BEHOLDER 2 Closed Beta Demo Impressions

If you’re looking to play a slightly demented but highly clever strategy game, Beholder 2 by Warm Lamp Games might be right for you. The smooth controls, compelling graphics, and unpredictable story make not only for an excellent game, but they intrigue players and leave them asking, “How did anyone ever think of this concept?”

What caught my attention immediately were the creepy, monochrome graphics. In addition to the eerie music, these dark graphics created a suspenseful and industrious feeling. While exploring the Ministry, illustrations of guard towers and distant dismay are exposed in the background which create a panoptic vibe for the player. Despite your job handling citizen concerns, Warm Lamp Games paradoxically emphasizes the lack of citizen’s voices being heard by choosing to omit their mouths in the illustrations. This creates an irreversible feeling of omnipresence as players attempt to fulfill tasks and perform work duties.

The gameplay of Beholder 2 is unique and requires immense strategy. After a brief introduction players are sent to work. While entertaining, this work aims to meet the expectations of an automaton worker. Each day, players are given an allotted amount of time to meet their work quota, perform leisurely activities, and complete tasks. At the end of the day, players may sleep and reset their allotted time. It is expected players can complete all their daily tasks and activities within their allotted time, but I found it quite difficult to get most things done within my time frame. However, once I was able to prioritize, I began earning more money, interacting with more people, and even earning skills such as decreasing rent on my apartment. A note for players: if you want to complete tasks within your provided time, strategically plan your day.

In addition to their wonderful graphics, another brilliant aspect of this game is the sarcastic dialogue and clever storyline. Warm Lamp Games does not dilute the experience with any cushioned language, instead they provide their story without sparing details. This transparency shows the lack of agency within the Ministry, pushes limits and sets the tone for the dreary atmosphere of the Ministry. If a player becomes acquainted with other characters they will see dialogue that demonstrates unique personalities, however, their vacant mouths show individualism is a paradox.

Finally, I want to note the impressive controls of this game. They were smooth and easy to understand which allowed me to focus on the game rather than worry about difficult controls. As an avid PC gamer, I typically favor PC games and Beholder 2 did not let me down. I believe the keyboard and mouse controls were executed perfectly and I especially appreciated their use of minimal keys. This minimalistic style made the game easy to understand and allowed full-focus for strategy and overall gameplay. The point-and-click approach made this strategy game take an additional mystery feel and appealed to my inner sleuth which was entertaining and challenging. Additionally, there were no points when I felt unhappy with the way this game ran on my HP Omen laptop and I would highly recommend Beholder 2 for PC to any computer gaming lovers. Even for someone who did not play the first Beholder game, I was able to understand the theme of the game, master the controls, and fully enjoy myself while playing. I look forward to the release of this game!

Check Out the Beholder 2 Gameplay Video:

You can sign up for the Beta here.