"American Arcadia", a quest game about escape from a TV show
The adventure platformer quest "American Arcadia" brings an original two-level take on the story that will remind you of the plot of the cult film "The Truman Show". Here we bring you some spoilers on how to start getting into the gameplay of this game.
The new indie game "American Arcadia", created by the Spanish studio Out of the Blue Games and distributed by Raw Fury, was released on November 15, 2023 for PC and is available on Steam. Most likely, the game will also appear on consoles in the coming year.
The game's plot is reminiscent of the story of the famous film "The Truman Show" starring Jim Carrey: the television company "Walton Media" has created a reality show - an entire fake city in which the "actors" have lived for years, not suspecting that they are not free and that millions of viewers are watching them. However, what is happening in the game is much larger than the events of the Hollywood movie: in the American Arcadia reality show, viewers watch the life of not only the main character, but any of its inhabitants, and can also change cameras and their angles, keep ratings of actors, and much more.
The game begins with you playing as Trevor, who is going about his boring mediocre daily life, until Angela, a "Walton Media" employee, comes into play and, unlike her colleagues, believes that Trevor should know the truth and deserves the right to break out of the TV show. As you go through the game following Trevor and solve new and new levels of puzzles, you can help your Angela hack the cameras and get into the "Walton Media" servers room to help Trevor escape from this deceitful world.
The game offers a lot of puzzles and quests with cameras, other gadgets and devices.
The main "gear" of the gameplay lies in the two-level nature corresponding to the actions of these two main characters: Trevor must constantly run in and solve puzzles, while in the quest with a first-person view outside the fake city, Angela has a much wider view of the area and penetrates deeper into company secrets. At the same time, this couple is constantly connected with each other, and without the help of Angela, Trevor would never succeed.
Don't miss the icons that switch to Angela's camera view! As you run with Trevor, catch all the special icons that indicate the opportunity to look at the location through the camera lens through Angela's eyes.
When you first follow Trevor, you simply move and complete tasks a 2.5D perspective, interacting with objects and obstacles along the way. And so it goes for the first 60 minutes of the game, until you're suddenly switched to first-person play, and taken backstage at the show, where Angela must access a supercomputer to help her friend. From now on, we control either Trevor or Angela, alternately combining running and platforming passages with puzzles with a first-person view.
The most difficult and exciting stage to complete is Angela's interrogation, during which you need to simultaneously control Trevor and answer questions from the security service.
In addition to the original two-level structure, this game can provide you with several hours of fun thanks to a well-written plot, stylish minimal graphics in the spirit of the 70s and references to cult films. The game also has a great cast, including Yuri Lowenthal (Call of the Sea, Spider-Man 1 & 2,), Krizia Bajos (League of Legends, Cyberpunk 2077), and Cissy Jones (Firewatch, Call of the Sea). However, the game also has some shortcomings, such as insufficiently precise adjustment of the surveillance cameras view, as well as too simple platforming tricks and running movements of the main character Trevor.