Irony Curtain (Review)
By Rae
Evan has a big, far-off dream.
He’s tired of the complications of democratic life and capitalism.What he craves is the beautiful simplicity and shared wealth of a communistlifestyle. Luckily for him, the chance comes unexpectedly one afternoon, whenhe’s approached by the beautiful Anna with an invitation to come with her toMatryoshka. What ensues is a comedy of errors and red tape – Ivan’s gotten hisdream, but soon he finds that things are both much more complicated and muchmore dangerous than he really expected.
From overly complex applications for everything from usingthe bathroom to ordering food, to a checklist of requirements before they canleave the hotel, players are faced with plenty of puzzles and willfullyconfusing tasks. It’s both strangely fascinating and frustrating – running fromdesk to desk, putting together your own stamps, figuring out how to get permissionfor the numerous things you need to do to progress.
The gameplay is point and click, like many of Artifex Mundi’s games, and it does it very well. The puzzles are varied in style and type – something I really appreciate because it never starts to feel stale or boring. They’re also a decent difficulty. Some are a little easier than others, but none are mind-blowingly hard. At times when I had trouble knowing what to do next, I’d eventually get it and find myself thinking that it was actually rather clever.
The best detail, in my opinion, was the addition of a trigger to temporarily see which items you can interact with. By default, they aren't pointed out. But hitting space shows you a quick, easy layout of things you might want to try clicking on. This helped keep the game from seeming impossible, while also not making it seem too obvious or easy.
I had the opportunity to chat about Irony Curtain at theArtifex Mundi booth at PAX West 2018. While Irony Curtain is, of course, a workof fiction, it was created from the histories of people who grew up and lived undercommunist governments. The team listened to stories, bringing in real details asthey created the game. The goal? To bring some of the realities of communism toyounger generations, whose main experience often comes from pop culture.
Now, I’m not going to give political commentary here – art is art, and that's how I want to evaluate it as well. I believe the team accomplished exactly what they wanted to in the crafting of Irony Curtain. It was often a mix between ridiculous and uncomfortable, that keeps the player going “really? I have to do that?” Danger always feels a little close, even with the humorous backdrop. Evan’s ignorance about the world he’s stepped into feels surreal as he tries to explain away damning evidence of the state of Matryoshka.
At times, the message could be a little bit overbearing – Irony Curtain’s puzzles and characters do an amazing job of setting up a bleak, uncomfortable image of a communist regime. Even so, it seems to think it needs to tell us its message, despite the fact that it’s already showing it just fine. The end result leads this excellent game to sometimes sound a little like a propaganda ad with slightly too-obvious dialogue. I suppose that this is probably a callback to actual propaganda, which sometimes highlighted its message as much and often as possible, but at times I wanted to smack Evan for saying the word "COMMUNISM" as if it should be in all capital letters again and again.
Otherwise, the writing was often hilarious, and some great references could be found throughout the dialogue and the world (my favourite was the One Ring – try to spot it!). A few times, the dialogue did devolve into rather crude humour, but I think my dislike for that is more of a personal bias and nothing I could hold against them. This was the first time I streamed a game prior to reviewing, and my viewers all agreed that the dialogue was brilliant – there were plenty of laughs and shocking moments, and we truly had a great time.
When it comes to point and click, you're going to spend a lot of time staring at the same scenes for a long time. As a result, the ambiance really, really matters. The art is lovely, and the music is great as well – in fact, Irony Curtain boasts a soundtrack worked on by Peter McConnell (Grim Fandango, Hearthstone) and Arkadiusz Reikowski (Layers of Fear, >Observer_). With bold colours, occasional animated cutscenes, and lots of detail, it was certainly enjoyable, and I never got tired of listening to an area. The soundtrack was perfectly fitting – always present and noticeable, but never in a bad way. The voice acting was also excellent – I loved the full voicing and the high-quality acting throughout. All these details leave Irony Curtain feeling polished and modern, even as it calls back to classic point and click games.
If you like point and click or puzzle games, Irony Curtain is a great one – the subject matter is quirky and ridiculous in a way that keeps the player surprised (and astounded). Occasionally the dialogue tries to hammer the point home a little too hard, but overall I was happy with my experience and others seemed to really enjoy it as well. For me, it’s another great puzzle adventure from Artifex, and I can’t wait to finish it. Pour out a drink, comrade, and enjoy your trip to Matryoshka!