Entertainment

Games: Kona plays out like X-Files on ice

Kona’s sense of snow is nailed beautifully, invoking the isolation of a remote Canadian culture
Kona’s sense of snow is nailed beautifully, invoking the isolation of a remote Canadian culture Kona’s sense of snow is nailed beautifully, invoking the isolation of a remote Canadian culture

Kona (Multi)

By: Deep Silver

CANADA in the 70s was the snowy bosom for many a Northern Ireland Troubles escapee. Boston for Ulster Scots, if you will, and the setting for this icy gaming gem that takes us to the far north for a snow-muffled thriller that doffs its trapper hat to Twin Peaks and Fargo, but with a better exchange rate.

When private investigator Carl Faubert – hired by an industrial magnate to investigate a conspiracy – arrives in a Northern Quebec town, he finds the place bereft of back bacon snaffling Euro-Americans and strange doings a-transpiring. More than just another walking simulator, Kona shakes things up with light survival elements and investigation as you look aboot for clues in a whitewashed, winter wilderness.

The amount of freedom you’re afforded knocks Kona’s genre stablemates into a cocked hat as players travel from building to building using their trusty Chevy and a map, scavenging for supplies, solving riddles and opening up new areas. It’s simplistic but rewarding stuff with a survival angle that owes more to the likes of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories than, say, Dear Esther or Gone Home.

Clues and plot points can be discovered in a non-linear order as you rummage through folk’s belongings, assembling an intriguing jigsaw of life in a northern town.

Though for all of Kona’s lofty ambition, the actual puzzling is of the stock code-cracking, find-the-key type.

While storage space is limited, Carl can dump items into the back of his truck for safekeeping, and it’s your gas-guzzling ride that proves his only ally, offering warmth, supplies and protection from the game’s sole enemy – wolves. If the northern exposure doesn’t force Carl into a frozen dirt nap, his slathering lupine foe will.

Players must constantly stay toasty by lighting campfires and stoves, and while stress will ensure Carl can’t run or aim properly, a beer or dragging on a few snouts will help.

Kona’s sense of snow is nailed beautifully, invoking the isolation of a remote Canadian culture in the 70s. From its abandoned houses to creepshow forests, where the only sound is the crunch of snow underfoot, Kona is brilliantly unsettling. And while there’s much asset recycling (every family seems to have opted for the same furniture and appliances), the visuals do the trick, even with a stuttering frame rate and some interminable loading times.

Offering much more freedom and interaction than your common-or-garden walking sim, Kona plays out like X-Files on ice. At a pocket-friendly download price, our Commonwealth cousins have crafted a chilly change of pace after a month of blockbusters.