The recent explosion in storytelling games has been a great one for fans of more nuanced drama. Not content to simply be puzzles to be solved, these titles have created the kind of 'choose your own' adventure experience you could have only dreamed of growing up. Interactivity, visuals and evolving AI can make for a deep and engrossing tales in which you are less like a passive reader, and more an active participant; as if you are the writer.
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So, it is frustrating that Cubus Games' Sol Invictus, a sci-fi storybook game, is so heavy on the former that you often forget you are not in your Kindle app simply reading a book.
Sol Invictus is the second of a planned sci-fi adventure series called Heavy Metal Thunder by Kyle B. Stiff. It is a long and, at a few times, engrossing narrative about a desperate battle against a host of alien invaders. The previous game, Heavy Metal Thunder, was released back in September. Having played the original is not necessary, though it is definitely recommended. The characters recount the events during the opening of Sol Invictus, but there are definitely parts that are missing that would create a more robust and intriguing world.
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It is three years after a ruthless alien race known only as 'The Invaders', a humanoid/goat-like species with highly advanced technology, has laid waste to Earth. You assume the role of Cromulus, a human soldier suffering from a severe case of amnesia. Cromulus is not your real name, it was given to you for reasons made apparent in the original game. All the soldiers in your units are known as 'fanatics', human beings who are willing to go to any length to save the race - and whose inclusion I will touch on below. The main scenario of Sol Invictus' five-part structure is the titular Operation: Sol Invictus (Latin for 'unconquered sun') in which your team and others are tasked with taking down five of the Invader's gunships in a brazen act of defiance.
The frustration and disappointment with Sol Invictus stems from one of misplaced expectations: I thought I would be the pilot of my own destiny, crafting dialogue trees, making split second decisions that would have profound effects on the universe. While the game does allow you to make your own choices - the options are limited, often allowing you to 'do X or do Y'. Often that translates to 'talk to this person about this' or 'leave this person alone.' Either option will then start up a thick wall of exposition that is good enough - such as fellow soldier Grishnak's backstory - but lacking in the kind of conversational flow you may find even in Mass Effect on the console, or even my personal favorite mobile gamebook, Sorcery!.
Most of the Sol Invictus' "game options" are little more than options of which way to go down a hall during such and such an event. There are some RPG elements present, a full list of attributes like Strength and Dexterity, plus a number of skills and weapon abilities that can affect the options presented to you during certain situations. For instance, during the end chapter you may be asked to hack into a computer, and depending on whether or not you have the Computer skill, the situation will change subtly to accommodate your play-style.
You keep expecting the other shoe to drop, for there to be some major twist towards the end: it's all simulation or a delusion (it's noted in one long section that there is a lot of brain-washing inherent to the military), but nothing ever comes. The end assault is an equal parts exciting and frustrating affair and writer Kyle B. Stiff's at times stiff prose shines here like nowhere else. But the whole thing feels like a B-movie take on a Dan Simmons novel: plenty of action, but little of the mystery and drama. When a gamebook title is mostly book, I hope the story is better than a Gears of War title.
Sol Invictus does offer several replay options, though the choices you make will not change the end result dramatically and will simply alter who lives or dies by the end. The game is a decent gateway title into the storybook genre, as avid readers will enjoy the long chunks of descriptions and interactions. For those searching for a little more control over their story experience, to feel as if their choices ultimately matter, there are dozens of more satisfying options available to them.
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Sol Invictus was reviewed for iOS on an iPhone 5S with a review copy provided by Cubus Games. You can purchase it for $.99 on both the App Store and Google Play.
