Fun but very flawed with tons of atmosphere.
The Low Down - Often times the right kind of bad review can help to move more copies of pure trash better than a good one ever could (think Jaws). This can be true for any form of media, but is especially true for video games. All kinds of mind numbing, tedious, buggy, or just plain broken games get sold en mass regardless of the fact that they would have never even ended up on store shelves if it weren’t for the right kind of wrong attention. So when a game gets reviews this awful naturally I get curious, but as luck would have it my curiosity paid off for once.
The Plot - In the late 50’s those dirty Commies spike the punch in hopes of genetically altering mother Russia’s population. The aim is to turn them into socialist juggernauts, but unfortunately every one is instead turned into one of about 8 different zombie monsters (excluding the giant chickens).
Approximate Play Time - Under 6 hours
Most Common Complaints - Buggy, mind boggling hit detection, a convoluted story that is impossible to follow, linear level design, heinous translation, no multiplayer, key and lever hunting ad nauseum, and dated graphics.
Most Common Praise - Good music and sound, establishes a fairly creepy vibe, humorous, and… giant chickens.
What It Did Wrong - Yes the game is buggy. Enemies can at moments partially clip through objects, and even hit you through walls though this was rare on my play through. The hit detection where melee weaponry is concerned can be erratic. Considering that beyond the first level you’ll almost never use melee weapons the only time you consistently run into this problem is the fire fighter zombies, who when doing there running leap move, can damage you despite being several feet out of range. It’s also not all that rare to just see an enemy or two spin in a circle until you walk into their murder zone.
The story is not in the least hard to follow especially considering that there is no story. The “plot” is communicated through notes and documents littered around each level, but I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying that you’re not all that swift if you haven’t figured it out within the first hour.
The translation is bad and so is the voice acting. This is most noticeable in the 3 or 4 occasions where you briefly come into contact with a non monster NPC. On the other hand the encounters are obviously meant to be played out tongue in cheek so it won’t put any one off all that much.
True there is no multiplayer, but where is it written that any game involving guns must afford you the ability to hop online and be shot at by racist 13 year olds? Finally I have to say the programmers greatest sin is your characters inability to run. This doesn’t effect the action much as the game is fairly slow paced, but can make back tracking for that needed health a pain. Oh and as I mentioned above there’s only about 8 character models, and not a single boss to be found.
What It Did Right - The graphics are brightly colored and reasonably detailed for what are mostly bombed out and drab environments, but it‘s suitable considering the time and place. Aside from the surroundings the character models are reasonably inventive given there are less than a dozen of them, and each enemy has a unique enough set of attacks or behaviors that set it apart from the ones previous. Yes, it all does look and feel a bit dated, but it is a budget game after all.
The cut scenes are nicely rendered and cleverly designed. Each a combination of live actors as well as hand drawn and computer animation. Despite not helping the story in any way they’re fairly interesting to watch including an effective ending.
Probably the games greatest strength is the sound. The ambiance tracks are moody and often times feature growls or sudden pops that will throw you off guard the first few times you here them, and the occasional techno tracks are interesting enough though at times overwhelming.
The game also offers up a small amount of strategy in terms of weapons management. Excluding the wrench all of the games weapons fall into one of two categories: up close or distance with one type directly preceding the other in your inventory. Through out each level you’ll consistently run into points where you’ll face long stretches of enemies that will only drop ammo for certain guns. As an example you’ll run into groups which only use pistols requiring it to become your sniper weapon of choice. At the same time you’ll also be accosted by melee enemies which will make the pistol/shotgun combo the most affective. What combo you’ll be driven to use can change several times during a level so really the added challenge comes from picking the right moments to use your heavier hitting weapons as you might not see any ammo of that type for a while.
My Thoughts - Having come off of playing both Two Worlds, and Hellgate London I was looking for something simple, reasonably exciting, and most of all lacking in quests. You Are Empty more than fit the bill. It’s straight forward, creepy, and if you’re willing to go along for the ride, fairly intense.
Yes it’s hardly a polished product, but it in no way deserved the types of reviews it received. Most likely a lot of that came from the fact that it was released right around the same time as Bioshock, Crysis, and a few other big budget shooters. It’s obvious that the lack of finish is due to a low budget, and too little development time rather than incompetence.
Still, considering that gamers are more likely to purchase bad movies, and other things which can be enjoyed only on a purely ironic basis I’ve never understood why that leeway is rarely extended to certain types of games. All in all though fairly short (I actually finished it in one evening in under 6 hours) and lacking in refinement if you’re willing you may fall in love with You Are Empty. Just lower your expectations, and think of it as a well done low budget horror film.