SEPARATION
Can’t quite hold it together
This is a difficult game to talk about. Not because it is, from start to finish, a metaphor for depression; but because it’s a metaphor for depression that’s uncomfortable to play for (mostly) the wrong reasons. Such a shame, too, because it does occasionally do some interesting or unique with the ideas on offer.
You explore a purposefully melancholy and oppressive environment in first person, now and again stumbling across a puzzle. Elements of the design – huge and mysterious structures, large open spaces with shadows in the distance, a pervading sense of loneliness – hold echoes of Shadow Of The Colossus. The similarities with Ueda’s masterpiece stop there, however.
As we wander around the oddly angular environment, we regularly find – especially when walking uphill – that we’re brought to an unceremonious halt, as though stubbing our virtual toe on one of the ground’s many corners. We rarely feel motivated to push forward anyway, as the storytelling barely provides enough content to qualify as minimalistic. It’s often unclear where you should go, or what you should do when you get there. 1 PS VR does the game no favours, imposing an awkward control system on you that never would have been considered for a 2D release (which Separation would work better as). It’s interesting in bursts, but these bursts are too brief, and too infrequent.
Three-quarters of the way through, the experience becomes much more enjoyable, as you get a new mode of transport2 that expands and speeds up your exploration. This doesn’t last long enough, though, and the game ends as it begins; on a slow, confusing note. Luke Kemp