Betrayer

You wake up on a beach to see the ship you were traveling in destroyed. You have no water, no supplies and no map. Luckily there’s a guard post near by and a road right next to it. With no clue as to where you are, you make your way along the forest path and immediately sense that something about this place feels unnatural.

As you follow the discovered road, an unknown woman in a red cape sends a warning note attached to an arrow, telling you to leave this place or be forever trapped. Since that’s not an option, you push on.

Shorter along the path, a weapon merchant seems to have left his goods guarded by a simple note which tells you to help yourself to a bow and some arrows. With a weapon in your hands you feel a bit more secure, but you are not prepared for what follows.

Right from the start, the low-key black and white environment captivates and immediately immerses you into the surrounding world. And what a beautiful one it is. The trees and grass sway as the wind commands and you feel an eerie presence every time you hear movement in the branches and foliage. Audio is very close to being perfect.

The world in Betrayer is in black and white with a contrast between the two which does wonders to the feeling you have when playing. Enemies are highlighted with a red shade and so are objects you can interact with. It makes things a bit easier to spot which could be a disadvantage to the entire mystery side of the game but it does look great.

There is no background for your character, you don’t know if you’re a simple peasant or a trained soldier but regardless of the case, you still need to pick up a weapon and fight. Arrows will bounce off the enemy’s armor if you aim in the wrong place, pistols and muskets take a while to reload and having place to hide behind as they do is crucial.

Betrayer also implements a stealth mode where you can use the sound of the wind through the grass to sneak up on enemies and take them down with a swift and powerful blow. You do need to be careful, even though you’re hiding, if you’re not doing a good job arrows and bullets will come your way with no warning. You can’t take too much damage and the enemy is at times very tough.

There is no hesitation to fight when saying that Betrayer is a game worth playing especially if you’re into action adventure games that take place in 17th century. As you piece together each clue you find, the story becomes more interesting and takes you farther away from the land of the living.