Asemblance Oversight Review: Looper

Please note, this review contains spoilers for the first chapter of this series; you can check out my review here if you happened to miss it. 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed stories that let the viewer draw their own conclusions. If done properly, this will promote conversation and encourage revisiting the narrative again and again; if failed, the participant will lack interest or chalk it up to poor story telling. With the first Asemblance, the story revolved around a workaholic that lost his significant other due to being away in their time of need. The story drew me in with its horror sci-fi vibe and I couldn’t wait to see where the next chapter went.

The follow up Asemblance: Oversight takes place within the same world, where a shady corporation is exploring the technology behind going into memories and changing them, in a quasi-time travel-ish manner. Instead of following the same installation from the original game, this entry takes place on what we find out is one of four of the Asemblance locations and focuses more on story than the personal issues the first game presented. This answers some of the questions you may have in regards to the how’s and why’s, but I found this story to be far less interesting than the original.

Much like the original, you’ll need to explore the few areas offered and interact with the world, which typically equates to zooming in or selecting an item in the game world; often times multiple things in a specific order. After the correct order is discovered, you’ll unlock one of the many endings, resulting in you at the start of the game, with minor changes being in place from the get go. All in all, this is another walking simulator.

The controls are carbon copies of the original, with only a few face buttons being used, the sticks being assigned to movement and looking, and the triggers resulting in zooming or sprinting. The controls work as they should, although sprinting feels like you are often walking in waist deep water, which makes exploring the small areas much more time consuming than it should be.

Not only is the overall theme different, the presentation has changed quite a bit; the horror themes are barely present in this entry. The AI’s constantly changing voices, tones, and directives, creating a small sense of mystery or dread, but very rarely did I feel threatened in my time with the game. I am glad they opted to take the high road and avoid some of the off putting jump scares that the first included, but there isn’t much here in the form of creepiness. You’ll see a few ominous beings in hazmat suits as well as a room that looks like an oil drum exploded, but outside of this everything looks pretty normal; and let’s be honest, normal is boring.

The textures found in the game have been cranked to the max. While the first entry was pretty to look at, this go around almost everything looks photo realistic, from the wood grain to the rocky textures of the outdoor setting, almost everything looks perfect. There are some plants that appear at times in the outdoor setting that look a bit flat, appearing even more out of place when they move gently with the breeze.

Much like the first game, the title is a bit short on content; I was able to complete most of the endings in under an hour with little reason to revisit the game. If you have already invested in what the world of Asemblance has to offer, I would recommend purchasing Oversight, even if there are just as many new questions (if not more) than the original; the titles both offer a thought provoking look at the mind.

7 out of 10

Pros:

  • Great Concept That Sinks its Teeth Into You
  • Impressive Visuals

Cons:

  • Super Short
  • Lacking the Horror Elements Featured In the Original
  • The Sprint Feature

Asemblance: Oversight was developed and published by Nilo Studios. The game launched on PC and PS4 on May 15th, 2018, and is expected in Q2 of 2018 for X1, for $9.99. The PS4 version of the game was provided to us for review. If you’d like to see more of Asemblance: Oversight, check out the official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

Check out OpenCritic for a better idea of how our review stacks against others.

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