Deep into space, nobody can hear you scream. This famous tagline from the movie Alien; rings true with the latest indie game to hit the Xbox Store this month. The Swapper. Situated on the space station Theseus, strange consequences see you stranded with an alien lifeform controlling thoughts and destroying everything you thought was decent in the world.
As you slowly explore ways to escape from Theseus you realise things are not as they seem, strange areas which were not open to you before now are free to explore. Delving deeper and deeper into the space station searching for answers, strange voices ring through the bowels of the floating wreck. Fragments of rocks which has no place being there, feature heavily along your path as you get closer the thoughts become stronger, almost controlling, as you become side tracked, pondering about the meaning of these thoughts.
Until you come to an area with dim lighting and an almost set up area, a small gun, resembling a machine gun maybe? Bigger than a pistol at least. Collecting it you find that this mysterious gun which has no place being here has an unusual ability. The ability to make clones. Allowing you to swap from clone to clone, escaping Theseus became much easier now but the thoughts still ring through as you wonder what all this means?
Although The Swapper is a platformer it’s one of the deepest, thought provoking games I’ve played on the Xbox One. Astounding considering it took me around 5-6 hours to fully complete. As you move around Theseus and learn of the heart breaking story of what happened, you slowly realise you are not alone and watch as a surviving member of the crew becomes paranoid and often at time mentally unstable.
For all this, The Swapper at it’s core is an elaborate puzzle game, consisting of a simple idea which in turn springs some of the most challenging puzzles you can think of. Using the ability to make clones and swap between them the developers, Facepalm Games, have made a wonderfully crafted tale of mystery and deception out of a platformer. It simply amazed me as I went on through the story to learn of what happened.
Deep monologues and diary notes present a background to the incidents that occurred before you start playing, and even though you don’t meet some of the characters which feature in these notes, you come to know everything about them. The Swapper makes very good use of this, but as you come to realise, the game offers a dark twist.
It comes down to sacrifice. The clones must die for you to advance and as the game points out is the character dying over and over again whilst the clone survives? Swapping between clones is exceptionally smooth without any issues whatsoever. When it comes to puzzles all the clones move in perfect symmetry, it’s often with these style of platformers that we find nasty bugs which ruin the ability to play the game. Not The Swapper.
Smooth gameplay is just one of the many fine things about the swapper which will endear to all gaming fan on the Xbox One. One of its best features, the movement outside of Theseus, uses the gun acquired early one to manoeuvre through space, in order to get to another area, its truly wonderful how they have done this, no performance drop, the graphics hold true and are still excellent.
One of the major aspects of the game is its sound. The sound of Space Station Theseus as it creaks and subtly glides into space features heavily, no fancy soundtrack of an unnecessary jingle. Just you, the game and your thoughts. The voice acting later in the game is impeccable and believable which makes the story even more fascinating as it takes numerous plot twists. FacePalm studios deserves a lot of credit for this, everything is balanced, everything has a place and it all comes together to form one of the best experiences I’ve seen on a game in months.
The Swapper simply doesn’t need flash, just your attention. The puzzles as mentioned earlier form the basis of the game, but they are clearly devised making you think at every turn, I have to admit they bettered me at times as I turned to walkthroughs because I struggled with one or two. And the true question of what is this move going to do to the astronaut’s very soul arose at almost every stage of the game.
I found myself doing something I haven’t done on a game for a long time, caring for the wellbeing of the character. And yet, the lack of knowledge you are given about the small little astronaut you have power over makes it even more extraordinary. The ending pulls you between a very difficult path which splits off at the end with 2 choices, fitting considering the pattern of the game. One final decision left me pondering for a while.
So with just 5-6 hours gameplay you are probably wondering what else you get and the answer is not a lot to be honest. Just the single player in fact. Which is a shame I would have liked more but what you are given is so excellently worked that it simply is worth every penny. I hope that FacePalm make a sequel because I’ll be the first inline to purchase it.
With its stunning array of visuals, heart breaking storylines crossing over at every turn and some of the best audio I have heard in a long time, it’s hard to believe that this is a humble little indie game. The heights that The Swapper has hit have changed my outlook on these types of games and raised the bar to another level. Any game which makes you question the morals of your actions before you press the button is certainly worth your time.
Many Thanks to XCN for allowing me to review The Swapper.
The Swapper
FacePalm games and Curve Studios
Published by FacePlam games and Nintendo.