Through the woods
| Through the woods | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | antagonist | ||
| Publisher | 1C | ||
| Senior Developer | Stian Willums | ||
| composer | Dan Wakefield | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
October 27, 2016 | ||
| platform | Windows | ||
| Game engine | Unity | ||
| genre | Adventure | ||
| medium | DVD , download | ||
| language | English, Norwegian | ||
| Age rating |
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Through the Woods is a computer game from the Norwegian development studio Antagonist. The genre horror attributable Adventure was in 2016 by the Russian publisher 1C for PCs with the operating system Windows released. The game is about a single mother whose son is kidnapped into a strange world; in the foreground is their arduous and dangerous journey. The main event is told as a flashback .
action
The widowed Karen Dahl lives with her 12-year-old son Espen in a secluded wooden house on a large lake in Norway . Her husband, Erik Dahl committed several years ago suicide after he aspens in a custody battle during a divorce lost to Karen. Since then she has had to raise Espen alone, but she and her son are becoming increasingly estranged from each other.
Espen is kidnapped one early morning and Karen can just watch an old man abduct her son in a rowboat. She immediately jumps into the water and swims after it until she arrives at an unknown island. She sets out to explore the island and pursue the old man. Espen has made a trail of reflectors that Karen can follow. She discovers abandoned Viking settlements , and the diaries and leaflets left there gradually reveal a tragic story. Karen also finds out that she is in a parallel world influenced by Norse mythology : the moon is strangely scratched and she encounters dangerous, supernatural creatures such as huge trolls and a huldra . Karen finally succeeds in discovering the island's secret:
After the end of the Ragnarök , only the island of Hoddmimis Holt remained of the world . There the god Vidar was supposed to kill the hellhound Fenris . Due to a serious war injury, however, he was unable to carry out the deed and entered into a pact with Fenris: The wolf should spare the island and a child living on the island would be sacrificed to him every five years. A resident of the island, called Old Erik , took on the task after his own young son volunteered to jump into Fenrir's throat. Since then he has lived in seclusion near the Maw and was hated by the residents from whom he regularly stole children. When the island ran out of children, Old Erik accidentally discovered a connection between the island and the real world. From now on he kidnapped children from this family in order to sacrifice them to Fenris and went down in the folklore of the residents of the lake as a legendary figure who brings naughty children . Unfortunately, Fenris discovered the connection between the worlds through Old Erik and now threatened to devour both of them if he does not continue to get his victims at regular intervals. In the meantime, almost all of the islanders had committed suicide at a joint feast using poison or the gallows in order to escape Old Erik and no longer have to serve Fenris.
Karen continues her journey tirelessly, and near the holy sacrificial site she meets the brothers Skalli and Hati . The two sky wolves first try to tear Karen apart, but then make a pact with her: over a hundred years ago, the brothers were outwitted by the islanders and locked in particularly deep gorges on the island. Karen has discovered a magic key that can open the gates and release the two wolves. After her escape, she uses a shortcut through a bewitched moor to get to the sacrificial site on the mountain top.
In the moor, however, the goddess Hel is waiting for Karen and lets the woman relive her worst crime again: when Espen was little, she broke the child's arm. In the following years, Karen and Erik fell out because of it and a war of divorce broke out. By fraudulent misrepresentation, Karen had succeeded in gaining sole custody of Espen. As a result, her ex-husband committed suicide. When Karen finally catches up with Old Erik and Espen, she finds that her son has accepted his fate to be sacrificed for the good of all people. Karen, Espen and Old Erik fall into the abyss in their attempt to stop him from self-sacrificing.
Karen wakes up on the shores of the lake of her world. The bodies of Espen and Old Erik are floating in the water. She is still trying to reanimate her son, but has no success. In order not to let Aspen's sacrifice and that of all previously sacrificed children have been in vain, Karen now takes on Old Erik's task of sacrificing a child to Fenris every five years in order to save her world from destruction.
Game principle and technology
Through the Woods is a third person 3D adventure. The three-dimensional gaming environment is of the Unity - Engine calculated in real time. The camera is positioned behind the head of the protagonist Karen. With the mouse and the WASD keys, the player controls Karen through the game world, with the camera always following her. Most of the game is spent exploring the enchanted island. The game world is largely freely accessible; areas not intended for exploration are blocked by barriers such as rocks, fences or bodies of water. If Karen approaches an object that she can examine or manipulate, the possibility of interaction is displayed on the screen and can be triggered by pressing a button. There is no inventory like in classic adventure games; Karen only has a flashlight to explore dark rooms and the ability to sneak. Fighting with potential opponents must be avoided by Karen extensively bypassing them or by sneaking past them. Occasionally, Karen finds notes that provide clues about the island's history and thus the backstory of the game.
Production notes
Through the Woods began as a bachelor's thesis as part of the study of some of the later producers. The Antagonist development studio was founded in early 2014; after preliminary work, the actual production of the game began in July of the same year. In October 2014, Antagonist received a grant from the state Norwegian Film Institute in the amount of NOK 300,000 (approx. EUR 35,700 at the time) for the further production of Through the Woods . In May 2015, the producers started a four-week crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter platform to raise $ 40,000 for the further production of the game. The campaign was successful.
The graphics of the game are inspired by the work of the Norwegian painter Theodor Kittelsen . Sound recordings for ambient noises and photos for natural textures were recorded in the forest around the Sognsvann Lake near the antagonist office . A special stylistic feature is that the audio track of the protagonist Karen fits the respective events on the screen, but represents a flashback - Karen recounts the events on the enchanted island in retrospect.
speaker
| role | speaker |
|---|---|
| Karen | Malin Pettersen |
| Aspens | Andrea Therese Fostervold |
| Old Erik | Stian Willums |
The speakers recorded both the English and Norwegian versions of the game. An exception is the role of Karen, whose Norwegian version was spoken by Amanda Vien. Young Espen's spokeswoman Andrea Therese Fostervold is known as a TV actress in Norway. In the game, subtitles can be selected in German, English, French, Italian, Norwegian, Russian or Spanish.
reception
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In the run-up to the publication, specialist media were optimistic. Using material that was shown at trade fairs such as the Game Developers Conference or the Penny Arcade Expo , IGN , for example, included the game in its list of “15 Most Anticipated Horror Games of 2016”, while PC World listed it among the “15 quirky, fun indie PC games that blew us away at PAX ”. After its release, Through the Woods received mixed reviews. The review database Metacritic aggregates 10 reviews to an average value of 63. The German magazine 4Players praised the graphic and sound presentation of the game, whose “elaborate scenery” merged into a “three-dimensional environment”, as well as the “unexcited narrative” that creates a pleasant contrast to the often exaggerated narratives of comparable games. Editor Benjamion Schmädig criticized a sometimes simple and repetitive gameplay that lacks an inventory function. In addition, the cultural references to Nordic mythology are only insufficiently illuminated and because of poorly crafted cutscenes there is no emotional connection to the characters and the plot. The PlayNation magazine positively emphasized the “refreshing setting”, the graphic style, the background sound and the atmosphere of the game world. Technically obsolete textures and a sometimes confusing story were noted negatively.
Awards
- Norwegian Game Awards, Category "Sound of the Year" (2015)
Web links
- Through the Woods at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ xe.com: Current and Historical Rate Tables. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ^ Antagonist.no: Through the Woods funding. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ^ Kickstarter.com: Through the Woods. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ^ Antagonist.no: Visuals, Inspiration and the whole look of the game. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ PCGamer.com: Through the Woods is a Norse horror adventure that's out this year. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c PlayNation.de: Through the Woods - It is not easy for a mother! Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ a b 4Players.de: Test: Through the Woods. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Gamestar.de: Through the Woods in the test - Much forest about nothing? Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ^ A b Metacritic.com: Through the Woods. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ IGN.com: 15 Most Anticipated Horror Games of 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ PCWorld.com: 15 quirky, fun indie PC games that blew us away at PAX. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ ThoseGamers.com: Through the Woods Wins Sound of the Year, New Voice-Over Collaboration with Jory Prum, New Game logo. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .