State of Mind (computer game)

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State of Mind is an Adventure - Computer game of the German developer Daedalic Entertainment , which was released 2018th

action

The action takes place in a futuristic and high-tech Berlin in the year 2048 , in which there is no longer any privacy . Almost everything is published and networked in the cloud ( Internet of Things ), the city is under constant surveillance and humans are served by robots . However, when a large corporation deals with transhumanism and wants to create a superman , this world threatens to get into chaos. Likewise, the world is faced with a lack of raw materials , disease , water and environmental pollution , high crime rates and other problems.

After a serious accident, the former star reporter Richard Nolan, who was one of the few who criticized the current state of society and was fired for it, wakes up in a hospital, but can no longer remember the last few days. He misses his wife and son, who have mysteriously disappeared, and goes in search of them. He quickly finds out that he and his family are caught between rival ideas of a dystopian world and a digital utopia. He meets the journalist Adam Newman, who, in contrast to the recently terminated Nolan, was recently promoted, but otherwise shares his fate in a suspicious way: Newman also had an accident, has a wife and child and a similarly shaped apartment. As a result, Nolan has to deal with different philosophical and technical approaches for the permanent survival of mankind, which among other things have the transfer of consciousness as their content, and comes into contact with an underground organization that opposes uninhibited technological progress.

The game raises several philosophical questions in the room, such as the limits and meaning of transhumanism , the consequences of a surveillance state , dangers of the digital age, artificial intelligence and limits of privacy. The game picks up on themes that can already be found in works by George Orwell and Philip K. Dick and other works in the field of utopias and dystopias .

Game principle and technology

The player controls the character from the shoulder perspective and moves through the individual locations. As with other point-and-click games, the player can interact with characters and objects by clicking on selection dialogs. There are also several mini-games and puzzles that the player has to solve, such as solving a puzzle , controlling a drone or hacking a computer. The player is usually asked to make moral decisions, which, however, generally have no further influence on the game, as the plot is fairly linear. The game also contains a lot of hints and background information that the player should put together in his head.

Production notes

Author Martin Ganteföhr of Daedalic Entertainment feared that his game would get far less coverage than Detroit: Become Human because of the thematic similarity , but he later realized that both games had a different approach and that he liked the fact that the themes were be treated in several media and in different implementations.

He himself discovered transhumanist literature ten years before the game was published and made notes on it. Three years before the publication, when he heard that there were confessing transhumanists in Silicon Valley , he decided to deal with the topic in the form of a computer game. The game was released on August 15, 2018.

reception

Meta-ratings
Database Rating
Metacritic 69/100 (PC)
reviews
publication Rating
4players 69/100
Computer picture games 1.7 (school grade)
GameStar 69/100
Gamona 7/10
PC Games 82/100

The game received mixed reviews. Gamereactor finds the game very engaging and thought-provoking, as you are in the dark until the end. Dualshockers compares the game with series and films such as Blade Runner , as it captivates the player like a spectator to the monitor due to its many adventures and questions. Comic Book even names the game one of the best of the year.

However, despite the ambition behind it, the plot is often described as boring, poorly implemented and hesitant in terms of content, with few emotions arising. According to Heise.de, facial expressions are missing due to the low-poly look and the change of perspective distracts from the actual story. The gameplay with the z. Sometimes mild mini-games are criticized because they lack motivation and innovation. The game is often compared to works like Detroit: Become Human and Deus Ex because of the themes and style .

In 2019 State of Mind was awarded the German Computer Game Prize in the category "Best Serious Game ".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d heise online: State of Mind played through: From Big Brother and electric sheep. Retrieved on August 19, 2018 (German).
  2. a b State of Mind in the test: A future full of technology. In: PC GAMES. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  3. Review: State of Mind - A gloomy future - Gameplane.de. In: Gameplane.de. August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  4. ^ A b Matthias Kreienbrink: Video game "State of Mind": Inhuman Berlin. In: Spiegel Online. August 15, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  5. ^ Roy Woodhouse: State of Mind Review. In: Gamereactor UK. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  6. Christian Gaca: Review of State of Mind plus exclusive screenshots. In: Gamereactor Germany. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  7. ^ State of Mind Review - A Story-Rich Transhuman Adventure. In: DualShockers. August 13, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  8. ^ State of Mind Review: Digital Neverland. In: WWG. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  9. State of Mind in the test: Do people get rid of themselves? In: computerbild.de. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  10. Review: State of Mind - A gloomy future - Gameplane.de. In: Gameplane.de. August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  11. ^ State of Mind - Deus ex Berlin - GameStar. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  12. ^ State of Mind - Test, Adventure - 4Players.de. In: 4Players. Retrieved August 19, 2018 .
  13. Zeit.de: Jury names "Trüberbrook" the best German game. Retrieved April 10, 2019 .