You need to deliver a message to the Queen of Ice. However, the road to her palace isn’t fully rendered, and on top of that, some pink characters are out there to stop you. Fortunately, you can defend yourself with two faces and their ability to shoot happiness. If this summary of AbstractPunk demo sounds AI-generated to you, it’s probably because the whole idea of the game is to ponder the chaotic and abnormal consequences of relying too much on this technology.
Happiness is your weapon
The year is 2004. Artificial intelligence governs art, labor, language – and even emotion. In this dystopian, totalitarian world ruled by the Queen of Ice, the use of AI is mandatory for all citizens. You are the simplest Office Clerk who is chosen to pass an official message to her majesty. But in order to do that, you need to deal with rebellion against machine intelligence. Will you obey the Queen of Ice, or will you join the uprising?
AbstractPunk is presented as a soulslike FPS with radical gameplay and unforgiving nature. The demo allowed us to get a taste of that: switching between two faces and shooting happiness projectiles can be quite difficult as enemies are lurking around every corner, eager to end our mission. On top of that, the exploration involves jumping on platforms and navigating movable structures, forcing players to pay more attention to their surroundings. There are also few “broken mirror” stations that let you change locations and upgrade your skills using the ice you collected from defeating enemies.
A really trippy journey
In terms of the actual gameplay, it definitely lacks explanation and guidance. There is nothing to indicate how are we supposed to aim, what is the current objective and in what ways we can achieve it. The enemies may look different, but the only real difference between them is the amount of health they have – no unique gimmicks, just shooting and dodging. While it’s true that the game doesn’t have any mercy for the player, it isn’t really firing you up for a challenge – you’ll be more likely to rage at AI instead. Ultimately, it leads to nowhere.
When it comes to presentation, the visuals were the first thing that drew my attention. Vibrant colors, mixed textures, bizarre environment – they all make up an abstract collage reality that looks both unpolished and complete at the same time. Our characters’ movement is smooth, despite controls feeling clumsy at times. These psychedelic graphics are accompanied by the music with wide variety of styles: there is punk, post-punk, electroclash, coldwave, synth-punk, and many more. I have to admit, some of these tracks have been stuck in my head even after closing the game – especially the songs about Queen of Ice.
We need to talk about AI
That being said, the game’s design has also caused some dispute. With the release of demo version, the title gained mostly negative reviews on Steam due to one particular reason: that being the use of AI (quite ironic given the game’s plot.) The creators stated that they utilized this tool to generate synthetic speech, sounds and characters’ voices, as well as elements and distortions incorporated into the visuals. They explained that this solution allows players to reflect on the future of AI, saying that “rather than ignoring controversy, AbstractPunk makes it part of the story”, including its own construction.
From my point of view, the whole situation highlights the need for discussion about AI in and its regulation in gaming. On the one hand, if we consider games to be a form of art and a medium of individual expression, then relying on artificial intelligence defeats the purpose. On the other hand, if it’s transparent what parts were AI-generated and why they made it to the game – meaning they’re actually proving some point or encouraging players to think – then they could play an important part in shaping the debate and future actions in this regard.
The problem with AbstractPunk’s demo is that the whole idea is implemented in such a way that instead of reflecting on art, humanity or technology, you get overstimulated. Great aesthetics won’t do much if the game is empty inside – abstract ideas are fun, but if they become too detached from reality, they simply won’t work. That’s how I see it now, although I believe that adding more complex mechanics, putting more work and time invested in this title, and also listening to the feedback received from the demo could be enough to turn quite chaotic experience into epic and fun adventure. But that’s something we have to leave for the future.
