the white chamber

5
I’m honestly surprised schizoPOP could only rate this four out of five. Sure, compared to a team of professionals who sit down and analyze every part of the storyboard to make it fit seamlessly, the amateur cracks in this otherwise flawless production do show. In relative comparisons, though, even to the best of the best on this site, this is absolutely one of the greatest freeware games I have ever seen.

That’s not to suggest that it is without those flaws, tough. Kira “Kagome” Buckland’s narration is sometimes hit and miss, with the inappropriate and dropped affect of the—sometimes under-talented, sometimes just plain bad translations and poor lip motion restrictions—anime voice acting she might get her nickname from. The character’s voice might sound familiar to some players—Buckland is no stranger to voice acting, having many credits among Newgrounds productions and recently a few in more professional productions to boot. What she’s still polishing as far as technique goes, she makes up for with a pleasant voice which won’t make you wish for a mute button. While she still sometimes makes the mistake of sounding amused in a serious situation or underwhelmingly calm when the dialogue suggests terror, Buckland’s overall performance isn’t cringe-worthy.

Visually, the White Chamber is amazing. The graphics are the best I have ever seen in a free production, and really, not bad compared to some commercial productions either. Every effect striven for is captured, and there are some highly disturbing scenes to behold. I have to agree that the developers borrowed elements from Silent Hill and more likely Eternal Darkness, but rather than symbolism, the bizarre and sometimes frightening manifestations suggest a spiritual madness to me.

The game’s mechanics are simple to pick up. In contrast to other point and click adventure games, there are only two options to any item on the field: Examine and Interact. Items in your inventory take a third option which allows you to use them on items in the field. I encountered no bugs in the interface, though I sometimes wished for more complexity with item uses. There are a few puzzles, but most of them are quite simple. The developers threw in a few red herrings which I have still not determined any purpose for, and a few Easter eggs as well (try interacting with the MES a few times!) for you to hunt down.

The game’s story (at least to me) was interesting, but seemed parceled out too skimpily in the early stages, arriving in a rush near the end. Nonetheless, the design and the tidbits you do catch will keep you playing until the end, and there are multiple endings, including a few death scenes. OGG files in the program folder suggest a joke ending which I have not yet come across as well. There’s some replay value in this and even more in how it is simply an engaging game. I do wish the game elaborated more on the exact nature of the titicular white chamber, but in a way, the mystery adds more to the story. “What could be worth the insanity that followed?”

Although it does have flaws, it’s almost unfair to compare this to anything else you’ll download on the Internet. Is it a masterpiece to be used as the standard for video games for the rest of this era? No. But it is a masterpiece among its brothers in the freeware community, and the developers are well on their way to something truly impressive.