In 1949, George Orwell published 1984, a book you were probably assigned to read by the “hip” high school English teacher, and he defined what people think of when you mention a dystopian future. An overpowering and paranoid totalitarian state rules with an iron fist over the people they are trying to “protect.” With a blend of beautiful animation and compelling story, Beholder 2 builds on the concept of a dystopian future and takes the next step in building a franchise that’s here to stay.
From the moment I started the game, the animation absolutely floored me. The black and white coloring of the characters really compliments the oppressive feeling that the environment creates. The ministry building looms over the most important sections of the environment and the story itself. The map is full of different characters who fill different government positions and how you interact with them helps determine the course of the story. Stories where your choices have real consequences are all the rage in video games right now, but it’s often still hard to see how your choices have affected the story. The story arcs in Beholder 2 are so tightly woven together that I could see the progression from the immediate consequences of my actions to the long-term consequences that continued to pop up as I progressed through the game. This was easily my favorite part of playing Beholder 2 and something that really kept me engaged in the story.
The objectives throughout the game play out like a Hollywood thriller as you work undercover with secret government officials, hack government computers, and watch the leader of the country (who has a mustache that reminded me of a certain famous Russian dictator) give speeches about how much the ministry is doing for this Orwellian future. Beholder 2 operates on a time system where each task costs a number of hours, and your time is replenished when you sleep. These tasks encompass everything you do including your work at the ministry where your hours can help build your credibility and career, undercover tasks where you work to expose the conspiracy about the main character’s father, and even your character consuming in game content to learn new skills and build your knowledge of TV shows within the game that you can use to build relationships with other characters. This added an extra dimension to the story and allowed Beholder 2 to take a huge story and make it very personal for each of the characters.
My only complaint about this game is that the controls for movement and interacting with things in the environment are a bit cumbersome. You move the character with the right stick and point the arrow to interact with objects in the environment. This made the interaction arrow a little difficult to control and made for some frustrating moments trying to interact with the objectives. This mechanic translates well to a PC or a Playstation since the sticks are directly next to each other, but it just didn’t translate well to the Xbox controller and really took away from a very interesting game.
Overall, Beholder 2 was an interesting game that made it so easy to be completely wrapped up in both the characters and the story. The controls hinder the experience a bit on the Xbox platform, but the quality of the game itself more than makes up for it. Beholder 2 is definitely worth adding to your collection and a great way to pass time during social distancing.
Score: 8/10
Check Out the Beholder 2 Trailer:
For more information, please visit: https://beholder2.com/
Xbox One Review
My first console was the original Playstation and I would play Twisted Metal every now and then but games didn't hook me until I played the original Halo at my friend's house. As soon as I picked up that controller, I knew I needed an Xbox and I had to have that game. Since those early Halo days, I've branched out and played any game I could find with a great story and memorable characters but Master Chief is still my favorite. @thenotoriousTGT on Twitter
More Stories
RUMBLE CLUB Review for Steam
Another Crab’s Treasure Review for PlayStation 5
NIS America Announces September 27 Release Date for Action-packed Magical RPG REYNATIS