Camera Obscura Review

Simplicity is underrated.

There's no doubt that retro-style games are making a comeback. Casual gamers like the simplicity, core gamers love the novelty, and both groups appreciate the low price. Camera Obscura is a new side-scrolling puzzle/platformer from Anteater Games that could have easily been made in the '90s, but it still provides an interesting challenge that will appeal to modern gamers.

Camera obscura, which is Latin for “dark chamber," is both an accurate description of early box cameras and also a metaphor for the gloomy tower in which the game takes place. As the story begins, you take control of an unnamed protagonist armed only with a magical camera that can manipulate the environment. The protagonist enters a giant, mysterious tower that stretches far into the sky and proceeds to ascend to the top. It's unknown why the tower exists and why it was abandoned, but you can uncover the secrets by finding pictures scattered throughout the environment.

At its core, Camera Obscura is a very challenging platformer that requires pixel-perfect precision in both movement and jumps. Since the protagonist moves at a jogging pace, it's easy to fall off small platforms to your doom or mistime jumps. Fortunately, there's an endless supply of lives, and you usually respawn close to where you died. Additional challenge is provided by enemies like deadly slime creatures and flying bats that instantly kill players when they're touched. When you add the Afterimage mechanic to the mix, the resulting difficulty may have you cursing your screen so much that neighbors will wonder if you have Tourette Syndrome.

One button press is all it takes to initiate the innovative Afterimage flash effect that clones the environment for a few seconds. When this occurs, the player can move to the side or jump up or down to move the Afterimage in the same direction. This process can create bridges to run on or steps to climb, freeze moving platforms, and even trap or crush enemies. It seems like a simple concept, but the Afterimage can be used in a wide variety of ways that depend on your imagination. Since the effect only lasts for a few seconds, the chance of making a mistake is greatly amplified, especially when trying to rush through a level.

Speaking of which, this game has 57 maps that take place both inside and outside of the tower. Players can earn one bronze, silver, or gold medal for each map depending on the time it takes to finish a map and one medal for how many afterimage flashes they used. Replaying maps to earn gold medals helps to extend the game's length for perfectionists and anyone who desires a difficult challenge. In addition, any player can utilize the user-friendly level editor to create and upload maps to further extend the replay value. Hopefully the community will take advantage of this feature to keep this game from becoming… ahem… obscura.

Although the retro visuals are pixelated, they still look very cool. The blocky aesthetic of the main environments remind me of Dig Dug, but with more stylish and detailed backgrounds. I also appreciate the beautiful soundtrack that puts me in a mellow mood with its cathartic melodies. It's just too bad that, just like exploring any dark room, a few bugs tarnish the experience. My biggest gripe is how customized controls reset to their default setup every time the game is launched. Other launch problems include low framerates and random crashes.

Camera Obscura is definitely a niche game with simplistic gameplay, but it has a certain charm that will captivate anyone who gives it a try.