Black Mirror II hands-on archived preview
When last we visited the accursed Gordon family within the stone walls of Black Mirror Castle, a tormented Samuel was dramatically pl…
Whoa! Hold on, better not go there, as the stunning conclusion of the original Black Mirror is not to be spoiled. And there’s really no need to, as the upcoming sequel not only takes place twelve years after the events of the first game, it doesn’t even start in the same troubled English village. In fact, Black Mirror II does a surprisingly long, slow burn on the east coast of the United States, only gradually building towards an inevitable return to the menacing environs of Willow Creek once again. I recently had the chance to put a late beta through its paces, and discovered a game that’s a quite a bit different in several key ways, though still offering plenty of reason to believe this will be a successor worthy of the Black Mirror name.
This time around, it’s 1993, and players control young Darren Michaels, a university student and part-time photographer visiting his mother during school break in Maine. Sporting faded blue jeans with perpetually mussed hair, Darren is rather bitterly trying to make ends meet with a dead-end job at the local photo store. The quaint little one-stoplight seaside town of Biddeford provides a counterpoint to the gloomy Willow Creek, with its ‘50s-era diner and showy convertibles parked on the streets, though you’ll spend most of your time popping in and out of the hospital, police station, and a couple of neighbouring shops, as your stay here is going to be anything but a vacation.
What Black Mirror II does have in common with the original is an unlikely, and rather unlikeable, protagonist. Instead of Samuel Gordon’s stuffy arrogance, here Darren’s attitude reflects a chip-on-the-shoulder, occasionally foul-mouthed disdain for others. Then again, given who he’s up against, more than a little contempt is deserved. From his woman-groping scumbag boss to a super-patriot war vet with no patience for ungrateful whippersnappers to a police force that seems content to treat evidence as optional, there’s ample reason to feel hostile. And that’s on a good day, but events quickly pass bad and go straight to ugly from there. A mysterious stranger is seen lurking around town, Darren’s mother has an accident and is barely clinging to life, and a newfound love interest finds herself in a world of hurt as well. And why do all these little details keep popping up that relate back to a certain town in England he’s never even heard of?
It’s a curious choice to spend so long in Biddeford, as your adventure there will span quite a few hours all on its own. It has so little to do with Black Mirror at first that it feels more like a spin-off than sequel. Slowly but surely, though, the pieces begin to fall into place, and if it takes a while to get there, by the time you finally do cross continents, you’re primed and ready for what lies ahead. By then you’ll likely have figured out where the story is going (though not where it ends), but Darren won’t, and it’s twisted fun to lead him into ever darker, more dangerous exploits.
Once back in the Old World, series fans will recognize several familiar names and places, though they’re all a little worse for wear. The former sanatorium is now a hotel, a Welsh manor lies in ruins, and Willow Creek itself is all but deserted. One new addition, however, is the town museum, devoted exclusively to the gruesome events of the first game. Among the mementos are a couple of schlock displays of grizzly murders that are an absolute riot. I literally laughed out loud at the animatronic displays (which I believe was intended – either that or it says more about myself than I meant to disclose). And of course you’ll get to explore the castle again, and spend some time underground as well. The locations and unfolding plot all tie together quite nicely, and your humble beginnings in Maine will seem like a distant memory before long.
You can (and likely will, several times) die in Black Mirror II, but the game auto-saves each time at a spot immediately beforehand, and avoiding death is a simple matter of smart thinking, not fast reflexes. The gameplay throughout is very traditional, consisting largely of inventory puzzles and the occasional icon-based conversation. You’ll do such things as developing film, distracting wary observers, and using a basic knowledge of science in a variety of ways. I also encountered a few standalone logic puzzles, some codes to decipher, and even a small maze to navigate. With a few notable exceptions, puzzle solutions are fairly intuitive, but there’s a degree of inconsistency in linearity at times. Often you can collect anything that isn’t nailed down, but occasionally Darren will refuse to grab something or perform an action without an established reason.
Along the way, a journal keeps track of your current goals, and if you ever do get stuck, the hotspot highlighter will come in handy on numerous occasions. The reason isn’t so much unfair pixel hunting, but rather the abundance of optional hotspots on each screen, making it easy to overlook something important. All interaction is carried out with simple point-and-click controls, though you must click hotspots until they disappear (once exhausted) or begin to repeat, alerting you that further interaction will be required at some point. Darren’s a bit of a pokey walker, but double-clicking hotspots will take him there immediately, and a quick travel map makes getting around even faster, though it’s important to stroll around as well, as the screen will scroll in some unexpected places.
Every observation is fully voiced, and even the most devoted Black Mirror fans might be sweating this issue. The original game was marred by notoriously poor voice acting, but I’m afraid I can’t settle the matter definitively for the sequel just yet. Being a work-in-progress, the preview version amusingly kept switching back and forth between English and German dialogue (though fully subtitled in English). I’m assuming the currently-recorded parts will still be included in the final, and I was largely pleased with what I heard. The supposedly born-and-bred Willow Creekers have curiously different British accents, and Darren tries a little too hard to consistently nail his Baw-ston delivery, but there’s nothing here so far that seriously detracts from the game. If there is, it’s easy enough to click ahead through the dialogues.
The visual design was a large part of the first game’s appeal, and while it may not have quite the eye-popping impact this time around, Black Mirror II is nevertheless a sharp-looking game. Graphics are crisp and detailed, nicely evoking both the laid-back mood of Biddeford and the oppressive dreariness of rainy Willow Creek, becoming increasingly atmospheric the closer Darren gets to the horrific secrets awaiting him. Characters’ mouths never move during dialogue, but weather changes over time, day turns to night, and Darren even changes clothes several times over the course of the game, adding a degree of realism to his increasingly surreal adventure. The soundtrack is subtle and moody, meanwhile, often giving way to silence for long stretches, which makes the music all the more effective when it resumes, heavy on strings and piano in disturbing, often discordant pieces.
Although I haven’t yet finished, I can already declare that Black Mirror II is a fairly lengthy, substantial adventure. Every time I expected the story to suddenly hurtle headlong toward a finale, I found myself knee-deep (sometimes literally) in another new scene that lead in new and interesting directions. This works against the game somewhat at the beginning, as players may find themselves impatient for a connection to its predecessor, but as the stakes get higher and the plot grows thicker, you’ll welcome the opportunity to continue exploring, even if you do find yourself continually up Willow Creek without a paddle. Whether for newcomers or fans of the original, then, the Gordon family curse looks to be a blessing once again, so don’t wander off, as Black Mirror II will be out at the end of April.
