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Signalis
2022 video game From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Signalis is a survival horror video game developed by Hamburg-based rose-engine and published by Humble Games and Playism. The player controls a gynoid named Elster as she aims to solve supernatural mysteries after waking up in a hostile mining facility.
The game was designed to replicate the graphics and gameplay of the fifth generation video games, drawing inspiration from Silent Hill and Resident Evil series. Additional aesthetic influence came from traditional artworks and films that contained the themes of memory. Signalis was released for Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 27, 2022. It received generally positive reviews upon release, and was nominated for and won numerous awards.
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Gameplay
The core gameplay consists of top-down shooter elements from a top-down 2.5D perspective, with occasional puzzle elements. Puzzles vary from manipulating switches and dials, to searching for certain radio frequencies.[2]
Difficulty and thematic elements are enhanced through the use of resource management as a gameplay and narrative mechanic. Elster is limited to six items on her person, including weapons, ammunition and key items for use in puzzle-solving and unlocking doors. In the fashion of Resident Evil, another survival horror series, there are safe rooms that allow the player to save progress and store their items for future use.[3][4]
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Synopsis
Signalis is set in a retrofuturist world,[5] in a planetary system reminiscent of the Solar System that is governed by the totalitarian Eusan Nation, which remains at war with the Eusan Empire, from which it broke away. The Nation employs Replikas, "biosynthetic clones manufactured to emulate model workers and soldiers".[6] Also within the game are humans, or Gestalts, defined in-universe as "a person that is not a Replika".[7]
The player character, Elster, is a ship technician Replika unit[8] who awakens from suspended animation in the wreck of her crashed scout shuttle and sets out to look for the human pilot of her ship. Entering a vast mining facility, she must puzzle out the strange, possibly supernatural plague which has killed most of the staff –and survive the remaining "Corrupted".[9] As Elster searches for her shipmate, she uncovers lost memories and forgotten relationships as she enters a recursive time loop.[7]
The game has LGBTQ+ themes throughout the story, as it is it slowly revealed that Elster is in search of her female Gestalt lover.[10] The game features multiple endings depending on the choices of the player.[11]
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Development
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The game was developed by the two person German studio rose-engine, with development beginning in 2014.[4][12] Additional help was brought on through external composers.[2] The game was released across multiple platforms on October 27, 2022.[5] Publishing was handled by Humble Games and Playism.[12]
Narratively and in structure Signalis is influenced by the Silent Hill and Resident Evil series.[13][14][2][15] Aesthetically the game takes inspiration from the graphics of the fifth generation of video game consoles, particularly from the original PlayStation. A CRT mode further mimics the mise en scene.[5][16] Additional aesthetic influence comes from more traditional artwork, incorporating The Shore of Oblivion by Eugen Bracht as well as Arnold Böcklin's Isle of the Dead into the game.[8] Visual influences are also taken from anime such as Neon Genesis Evangelion.[17]
Literary influences include "The Festival" by H. P. Lovecraft and The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers.[2][5] Too, the films of Stanley Kubrick, Hideaki Anno and David Lynch helped shape the narrative's themes of identity and memory in the game.[18]
The game's music was co-composed by 1000 Eyes and Cicada Sirens.[10] In February 2024, rose-engine collaborated with the band Health to create a music video for their song "Don't Try" featuring gameplay footage from Signalis.[19]
Reception
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Reception
Signalis received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic,[20] and 85% of critics recommended the game, according to OpenCritic.[21] Critics generally praised the atmosphere and environmental storytelling of the game, although the limited inventory and combat received criticism.[22][4][2]
Some reviewers offered praise of the overall game, while noting a specific aspect that they felt held it back. The Verge noted issues with a few puzzles, but praised the overall game.[9] GameSpot noted that the aiming was "unreliable", while Nintendo Life instead critiqued that the boss fights of the game were not well suited to the combat system.[24] MetalSucks described the game as "a dark love story caught up in a retrofuture survival horror masterwork".[17]
The game was included on Polygon's list of the best games of 2022.[27] Willa Rowe, in a review published by Inverse, referred to the game as the "best horror game of 2022".[28] The game was included on PC Gamer's list of the top 100 PC games of all time.[29]
Accolades
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References
External links
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