those who prefer the comfort of a large-screen display savored from a couch using a controller. The hand-drawn backgrounds, combined with the nostalgic isometric perspective, the dark humor embedded in a post-apocalyptic world filled with bizarre creatures, seasoned with the unmistakable accent of South African people results in a truly unique adventure game. The surreal dark story that will stick with you even after you finish Beautiful Desolation, starts in the 70s in South Africa. We meet our main hero, just as his life is turned upside down by the grandiose entrance of an alien spaceship. Named the Penrose, the object of unknown origins will yank human technology to a level that could not have been imagined before. The immense boost in robotics, cybernetics, medicine, gene therapy, space exploration, and of course the military technology, make people forgetful about how and why they have received such a gift.
