*NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VOICEOVER: “Since time immemorial, man has felt attraction and fascination for the mysteries that lie on the seabed. The belief that incredible and gigantic creatures dwell there, of whose existence we know little or nothing, has been a topic of conversation in scientific forums for hundreds, thousands of years. On today’s show, we are going to bring to light the truth about these myths that have robbed humanity of sleep forever.”
SILT It is available for Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch and PC
HUNTING IN BLACK AND WHITE
If there are two genres that I like, one is underwater adventures, like ECCO THE DOLPHIN either SUBNAUTICS. The other is those “scary” puzzle games in black and white, like LIMBO or the recent WHITE SHADOWS, of which you can read my review here.
SILT combines these two styles in a nice formula, which entertains…at least for a little while. From now on I warn you that, although I liked the title, it is short, very short, too short. In just over an hour we will finish the tour, unless we get stuck in a puzzle, something quite unlikely due to the natural fluidity of the game.
The history? There is not much to tell. A very small text of a couple of lines at the beginning of the game tells us that the Goliaths hide under the waves, and that our mission is to hunt them down and gouge out their eyes, which is where their power lies, which we need to turn on a machine. And that’s it, there’s nothing else. During 4 levels of approximately 15 minutes each, we must face a series of puzzle-like situations until we face the Boss of each area, take the power of his eyes and move on.
YOU ARE BECOMING A FISH
SILT is basically a simple puzzle game that includes some new mechanics. Our main character is a diver who, for who knows what reasons, begins the story chained at the bottom of the sea. This boy, in addition to doing all the things that divers do, that is, diving (ha), has the extraordinary ability to be able to transport his consciousness to other places, including animated beings and even inanimate objects. If any of that is within our range of “out-of-body” reach, we can assume full control of that being or object and use it at our whim and convenience.
The objective is to find the way to the next section of the map, in puzzles that, with a couple of exceptions, are all solved with the elements that are on the screen at that moment. Thus, in principle we must use our ability to make the fish free us, and start the journey that way. As we advance we will find and use different species of marine fauna, up to a total of 12, each one of them with different abilities and characteristics. Small fish to cross through narrow spaces, hammerhead sharks to break structures, piranhas to bite ropes or cables, eels to interact with electrical elements, and so on. Even, from time to time, we will be able to transport our consciousness to inanimate objects, such as levers, which when moved will allow us to open doors or use elevators.
After solving about six or seven puzzles in each level, we will finally reach the boss fight of each area, which will be one of those aforementioned Goliaths that we were told about in the beginning. The battle, how could it be otherwise, is also resolved with ingenuity, and using everything we have available around us we must hurt the gigantic beasts, until they finally fall and we can steal the power of their eyes.
As I said before, except for the occasional tricky puzzle or one that requires a lot of timing, nothing is too difficult or long. If we pay attention SILT It can be finished quietly in a while, just over an hour as I said before, although during that time it is entertaining and eye-catching. The story, of course, never stops being “weird” and in the end we are left with more questions than answers, but it will have been a short but satisfying little trip.
CUTE DRAWINGS
SILT it’s a very game particular, and not only in terms of history, as I already told you. As seen in the images, the game is made entirely in black and white, an aesthetic that brings a lot of solemnity and mystery to the title. The character and stage designs, although fully 3D, have a filter that makes everything look hand-drawn, which gives everything a very interesting look. In addition, the places we visit are full of changing and “strange” settings, which seem to be remains of some kind of ancient or extraterrestrial civilization, although of course nothing more than what I told at the beginning is never explained to us.
There are good light and flash effects (photosensitive people beware because the game is quite stroboscopic at times), the structures change shape or are destroyed in our path, the giant monsters are very impressive and in general the aesthetic design of the game is quite right.
The sound, on the other hand, is quite limited. There are no voices or music during the game, and the effects are few, so the entire ride is pretty quiet, though I guess that’s how it must feel to be under the sea.
A LIMITED FUN
I don’t have much left to say about SILT. I guess I can’t go on much longer trying to count a game that’s an hour long. But well, the title has a couple of little details that will make us play it more than once, such as the search for hidden collectibles (in the form of other diver bodies that we have to absorb) or the challenge of passing the entire game without dying or once, which increases its replay value a bit. But once that’s done, SILT He doesn’t have much more to offer us. It’s cute and entertaining, that’s undeniable, but it lasts a breath.