Notes from The Void - Cycle 1

Thanks to the lovely people at Ice-Pick Lodge and Mamba Games, I've found myself with a handfull of review copies to filter through my brain and turn into words. First and foremost of which is the english version of The Void. Recently given a 'directors cut' re-release in Russia with more content, an improved script, more levels and a more logical difficulty curve, this is the version we're getting. It has been out in Germany for a while now (and garnered some quite positive reviews), and the English version is due for release on the 23rd of October.

I've been warned that the game is strange, confusing, and possessed of a particularly old-school level of difficulty. So, rather than dive straight into writing a review and passing judgement, I'll start by chronicling my initial adventures into the cold, dark and alien place that is The Void. The latest game by Russian arthouse studio Ice-Pick Lodge, it's a first-person action/adventure game which defies traditional description.

It's available for preorder for £20 (free postage worldwide until October 10th) here, if you're willing to just jump in unprepared, but if you want to know what you're getting into, hit the jump, and descend. Oh, and click screenshots to view them in full size.


I believe I may be dead.

Not usually how I'd usually start a story, but this is far from a usual situation. Before me, I see a grey, dark and ruined land, surrounded by impenetrable darkness. A shattered greenhouse and a strange, luminous tree beckon to me.

That, and a strange, hushed womans voice telling me that I am dead, that my heart has been torn from me, and that I must recover it or cease to exist entirely.

This is going to be a strange adventure, I can sense it.

Fortunately, recovering my 'heart' is easy. It lies just before me, a silver, glowing bubble floating above a cracked piece of stonework. I touch it and take it within me. The womans voice congratulates me, and requests that I come closer, to find her, saying she is within the tree. I walk around the far side of it, and peer within a deep hollow. Hidden in the shadows, a woman with silver hair, clad in a thin, white dress looks out at me. I raise a hand in greeting, and a trace of colour forms in the air before me.

Almost immediately, I can see nothing but the woman. Nude, floating in rippling ether, wreathed in thick, swirling streams of colour matching the tree she resides in. She holds her knees to her chest, as if cold. She speaks, not telling me her name, but teaching me of the nature of this realm.

This is The Void, and here, Colour - with a capital C - is life, power and energy. Everything in The Void feeds on it, but it is a dwindling resource. It has been fading, and I arrive in a time of great famine. She also speaks of my nature, and the nature of my Heart.

Looking at myself, the theory that I am among the deceased is reinforced. I appear as a ghostly blue figure, as naked as the woman before me, although somewhat less solid-looking. She continues to tell me of the nature of Colour. As I am, I cannot interact with the world in any traditional physical sense, but I can interact with Colour. I can draw it from the world where I find it, growing in the form of translucent plants. This 'raw' Colour is known as Lympha, and is what I must feed on to survive. By taking this Lympha of Colour and placing it within my heart, it sustains me, and is processed and changed by my body.

Over time, this Lympha becomes Nerva. Useless as sustenance, instead it becomes energy, power, and the means by which I interact with the Void itself, through expending Nerva, painting it in the air before me, drawn into the form of mystical Glyphs. Without Nerva, I can do nothing but absorb Colour where it sprouts from the land.

The woman then sends me on an errand. The first of a great many, I'd imagine. To leave her 'chamber' - the shattered little world around me - and venture into the Void itself in search of more Colour, and more knowledge. For the first time, I see The Void itself.

A strange place, for sure. Around the central, spherical chamber where the woman resides, there are three more accessible. I trace a path of Nerva from where I am, to where I want to be, and begin travelling.

Every second that passes outside of the Chambers (where time seems to stand still), my heart processes a little more Lympha into Nerva. I grow hungrier, but stronger. I arrive at the Mine, a similarly stange complex. A hollow, deep crevasse in the land, with a towering central spire rising through the center. The womans voice (her body remains within her tree) tells me that another heart lies here, and that - in time - I may gather as many as twenty. With each heart I find, I shall be granted a new glyph as well, a new power to influence the world with.

She also mentions that a being powerful enough to hold twenty hearts may be strong enough to defeat the 'Brothers'. Who, or what these are, she does not say, but it is certainly implied in her tone that she wishes me to prepare for such a battle. I feel that I'm being manipulated, but my options are limited at the moment, so I follow the trail of breadcrumbs she leaves.

I find the heart she spoke of. It appears to rest somewhere around my left shoulder, if I look at myself, and with it, comes knowledge of the Shield glyph. By drawing a circle of Nerva in front of me, I can protect myself from attacks, although I cannot draw any more glyphs while the shield protects me. I soon learn the purpose of this shield. On my way back through the mine, I encounter a small, brown-grey creature hopping towards me. The woman tells me that it is a predator, and it seeks to devour the Colour within me. As it approaches, I draw the shield glyph. The creature lunges at me, but pings harmlessly off the wall of energy. I'd imagine that the attack would have cost me more, if I hadn't defended myself.

I do as instructed by my mysterious mentor, and paint Nerva directly onto the creature, hurting it. I repeat again, using more this time, and it keels over dead. She seems surprised and happy that I am able to fight and kill so easily.

So, it seems that I'm not the only thing moving around here. I return to the Void and move to the next available 'chamber'. Once a reservation - a lair of other predators, it now lies barren, broken and empty, stripped almost bare by the great famine, but it still contains enough sprouting Colour to be worth a visit.

As I dig around the structure, harvesting Lympha, I begin to hear voices. Whispered from possibly the Colour itself. It seems that even the very power at the heart of The Void seeks to influence. As I scoop up a large blob of golden Lympha, I hear it whisper to me. "The Sisters will kneel before you.". I reach over to claim some green Colour, and hear that speak, too. "I am all the protection you will need.". Worrying, but perhaps there exists some nature to each colour that I might exploit in time?

Having stripped the chamber of everything it held, I move on to the third and final accessible area. A 'garden', filled with sprouts ripe for harvesting, and dead, gnarled trees. By drawing the 'donor' glyph - the one inherent to my original heart - I can infuse these trees with colour and give them life once more. Costly for me, but each 'cycle' (the closest thing The Void has to days), the trees will grow stronger and more powerful, allowing me to harvest a bounty of colour, bit by bit. The more I give, the more they will grow. So I do, and spend most of my current reserve of Nerva on cultivating this garden, although I have to spend a small amount on fighting off a flying, bird-like predator that was circling one tree. Before I can kill it, it swoops down and pulls some green Lympha from my very heart. Colour which I cannot recover, even through killing the creature. I must be careful in future.

Guess I've got a bit of a green finger after all. While this chamber is wrapped in a thick grey fog, the wisps of colour rising from the trees I have revived are visible from quite some distance, and it definitely does a lot to improve the general ambiance. I can only afford to grow a few trees at the moment, but later, I'll be able to plant more, and provide myself with a steady supply of Lympha, rather than having to rely on the scattered sprouts, which I have already completely cleared from the immediate area.

With the area clear, her voice summons me back to her chamber. She wishes to speak directly to me again, so I return. I find her tree once more, approach, and offer a flash of colour by way of greeting, and she begins to speak at length again, telling me more of The Void, and the threats I will face. She tells me of the Sisters, of which she is one. Other women like her exist around The Void, hungry, alone, seeking someone or something to bring them more Colour and make them strong again. In exchange, they can open new paths, and give me more hearts and glyphs.

And then she tells me of the Brothers, and the grave threat they pose to me. Once caretakers and guardians of the Sisters, and once paired entities, they have left the realm for some reason. Some of the Sisters believe that The Void itself is dying, but my appearance is something of an omen. Me, the reappearance of predators, the growth of Colour. It's all likely to bring the Brothers back, and she believes that if they know the truth - that I am not one of them (Aren't I? What am I, then?) - that they will destroy me. So I must prepare.

She tells me of a plan. To make the Brothers believe that I am one of them, bound to this Sister that I see before me. I must play the role, patrolling the chambers, clearing her lands of predators, harvesting colour and feeding it to her. If I can do this, I can fool them. I can buy myself time, and I can grow stronger. Perhaps even fight them, although for what purpose I'm not entirely sure. She seems to know much more than she is letting on, but at the moment, she's the only creature that I've met that hasn't tried to eat me. And, at least for now, her ambitions seem to coincide with mine. Guess I don't have many options. Tomorrow is another cycle, and I've got Colour to harvest.

Until next time.