BLACKSHARD Review – A Liminal Space Walking Sim with Cosmic Horror Vibes
Listen to the whispers. Reach Carcosa.
Developer: Redlock Studio, Enclave
Publisher: Redlock Studio, Plug In Digital
BLACKSHARD is a first-person liminal space exploration game where you wander through the megastructure, the Labyrinth, releasing trapped deities, as they have promised you paradise. They promised you Carcosa.
The Signs Promise Carcosa
You wander through The Labyrinth, aimlessly yet guided. As each turn you take, each corridor your walk down through, always leads to a door. And that door, leads to different passages, stairs, and halls. In this vast and empty ever changing structure, everything is familiar and foreign. Static and fluid. That is when you find a pile of bones with a letter that says,
"I waited for a time that cannot be told.
The Labyrinth is a dull, sterile and ordered space. It is the embodiment
of time and causality. The harbinger of the Tyranny of Fate.
I played my part. I watched over the Labyrinth. I resisted the whispers.
I did not intervene. I did not count the unclean numbers.
But the Sign promises. It offers."
Right across them it watches you. The Sign. It beckons you to venture through the forgotten halls, free the others, in exchange for freedom. They will give you paradise. They will give you Carcosa.
Walking Through The Labyrinth
The Labyrinth isn’t called a megastructure for nothing. The place is huge, it’s empty, it’s quiet. Above all, it’s a beautiful place for a walking simulator.
If you ever wanted a game that had you constantly going, “Woah, that’s pretty,” while feeling uneasy at how much nothing is around you, you’re in luck. It took me around three minutes to figure out it’s a cosmic horror game.
BLACKSHARD’s gameplay consist of looking for these Signs, which are entities locked behind a sort-of cube cage, preventing them from unleashing their powers over the megastructure and universe. But there are no power-ups, no grapple hooks, no yellow paint, just you, your eyes, your fast feet and jumpy jumps.
As said in its description, it’s a,
visual and narrative experience, a dreamlike journey
into uncharted liminal spaces.
And I have never been this amazed at a liminal space game. There were many times where I just stopped and thought, “I want this in Wallpaper Engine.”
Each turn you take, each stair you climb, and with each Sign you discover and free reveals amazing sights.
Is it bad that you’re freeing them? Who are you to free them? People have been watching The Labyrinth and the Sign, so they may be evil, right? Everything is out of your comprehension, and with each Sign you free, each forgotten soul you speak to, it only creates more questions.
After you free each Sign you’re sent back to the hub, which is where you released the first Sign, and something changes. A tree grows, and more giant figures appear. And for a place called The Labrinth, I never had a hard time finding out where to go, which was odd considering the lack of yellow paint.
Cosmic Horror Background
There are some things that jumped out at me, but I’m not referring to jump-scares, spooky monsters, or anything like that. This Labrinth is like an omnipotent deity that has existed since before time, has outlived Gods, and it’s able to hold unspeakable deities that may or may not drive people into freeing them through whispers.
It all felt very.. Cosmic.
I’m not much of a reader, although I am working on that, but every loading screen has excerpts that sound like otherworldly scriptures,
Its is a primordial non-matter wounded by a Black Shard of Onyx, the lightless shore on which the Ark of the Covenant ran aground. Its is the dead and calcified body of another cosmos or of God himself.”
The Maze Chronicles
Hypnos 10-3
If that’s confusing for you, but a tone setter, then we’re on the same page. But I found out that there are some stories I need to read, such as,:
Hypnos by Lovecraft
Book of Eibon by Clark Ashton Smith and Lin Carter
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
And probably many more that seemed to have inspired this game.
Verdict
BLACKSHARD is a gallery of empty beauty with a cosmic horror/existentialism backdrop. It’s a relaxing game, with no fail-state, no direction—besides the goal—and a encrypted story to tell.
If you are a person that can appreciate its liminal space megastructure art, and non-existent game mechanics, with a somewhat hard to decipher story, then this could be an enjoyable treat.
It was personally in awe because of how pretty everything was, and how everything was written. It’s like a visual novel that’s very nice on the eye, and, from what I could tell, loyal to its genre’s tone. Just don’t expect anything high paced or any game mechanics. This is a visual novel type of game.
Together, We Shall Reach Carcosa!
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What Would The Whisper Need To Tell You To Free Them?
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This is a really interesting looking game.