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When I saw the opportunity to get an early hands-on preview of Centum, I couldn’t resist. Ever since I started following this game, it filled me with intrigue. Despite its looks, I always knew that the game wouldn’t precisely be lighthearted. However, even with my previous experience in games like Fran Bow, Doki Doki Literature Club!, and Year Walk, I was not prepared for what Centum would deliver. What I experienced in my short playtime was a bizarre, mysterious, yet memorable journey I can’t wait to explore wholly.
When Your Job Becomes Your Life
There is no easy way to describe Centum’s story. From the trailer, I knew a computer and a prison cell would play a big part in the narrative, but that’s it. Needless to say, there was even more. For the first few minutes, I couldn’t explain how I went from my PC with an obsolete OS and strange files to being interrogated by a five-headed interdimensional being. During the interrogation, I had options to answer the “Judge” even though I had no idea who or what I was. Whatever I picked didn’t matter because they dubbed me a liar. At first, I went with my guts and chose whatever I thought would be best. However, I realized how even the tiniest decision could have different consequences.
After the strangest questioning I’ve experienced, I ended up locked in a cell with only a few objects to interact with. By looking closely at each one, I got a bit of context on my current situation and a few tips to get out of my imprisonment and trigger the next section. At this point, I thought I’d be safe, but things got weirder. In the next area, the prison cell became my home office. Leaving my job aside was not an option until the end of my working hours. Between the emails, I discovered more about myself, my relationships with others, and my work as a software developer of sorts. This was the key to realizing that my company had been working on an important AI that my nephew helped test.
It turns out that this AI went haywire, and it locked me and someone else in some type of weird dimension. See, this is a story I can get behind. It is a narrative that never tells you what to expect. Whenever I felt I was going somewhere, the game pulled a new twist and showed me something unexpected. And this was just in a short period. I can’t even imagine what the full game holds, but one thing’s for sure: I can’t wait to uncover every mystery of Centum.
Stranger Things
A significant part of the gameplay involves some good old point-and-click mechanics. You must be particularly observant to discover the subtle “codes” that Centum leaves scattered to unlock information. If you get lost at some point, READ ME files and emails are always helpful (wink, wink). Sometimes, to advance, you will need to complete certain retro mini-games. Some will pop up when you search your emails. However, opening specific ones will always send you to a mini-game and won’t let you leave it until you finish the activity. I felt this broke the pacing a bit, but it was more my fault. I kept accidentally clicking on the same email repeatedly instead of going for a new one. Still, while I liked the mini-games and the computer sections, they lacked a bridge between the two worlds.
As for the sections where you are in a room, Centum encourages you to search every nook and cranny and examine every item. A few objects will go to your inventory, leading to unexpected consequences. Believe me, when you check the place for the fifth time, you may find something you haven’t seen before. Don’t panic, because you may encounter a strange creature or something worse.
Speaking of strange things and creatures, the game has plenty of them. I couldn’t believe how scared I felt after finding a rat behind a wall, especially in a game that doesn’t go for realism. The same happened when I met a ghost for the first time. While I was panicking during these moments, I couldn’t help but dive deeper into every bizarre creature I encountered. I pushed those uncomfortable feelings aside and threw my fear away as I decided that talking to it was best. After a while, I began to feel more at ease with these eerie characters. Ultimately, the environmental storytelling combined with retro gameplay systems was extremely engaging and one of the things I liked the most.
Retro Nostalgia
Centum doesn’t have hyperrealistic graphics to match the latest generation of games. However, it stands out with that retro pixel art style we see in recent indie games. It also appeals more to nostalgia with the home office room, especially if you once had a Windows 98 computer. Of course, Centum does so flawlessly when it opts for a bizarre, visually uncomfortable, or sad environment.
The same happens with the audio; when the game needs to transmit anguish, it will do it with alarm bells. In some parts, Centum will be quiet enough to make the player experience loneliness. As for making you feel uncomfortable, the atmosphere can become unsettling, too. Also, I suggest being careful with certain objects because their sounds can be unsuitable for those with sensitive hearing. Still, Centum’s audio and visual design are fantastic and perfect for what it wants to convey.
This short hands-on time with Centum convinced me to put it at the top of my wishlist. It is a game that doesn’t hold back with its bizarreness and frightening looks. And while I can be a scaredy-cat sometimes, Centum is so intriguing that I couldn’t step away from my PC. I can only hope to experience more of it soon. It’s rare when we get a seemingly simple yet profound game like this one, full of style, old-school nostalgia, and brainteasers that constantly challenge us.
Centum will launch on Steam and Xbox in the Summer of 2024.
