Contrast is a new puzzle-platformer that has been developed by Compulsion Games and published by Focus Home Interactive. Set in a noir art atmosphere with Bohemian French styling, Contrast is just in time for the Sony’s newest PlayStation 4 console.
While not much is known about Compulsion Games itself, but according to the newly created developer site, it was stated that similar to J.J. Abrahms, “we’re big on the power of mystery. That said, we’re also intrigued by the notion of dreams, thoughts, and virtual data. Somewhere within the blending of those concepts lies our universe.” Maybe that’s the reason why Contrast has been released as a puzzle platformer.
Contrast has been described as a “charming 2D/3D puzzle platformer where you can shift from a fantastic 3D world to a mysterious shadowy universe in 2D in the blink of an eye,” with the game allowing players to explore “a dreamlike, vaudevillian world of the 1920s.”
“In this universe, where the boundaries between showmanship, magic, intrigue and deception are blurred, you play as Dawn, the imaginary friend of a young girl named Didi.”
The game kicks off with you playing as both the real and the imaginary character in the game who are first introduced to you at a train station. Didi is the youngest of two characters and comes from a deeply troubled family.
The press release for the game determines the situation perfectly: “In CONTRAST, you take on the role of Dawn, the imaginary friend of Didi, an independent, adventure-loving nine year-old girl hoping to reunite her parents. As you spend time with Didi, you will cast light on a shadowy story, exploring an adult world as seen through the eyes of this little girl,” it states.
“Play as Dawn and manipulate light sources to distort, enlarge or stretch the 2D shadowscape, and combine that with your shadow shifting powers to help solve the many puzzles surrounding Didi's troubled family.”
It adds that Contrast delivers “a captivating ambiance of the brilliance of film noir mixed with the tease of burlesque and infusing an original, sultry jazz soundtrack” and “enthrals with every plot twist.”
In a previously released video developer diary for the game (see below), director Guillaume Provost, set designer Joshua Mills, and visual designer Whitney Clayton went hands-on with all the behind-the-scenes details and the origins of the game. It was shown there how the developer made both the world and the characters in it a reality with some other information related to Dawn.
Even before that, the developing team for the game also managed to appear in an interview with Gamingbolt where Compulsion staffers talked about several aspects of the game like the tech applied, next-gen versions of the game, and more.
Speaking about the technology involved behind the game’s impressive visual galore, Sam Abbott stated that although the tech was not that difficult to create, creating levels was not so easy for Contrast.
“The shadows in 2D are all created by the combination of the light sources and objects in the 3D space – so if you move an object in 3D, it will change the shadow in 2D, and change your platforming environment,” Abbott stated. “It took time to figure out a design process that worked, because at the beginning, our paper designs made little to no sense in the game world.”
Apart from the game itself, there has been widespread acclamation for the game's setting. Abbott stated that the team was influenced by performance arts as a setting for the game.
“We loved the idea of including aspects of vaudeville, like a circus, travelling performers, burlesque, and illusions. Vaudeville allows us a huge range of potential characters and locations, which is one of the benefits of a rich setting,” he stated.
“The narrative was largely designed around these themes, so it probably wouldn’t have worked so well in another universe. Unless, of course, you guys want to play a game about a little girl set in 34th century New New York, with a cabaret singing robot mother, and shifty alien Dad (in which case, we’ll get right on that).”
With game-time of roughly around 4-5 hours, Contrast offers “a bit more exploration” than Portal, another legend in its own right, for the sake of a comparison. However, DLCs for the game can also be planned provided the fans are interested in related new content for the game.
As far as gameplay is concerned, when stepping into the boots of Dawn, players will be able to move in 3D or flatten themselves against walls so that the character becomes a silhouette that can jump between shadows like in a 2D platformer. Players will also have control over different light sources – like spotlights and film projectors – in the 3D world so as to create the proper shadow paths to reach new areas in the 2D world.
Contrast released for PC, PS3, PS4, and Xbox 360 in North America on Nov. 15.
