Unique. That’s the best word to describe Hypno Vol. 1 – a where you play the role of a psychotic hypnotist who kills for pleasure. Instead of controlling an actual character on screen, all people are represented by dots, on a 1 dimensional black and white playing field. Does it sound strange?
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You start watching a series of grayscale images that tell a story. Five minutes later, you’re looking at a large grid made up completely of black squares, lines, and dots. You access any area on the map immediately, so you have freedom to figure out what’s going on. This game is rather morbid, as your sole intention is killing for pleasure, but you don’t get free reign on everything. You meet a guy over your cell phone, and once you’ve had a little free practice, you enter the missions stage of the game. Missions involve killing of marked targets, and often require a specific method as well.
Killing methods tie with the games’ intentions system. Being a hypnotist, you can stop others in the “streets” and rip their intentions, and then go to someone else, and use those intentions to make them perform a task. For example, you find a person about to into the sports store – stop them before entering, use the menu and select “Rip Intentions”. Go to another person, and now you have the option to make them go to that location. Locations in the game are important as each place has specific items for your murderous rage. If you’re required to kill 3 persons with a bat, go to the sports store, or with a knife, go to the restaurant. Once you learn a specific intention, it’s permanently available to use, and the same thing can be said regarding the weapons.
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Missions in the make things a little more challenging. A mysterious character wants certain people killed, and sometimes you’re required to kill a certain number of people with specified weaponry. Other missions require you to kill multiple marked characters but you’re limited on time, as they somehow discover you and attempt to run home – causing you to rush after them on a restricted path, and kill them before they escape. If you fail a mission, you can simply restart that mission and you don’t lose any game progress.
Visually, the game is presented almost completely in grayscale, and on a 1 dimensional playing surface. It may sound as though it lacks something, but it’s actually well laid out for what you’re required to do. All buildings are clearly labeled, so you won’t have any confusing as to where you’ve got to go and who you’ve got to kill. Sound effects are heard when you kill someone, such as the sound of choking someone with your bare hands, and beating them with a bat and hearing that *crack!*. Everything about it sounds basic, yet the game has something that just pulls you in and makes it enjoyable.
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Hypno Vol. 1 runs for 400 :MSPoints:, which might be slightly high, but it’s definitely a title you should at least try out. It feels more story-driven than most indie titles, so if that’s your thing, you should enjoy it. The will offer you at least 3-4 hours of playtime, with the chance to be much longer as you have complete freedom of what you do between accepting your missions. For more information and to try the demo, check out the Marketplace.
Review by Bryan Tremblay
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