Rather than simply eavesdropping on Niko’s conversations with others, this establishes a much more meaningful relationship between player and character. Niko routinely communicates with you specifically, sharing personal information and even asking for some in return, by way of selectable dialog responses. The game utilizes a number of fourth-wall-breaking techniques in an effort to reduce the distance between the player and its world to zero. OneShot takes liberties with your Steam account, gathering this sort of data and using it in-game in an attempt to catch you by surprise and draw you in far deeper than expected. The fact that you yourself have been cast in the game becomes clear quite early on, when Niko addresses you directly by name, despite there having been absolutely no prompt to enter one’s name previously. That’s not to say you are some divine avatar rather, each player will play him- or herself, a being participating in events via the computer terminal in their own home. Like the young protagonist, you are given an active role in shaping the world’s fate, not merely as a conduit for controlling Niko but as more of a godly presence that Niko routinely converses with, as in prayer. The player, embodying an omnipotent presence that guides Niko through the environment and helps in solving puzzles, takes on a special role in the narrative. Niko does not embark on this journey alone. Niko, however, bears the one item that could spell salvation for this planet – a glowing light bulb that might somehow be used to replace the darkened sun, provided Niko is able to complete a journey to a distant tower that is said to house the sun at its top. The sun here was extinguished some time ago, and the scant inhabitants are surviving any way they can, mostly through a mixed reliance on outdated technology and bioluminescent organisms. In broad strokes, it is a story about a young child, Niko, who’s been whisked away from home and taken to a world on the brink of ruin in order to save it. It’s hard to compartmentalize OneShot’s story in any way, really, since quite a bit of it is open to interpretation and left purposely vague. Still, the experimental and oddly alien feel that results doesn’t always lead to the desired level of investment, and the attempts at eliciting an emotional response fell flatter than I wish they had.
No spoilers oneshot guide software#
Making use of a persistent world that seems to truly exist on the other side of the monitor, rather than a piece of software dependent on loading save game files, is one way the game sets itself apart routinely breaking the fourth wall between the player and in-game avatar is another. During the brief four-odd hour commitment that OneShot requires, it manages to create a memorably unique, if not exactly flawless experience that bucks the trend on quite a few genre cornerstones.