A Plague Tale: Innocence is a dark medieval stealth adventure that blends superb gameplay, excellent writing, and amazing presentation into one cohesive experience.

Though there is no shortage of stealth games in the gaming industry, it's rare to find one that has a story that grabs and holds the player. A Plague Tale: Innocence, a new historically-inspired title set in France during the spread of the Black Plague and in the midst of the Hundred Years' War, is one of those rare titles. The game's superb narrative stands out against most other stealth titles like a shining beacon, and this, alongside the fantastic gameplay design and gorgeous visuals and music, solidifies A Plague Tale: Innocence as one of 2019's best gaming experiences.

Family first

A Plague Tale: Innocence

Trying to live in a dying world

A Plague Tale: Innocence is a superb stealth adventure with excellent gameplay, gorgeous presentation, and a fantastic story that shows how the worst of what the world can throw at humanity can bring out the worst of it.

$39 at GMG (Steam)$50 at Microsoft

Brother and sister against the world

At its core, A Plague Tale: Innocence is a story about a brother and sister named Hugo and Amicia clinging to each other in order to survive the perils of 1349 France, which include the invading English army, swarms of rats carrying the Black Plague, and most sinister of all, a mysterious cult called the Inquisition, which broke off from the rest of Christian authority in order to pursue a cure for the disease in ethically disturbing ways. Amicia is only a young teenager and Hugo is just a child afflicted with a dangerous condition, so as you'd expect, trying to make it through these horrors all on their own is extremely traumatic for both of them. As Hugo emotionally struggles to cope with what he's forced to see, Amicia desperately tries to do her best to protect him, all while emotionally struggling herself. To say that A Plague Tale: Innocence is 'heartbreaking' would be an understatement.

To say that A Plague Tale: Innocence is 'heartbreaking' would be an understatement.

To make things worse for the two of them, the Inquisition wants to find Hugo and capture him, thinking his mysterious condition may be related to a cure for the plague. As Amicia and Hugo try to evade them and the disease-carrying rats, poor Amicia is forced to do things that would leave people scarred for life. This ranges from simply killing people outright to tricking them into getting eaten alive by rats, just so she and Hugo can avoid capture. And as the Inquisition keeps chasing them, she's forced to do things like this more and more frequently.

This narrative, though, isn't hopeless. While the terrors that Amicia and Hugo are subjected to are undeniably awful, the bond that they form by relying on each other for survival forms a ray of sunshine amidst the bleakness. Where the Inquisition represents how horrific events like war and a plague outbreak can bring out the worst in people, Amicia and Hugo represent how love, compassion, and empathy can bring out the best in us, even through extreme trauma. This is the core theme of A Plague Tale: Innocence's story, and it's a story that was executed excellently.

While I have a few issues with how some of the story's side characters are handled towards the conclusion of the narrative, the game's writing overall is nothing short of fantastic.

A perfect blend

Gameplay wise, A Plague Tale: Innocence is a satisfying blend of stealth and puzzle gameplay, with horror elements seasoned throughout. For most of the game, you'll be staying hidden from enemies by staying low and distracting them by using Amicia's sling to make distracting noises. This classic stealth formula of watching patrol patterns and then either sneaking through them when you see an opening or creating one yourself with a distraction isn't unique, but it's well done, with the stealth segments towards the latter half of the game in particular standing out as superb.

Since Amicia dies in one hit, fighting is ill-advised, but there are times where you have to. In those moments, you have to rely on some tools in order to survive. One example of these is a special knockout drug that can be used to stealthily take out a foe. Another is a corrosive mixture that can be thrown at an armored enemy's head to make his helmet burn his skin, making him throw it off. This leaves him exposed for a lethal headshot with a rock from Amicia's sling. Tools like these have to be used sparingly, though, because they can only be crafted from materials you find in levels. If you manage to make it through stealth segments without relying on them, you're rewarded with more materials to permanently upgrade your sling, ammunition pouch, or material bag with.

The other main part of the gameplay is puzzle-solving, and this is where the rats take center stage. The core mechanic with them is that they'll eat you if you venture into their area, but you can repel them if you have a light source, such as a torch. This leads to puzzles where you have to get from A to B through large groupings of rats. For example, one puzzle tasks you with igniting dormant braziers. As you get further into the game, however, the puzzles get more complex. Sometimes you'll have to trap the rats in an area by forcing them into it with light, or you'll have to get to a place, take the item you need from it, and go back where you came, instead of simply advancing forward. All of these puzzles are expertly crafted and fun to solve, and sometimes they're really creative, incorporating elements of the stealth segments too.

Both the stealth and puzzle experiences are accentuated by a horror-style atmosphere, mainly composed of unsettling sounds and visuals with the occasional light jump scare. There are also a few boss fights that feel a lot like something straight out of Resident Evil. My favorite of these was an encounter with a huge man covered in plate armor, in which you have to target the buckles that are holding it in place on his body to remove it — all while dodging his massive two-handed mace.

Gorgeous and grotesque

When it comes to presentation, A Plague Tale: Innocence is stunning, both visually and audibly. The graphics are top-notch, and the way the developers brought both the beauty and horrors of the plague-ridden French countryside to life is incredible. There's detail to be found everywhere you look, from the bloody streets in a war-torn village to the warm glow of sunlight against an autumn forest. The musical score is fantastic, too, with tracks that add perfectly to the mood of scenes, regardless of whether they're heart-wrenching, unnerving, or scary. The voice-acting was mostly great, though there are a few times where I feel that it fell flat.

A Plague Tale: Innocence looks, sounds, and plays excellent.

In terms of performance, A Plague Tale: Innocence is awesome, though not perfect. The frame rate is buttery smooth, and the only real issue I encountered was some screen stuttering in the middle of gameplay, but it was never bad enough that it hampered my experience too much. I could see it potentially getting the player killed if it happens at a bad time, though.

Should you buy A Plague Tale: Innocence?

While there are some minor flaws with A Plague Tale: Innocence, the game as a whole is still absolutely fantastic, offering players a gripping narrative, a compelling mix of stealth and puzzle gameplay, and gorgeous audio/visuals. This is, without a doubt, one of the best games of 2019 so far, and I can't recommend it enough.

Pros:

• Fantastic story
• Superb gameplay
• Excellent presentation
• Smooth performance overall

Cons:

• Side characters could be handled better
• Voice acting sometimes falls flat
• Occasional screen hitching

Family first

A Plague Tale: Innocence

Trying to live in a dying world

A Plague Tale: Innocence is a superb stealth adventure with excellent gameplay, gorgeous presentation, and a fantastic story that shows how the worst of what the world can throw at humanity can bring out the worst of it.

$39 at GMG (Steam)$50 at Microsoft

A Plague Tale: Innocence is out now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

The latest from Bossa Studios is a puzzle game with very few satisfying puzzles.

Up until this point, Bossa Studios has been known for one-note but delightfully absurd games that mask huge challenges behind cheery exteriors. "Surgeon Simulator" and "I am Bread" are two of the hardest games I've ever played, but have simple foundations. Perform surgery? Easy enough in a game. What about making a piece of bread move across a kitchen? A little less obvious, but manageable.

However, the developers love playing around with control schemes, which is where the true difficulty comes into play. In Surgeon Simulator, for example, you control every single finger, which makes surgery even more challenging.

That's why I was surprised to pick up The Bradwell Conspiracy, a game that Bossa Studios helped publish, which takes the puzzle-solving the brand is known for and combines it with a single-player, linear narrative. You're a mute protagonist that wakes up after an explosion at a museum and has to find their way out while uncovering the mysteries of the Bradwell family and its corporation. You're equipped with a pair of AR glasses and an SMP, a device that's essentially a portable 3D printer, and you need to use it all to solve puzzles, open new areas, and hopefully get out before the whole place crashes in on itself.

Despite being developed by A Brave Plan (an indie debut), The Bradwell Conspiracy manages not to stray too far from Bossa's brand. It's still a challenging puzzle game with finicky and tough controls. However, I don't think developers were able to succeed in combining the puzzles and the narrative. It creates a game that has a lot of potential and has some standout moments but is ultimately frustrating for no reason and, most unfortunately, arbitrary.

Solve the mystery

The Bradwell Conspiracy

Bottom line: The Bradwell Conspiracy is a game that gets in its own way when it comes to its most important element: puzzles.

Pros:

• Great writing
• Colorful art design
• Intriguing yet predictable mystery

Cons:

• Puzzles are arbitrary
• Controls too finicky
• Game is short
• A lot of issues to fix in Day One patch

See at Microsoft

Bradwell Conspiracy: What I liked

Despite being a puzzle game, The Bradwell Conspiracy's biggest strength is in its writing. The game creates a legitimately intriguing mystery to solve at the Bradwell Foundation, which is built right near Stonehenge and is itself one of our world's biggest mysteries. Dropping in bits about the landmark and how the company has been using it to their advantage does keep you guessing, even if it's easy to understand that it's clearly being used for monetary gain. The villains are given enough depth that even the most nefarious of plans are rooted in sympathy, which makes the reveal at the end more sad than threatening.

The Bradwell Conspiracy's biggest strength is in its writing with three-dimensional villains and great dialogue.

Adding to the writing is some great dialogue, which can be attributed in part to Jane Espenson, who I was surprised to find was brought on as a dialogue consultant. You might not know the name, but you'll know her filmography. She's been all over Hollywood but is probably best known as one of the creative minds behind the witty, snappy dialogue in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

This is apparent here, specifically with Amber, a character who shows up as a face towards the end of the game but is mostly a disembodied voice that helps you along. She's your key point of contact for most of the game, so her dialogue needed to be memorable and convey nuances about her character, and luckily for us, it does. It's sarcastic and funny when it needs to be, but the writers toned it down and grounded it when she needed to be serious. When she interacts with The Guide, AR glasses that your character wears and can be found around the facility, it's not overbearing, but amusingly annoyed. The Guide's narrator has personality as well, which adds humor when he says the equivalent of "does not compute."

The wit also appears in the smallest of places. You have the option to read the emails of certain employees, and while most of them are either dry and straightforward or full of exposition, you can catch glimpses of humor and personality. It's not overwhelming or distracting but adds flavor to the Bradwell Foundation that makes the place seem more alive.

Despite issues I had with the puzzles (more on this later), there are a few in here that feel great to solve. Since these puzzles are large, finding the one thing that can help you cross a point is an accomplishment. Even some of the more frustrating puzzles feel good to complete, especially when the thing at the end is movement in the plot.

Bradwell Conspiracy: What I didn't like

Creating a puzzle game is a tough endeavor. You have to create complex and challenging riddles for the player to solve, but they also need to make sense in context. If there's a narrative, the world where the game takes place has to be understandable even with the addition of sometimes long-winded problem-solving.

The problem with the puzzles isn't just that they're difficult, but that they're arbitary.

The problem with the puzzles in The Bradwell Conspiracy isn't just that they're difficult — what kind of puzzle game would this be if the key component didn't present some sort of challenge? The problem is that they're arbitrary. The puzzles only exist because certain elements of logic were thrown out for the sake of creating said puzzles. For example, you have to create a platform to get to a raft in waist-deep shallow water, even though your character should be able to get into it themselves. The only reason you can't is that there's no "jump" button.

It's even tough to place the objects you create correctly, attempting to place them a centimeter to the right will cause it not to work. This might work better on mobile (the game was released this weekend on Apple Arcade and is also hitting the Nintendo Switch later this week), where the playing field is a lot smaller, but on Xbox, it creates unnecessary frustration. Key bindings weren't optimized for the Xbox, with the X button pulling double duty in some places, which isn't a hinderance but is annoying.

A key aspect of your character is that they can't talk. After the explosion at the start of the game, your Guide tells you that your larynx has been damaged due to smoke inhalation. In order to communicate with Amber, which is mostly done over a comm in your glasses, you have to send her pictures. This narrative element becomes important when you need her to control something remotely. Unlike other puzzle games with a mute protagonist, this comes off less like a story choice and more like an excuse, another logic break that only creates another obstacle for the player.

Let's take a look at other Bossa games to get an idea of how this should be done. The whole idea of Surgeon Simulator is that the controls are nearly impossible to use. The challenge therein is not just about trying to get through a level, but also in learning how to navigate each finger to perform a complex task. I am Bread is similar, but with even more irreverence to counteract the difficulty of the game. What separates these two games from The Bradwell Conspiracy though, is that they're one-note. You, as the player, can excuse the straying from logic because the ideas are absurd, and the art is heavily stylized in its presentation. It feels like you're playing around in a cartoon, where the basis doesn't matter so much as the punchline. When there's little narrative to complete or character development to get through, it's forgivable to spend hours on surgery.

The Bradwell Conspiracy, on the other hand, seemingly takes place in a version of the real world. The tutorial level teaches you how to walk, crawl, and how to use your Guide interface, and the absence of things like jumping or talking is telling since there's no reason why the shouldn't have been omitted. Unless, of course, you're just making things tougher for the player.

There is a Day One patch

A lot of other issues I had will hopefully be fixed in the Day One patch. However, I'm going to list some of my concerns here for disclosure's sake. I had to restart the game multiple times because an element would break, or I'd get stuck in a section that was impossible to get out of without glitching the area. I also had performance issues on my Xbox One with frame rate drops at important moments or outright freezes that made me think the game was going to crash.

Luckily there are only a couple of timed puzzles, so a frame rate drop isn't going to impact gameplay greatly. More troublesome was how the picture-sending mechanic, which is mandatory to complete certain puzzles, would stop working. Restarting the game solved the issue, and the game saves often enough that you don't have to backtrack too much. However, having to complete some complicated puzzles again was agonizing, especially when some of the issues listed above came back into play.

I'll have to go back into the game and check to see what's been updated with the Day One patch, but for now, we can only speculate and hope that some of these issues were addressed.

Final thoughts

The Bradwell Conspiracy is the kind of puzzle game that fans of the genre will probably enjoy regardless of how much the puzzles don't actually fit into the established logic of the world. The solutions are picky, and some choices don't make any sense. However, if you like puzzles and want more of them, then The Bradwell Conspiracy will probably scratch that itch.

It's when you look closer that you realize the game is creating obstacles for the sake of the challenge rather than letting them mesh naturally. It's frustrating as a player to not be able to do basic tasks because the developers wanted to make a game tougher, but it makes the choice more glaring. It's distracting from what is some decent writing and a mystery that, while predictable, still manages to hit some emotional notes.

Bossa spent years making games where the challenges were at the forefront, and now that there needs to be a balance, it struggled.

The Bradwell Conspiracy releases Oct. 8, 2019, on PlayStation 4 and PC, Oct. 10 on the Nintendo Switch, and Oct. 11 on Xbox One. The game is already out on Apple Arcade.

Solve the mystery

The Bradwell Conspiracy

$20 at Microsoft

A puzzle game for the diehards

The Bradwell Conspiracy doesn't do enough to deliver on puzzles, but with good writing, some big puzzle game fans might find some enjoyment.

Get more Xbox

Xbox

Xbox One X from $380 at AmazonXbox One S from $249 at Amazon

• Xbox One S vs. Xbox One X: Which should you buy?
• Best Xbox One X and Xbox One S Accessories
• Best Xbox One Headsets 2019
• Best Xbox One Wireless Headsets 2019
• Best Xbox Controller Charging Stations in 2019

The game was reviewed on an Xbox One with copies provided by the publisher.

Update: Clarified that Bossa Studios was the publisher, not the developer of the game.

A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle game that allows you to control time to sneak around robots and reach safety.

Sometimes after a long day, I like to sit back and enjoy a challenging puzzle game with my cat on my lap. I guess that's because I like having problems that I can solve, which gives me some semblance of control in my life. When I saw that Urnique Studios had released Timelie for PC and that it centered on solving puzzles, I knew I wanted to play it. This feeling only grew when I saw that a lot of the action centered around a cat.

This game is all about figuring out the precise way to move a girl and a cat through each level to avoid vicious robots and find a way to safety. At the bottom of the screen, players can control time like they would the progression of a music player. Slide right to move forward in time or slide left to go back in time. Players then choose what actions the girl and cat should take at every moment. If need be, they can rewind back in time and choose a different course of action to keep the feline and the girl from harm.

The girl can interact with pinpads to open locked doors and also can pick up power cubes that allow her to repair broken areas of the floor or attack robots. The cat can walk through small air vents where the girl and robots cannot follow and can meow to distract enemies. As you can imagine, this leads to some complicated yet rewarding problem-solving. After playing through the whole thing, I can say that Timelie is an excellent game for anyone who worships cats or enjoys puzzle games.

Control time

Timelie

Bottom line: Timelie is a great puzzle game for any kind of player to enjoy. It allows you to control time as you maneuver a cat and a girl around dangerous robots. The puzzles are challenging, the art style is beautiful, and the game builds to an intriguing ending.

Pros

• Challenging puzzles
• Great time manipulation mechanics
• Gorgeous art style
• Chill music

Cons

• Some levels are a little frustrating

$19 at Steam

Timelie What I like

Timelie is an excellent game for anyone who enjoys critical thinking and problem-solving. Here are all the things I liked about this game.

Challenging puzzles Great time manipulation mechanics

Timelie starts off simply enough by quickly walking you through the tutorial phase and then slowly increases the difficulty while adding more mechanics for you to use. It never felt like it was holding my hand too much. In fact, there were times when I only discovered I could do something after some trial and error.

Timelie does an excellent job of giving you enough control while also providing mechanics that make sense.

The puzzles themselves are challenging and require some brainpower. You click at various squares on the ground to choose a pathway for both the cat and the girl to walk in. Players can nudge time forward a frame by pressing F or nudge it backward a frame by pressing A on the keyboard. As time goes on, you need to figure out the best way to open locked doors and maneuver around the hostile robots in your path.

I got stuck a few times and had to come at the levels with very different tactics to make it to the end. As far as time manipulation games go, this one does an outstanding job of giving you enough control while also providing mechanics that make sense. Once you know the rules, it's your job to think creatively to get yourself out of a jam. And let me tell you, they can be pretty tricky. But once you solve them, you can feel pretty accomplished for doing so.

The levels have hidden awards that players can earn by solving problems the harder way. For instance, one level awarded me for figuring out a way to get to the end without using any of the power cubes I'd collected. So, if you're a completionist or the kind of person who likes punishment, going back and getting each of these trophies will add replay value for you. Without going back to play any of the levels, I got about 6 hours out of the game before reaching the ending.

What made the game even more impressive was the unique challenges it threw at you in the final chapter. Without saying too much, you basically have to find ways to get around the levels while also dealing with the consequences of your previous actions. It really kept things interesting for me and made each new situation feel novel.

Gorgeous art and music Imagery and sound fits the game perfectly

The art style and soundtrack employed for the game sets the right mood. At the start, the world is dark and mysterious, with strange objects floating beneath you. Some of these items are chess pieces, syringes, or handcuffs; things that make you feel a little uneasy. As you continue forward, more light comes to the levels, and you come across several icons. It feels as though Timelie is telling a more in-depth story that you have to contemplate to understand. This feels especially true once you make it to the end of the game and watch the final scenes.

The music is equally important. It starts off somewhat chill and atmospheric and eventually changes to match the dire situations you find yourself in. Whether you're in one of the game's calmer moments or one of the split-second decision moments, the music gives you the right amount of energy.

Timelie What I don't like

I loved Timelie overall, but there's one thing that I didn't like as much.

Levels can be frustrating Solutions can be a little too precise

While I really appreciated the difficulty on many of these levels, it also felt like some of them were a little too specific for how they needed to be solved. For instance, sometimes, it felt like the difference between death and life was a matter of milliseconds for when I chose to move the cat or the girl. If there are one or two moments like this, then that's not bad, but when you hit a level where it feels like every action you take is broken down like this, gameplay becomes a bit tedious.

Some puzzles felt a little tedious to solve.

Granted, this is a time manipulation game, so making split decisions isn't the hardest thing since you can rewind and make changes without actually dying. Fortunately, I only felt this way on a few of the levels within each of the five chapters.

Timelie Should you buy it?

I very much enjoyed playing Timelie. It offered roughly six hours of unique challenges that had me thinking really hard. The art style is beautiful and works really well with the main mechanics and music employed in the game. If you're a fan of puzzle games or time manipulation games, then you really ought to consider adding this one to your library.

The only thing I didn't like that much was how tedious some of the puzzles became towards the end of the game. While I appreciate the difficulty of the game overall, there were definitely moments where playing felt more like it was about making exact moves rather than working towards solving a puzzle. Fortunately, there were only a couple of levels within the five chapters that really felt this way for me. Otherwise, Timelie was an excellent way for me to exercise my brain and unwind.

Control time

Timelie

$19 at Steam

Control time and evade evil robots

Determine what actions a young girl and an orange cat should take to evade robots, unlock doors, and solve various puzzles. If something goes wrong, rewind time and try something new.