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Wikipedia

Beholder (video game)

August 19, 2023

Beholder is a Russian adventure video game about life in a totalitarian police state.[1] The game was developed by Warm Lamp Games and published by Alawar Entertainment on November 9, 2016.[2] The game is supported on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.

Beholder
Developer(s)Warm Lamp Games
Publisher(s)Alawar Entertainment
Producer(s)Evgeny Sister
Designer(s)Kseniya Zheyda
Artist(s)Ivan Chuchuyko
Writer(s)Valeria Khong
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Release
  • WW: November 9, 2016
Genre(s)Adventure, strategy
Mode(s)Single-player

Story

Beholder is inspired by the dystopian works of George Orwell,[3] Aldous Huxley, and Ray Bradbury.

Carl is a government-installed landlord in a totalitarian state. The State appoints Carl to spy on the tenants. The player can bug apartments while tenants are away, search their belongings for whatever can threaten the authority of the State, and profile them. The State requires the player to report anyone capable of violating the law or plotting subversive activities.[4]

The game offers the player the choice of either following the commands of the Government or siding with the people who suffer from the oppressive directives.

Each game character has its personality, circumstances, and issues. Every decision that a player makes affects the way the story unfolds. The game has multiple endings, each of them being the direct result of decisions made by the player.[5]

Development

Beholder was developed by the Russian team at Warm Lamp Games, located in Barnaul. The team was created based on the Barnaul division of Alawar Stargaze.[1] The Work on the project began in October 2015.[1] The prototype of Beholder contained elements of the economic game, which were expressed in the fact that the residents of the house paid rent to the main character for housing, and the player had to improve his living conditions, Later the creators decided to remove them.[1] On April 26, 2016, the game appeared on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform, where the developers requested $25,000 to fund the game's creation. During the development, this amount was never needed, and the decision was made to close the funding before the deadline. The game was also introduced on Steam Greenlight and, on May 9, reached 10th place among the projects submitted for approval by the community.[2] During game creation, developers focused on games like Papers, Please and This War of Mine, as well as the works of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.[1][2]

Release and DLC

On October 6, 2016, a demo of Beholder appeared on the Steam store.[1]

The game was released for Windows, MacOS and Linux on November 9, 2016. On May 17, 2017, the game was released for iOS and Android operating systems. On January 16 and 19, 2018, it was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One respectively.[2][3]

On May 18, 2017, Steam released a DLC called Beholder - Blissful Sleep. In it, the government issues a bill which exposes all citizens who have reached the age of 85 to euthanasia. Hector Medina, the landlord succeeded by Carl Stein, is about 65 years old, but due to an error, Hector's age has been corrected to "85 years old". The player has to choose to either submit to fate and fall asleep with a "Blissful sleep" or to avoid euthanasia by various methods. Unlike in the base game, the protagonist has no family, except for a cat, and his 30-year-old son, who works on the construction of a railway to the north.[4]

Reception

Beholder received positive reviews from most critics for the PC and iOS versions.[6][7]

While praising the controls, EuroGamer's Mateusz Zdanowicz said, "Gameplay will prove uncomplicated for everyone who has ever dealt with classic adventure games." He called the game "an interesting and quite unusual title, although in terms of mechanics it offers nothing extraordinary." He then said "An interesting plot setting combined with the need to make difficult decisions determine the strength of this independent production."[13]

Tasos Lazarides of TouchArcade also praised the controls saying, "Controlling your character is pretty easy even on smaller phone screens, with the contextual icons helping you navigate your environments without much trouble." He also praised the game's art style and music stating, "With great art and music and plenty of choices, which lead to different endings, Beholder is definitely a game you should be playing."[12] On the other hand, James O'Conner of GameSpot gave the game a mixed review, praising the game's concept, though being mixed the game's repetitive gameplay stating: "Beholder is based on a strong concept, and it has moments that land well, but it’s also held back by repetition and an unexciting script".[11]

The console ports of the game received mixed reviews.[8][9][10] Gabriella Petty of Push Square wrote, "Beholder: Complete Edition is a fun strategy game. Its gorgeous yet subtle dystopian aesthetic illustrates a totalitarian world on the brink of revolution, with an interesting set of characters and soundtrack to boot." She then said "But while it’s geared towards player agency, it can feel like you're under the thumb of the state more often than not, and that means you may feel forced to walk a path you didn't necessarily choose."[14]

Awards

Beholder has been nominated and won several conference awards:

Sequel

A sequel to the game, Beholder 2, was released for Windows, macOS, and Linux on December 4, 2018,[15] for Android and iOS on August 16, 2019,[citation needed] for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on October 22, 2019,[citation needed] and for Xbox One on April 9, 2020.[citation needed]

A third game, Beholder 3,[16] was released for Windows on March 3, 2022 and PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S on December 15, 2022.[17]

Short film

External video
  Beholder short live-action film

Russian filmmakers Nikita Ordynskiy and Liliya Tkach released a live-action short film for Beholder, with Russian actor Evgeniy Stychkin playing the role of Carl. The film was released onto YouTube on February 1, 2019.[18][19][20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "DevGAMM Awards Winners". DevGAMM Minsk 2016. 2016-11-22. from the original on 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e "ИТОГИ 2016 ГОДА". IGN Russia. Ziff Davis. 2016-12-31. from the original on 2017-06-17. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Rasila, Leevi. "Game Development World Championship 2016 Winners". from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2017 – via Facebook.[non-primary source needed]
  4. ^ a b c "These are your 'Best In Play' winners for GDC Play 2017!". GDC Conference. UBM. 2017-02-21. from the original on 2017-07-14. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Game Connection America 2017 Development Awards". Game Connection. Fazaé. from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Beholder for PC Reviews". Metacritic. from the original on 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  7. ^ a b "Beholder for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. from the original on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  8. ^ a b "Beholder: Complete Edition for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. from the original on 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  9. ^ a b "Beholder: Complete Edition for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. from the original on 2019-06-11. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  10. ^ a b "Beholder: Complete Edition for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. from the original on 2021-11-09. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  11. ^ a b O'Connor, James (2017-02-07). "Beholder Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. from the original on 2019-06-08. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  12. ^ a b Lazarides, Tasos (2017-06-02). "'Beholder' Review – Oppressing People and Taking Names Was Never This Fun". TouchArcade. from the original on 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  13. ^ a b Zdanowicz, Mateusz (January 9, 2017). "Beholder - Review". EuroGamer. from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Petty, Gabriella (January 19, 2018). "Beholder: Complete Edition Review (PS4)". Push Square. from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  15. ^ "Beholder 2 on Steam". from the original on 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  16. ^ "Beholder 3 ~ Paintbucket Games". paintbucket.de. from the original on 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  17. ^ "Beholder 3 in the Internet Game Database". from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved Jan 20, 2023.
  18. ^ Fogel, Stephanie (September 17, 2018). "'Papers, Please' Filmmakers Working on a 'Beholder' Adaptation". Variety. from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  19. ^ Horti, Samuel (February 2, 2019). "Watch the official Beholder film from studio behind Papers, Please short". PC Gamer. from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  20. ^ "BEHOLDER. Official Short Film (2019) 4K". Никита Ордынский. 1 February 2019. from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2019 – via YouTube.

External links

August 19, 2023
beholder, video, game, beholder, russian, adventure, video, game, about, life, totalitarian, police, state, game, developed, warm, lamp, games, published, alawar, entertainment, november, 2016, game, supported, windows, macos, linux, android, beholderdeveloper. Beholder is a Russian adventure video game about life in a totalitarian police state 1 The game was developed by Warm Lamp Games and published by Alawar Entertainment on November 9 2016 2 The game is supported on Windows macOS Linux Android and iOS BeholderDeveloper s Warm Lamp GamesPublisher s Alawar EntertainmentProducer s Evgeny SisterDesigner s Kseniya ZheydaArtist s Ivan ChuchuykoWriter s Valeria KhongEngineUnityPlatform s Linux macOS Windows Android iOS PlayStation 4 Xbox One Nintendo SwitchReleaseWW November 9 2016Genre s Adventure strategyMode s Single player Contents 1 Story 2 Development 3 Release and DLC 4 Reception 4 1 Awards 5 Sequel 6 Short film 7 References 8 External linksStory EditBeholder is inspired by the dystopian works of George Orwell 3 Aldous Huxley and Ray Bradbury Carl is a government installed landlord in a totalitarian state The State appoints Carl to spy on the tenants The player can bug apartments while tenants are away search their belongings for whatever can threaten the authority of the State and profile them The State requires the player to report anyone capable of violating the law or plotting subversive activities 4 The game offers the player the choice of either following the commands of the Government or siding with the people who suffer from the oppressive directives Each game character has its personality circumstances and issues Every decision that a player makes affects the way the story unfolds The game has multiple endings each of them being the direct result of decisions made by the player 5 Development EditBeholder was developed by the Russian team at Warm Lamp Games located in Barnaul The team was created based on the Barnaul division of Alawar Stargaze 1 The Work on the project began in October 2015 1 The prototype of Beholder contained elements of the economic game which were expressed in the fact that the residents of the house paid rent to the main character for housing and the player had to improve his living conditions Later the creators decided to remove them 1 On April 26 2016 the game appeared on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform where the developers requested 25 000 to fund the game s creation During the development this amount was never needed and the decision was made to close the funding before the deadline The game was also introduced on Steam Greenlight and on May 9 reached 10th place among the projects submitted for approval by the community 2 During game creation developers focused on games like Papers Please and This War of Mine as well as the works of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley 1 2 Release and DLC EditOn October 6 2016 a demo of Beholder appeared on the Steam store 1 The game was released for Windows MacOS and Linux on November 9 2016 On May 17 2017 the game was released for iOS and Android operating systems On January 16 and 19 2018 it was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One respectively 2 3 On May 18 2017 Steam released a DLC called Beholder Blissful Sleep In it the government issues a bill which exposes all citizens who have reached the age of 85 to euthanasia Hector Medina the landlord succeeded by Carl Stein is about 65 years old but due to an error Hector s age has been corrected to 85 years old The player has to choose to either submit to fate and fall asleep with a Blissful sleep or to avoid euthanasia by various methods Unlike in the base game the protagonist has no family except for a cat and his 30 year old son who works on the construction of a railway to the north 4 Reception EditReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacriticPC 75 100 6 iOS 80 100 7 PS4 63 100 8 XONE 74 100 9 NS 58 100 10 Review scoresPublicationScoreEurogamerPC 8 10 13 GameSpotPC 5 10 11 Push SquarePS4 14 TouchArcadeiOS 12 Beholder received positive reviews from most critics for the PC and iOS versions 6 7 While praising the controls EuroGamer s Mateusz Zdanowicz said Gameplay will prove uncomplicated for everyone who has ever dealt with classic adventure games He called the game an interesting and quite unusual title although in terms of mechanics it offers nothing extraordinary He then said An interesting plot setting combined with the need to make difficult decisions determine the strength of this independent production 13 Tasos Lazarides of TouchArcade also praised the controls saying Controlling your character is pretty easy even on smaller phone screens with the contextual icons helping you navigate your environments without much trouble He also praised the game s art style and music stating With great art and music and plenty of choices which lead to different endings Beholder is definitely a game you should be playing 12 On the other hand James O Conner of GameSpot gave the game a mixed review praising the game s concept though being mixed the game s repetitive gameplay stating Beholder is based on a strong concept and it has moments that land well but it s also held back by repetition and an unexciting script 11 The console ports of the game received mixed reviews 8 9 10 Gabriella Petty of Push Square wrote Beholder Complete Edition is a fun strategy game Its gorgeous yet subtle dystopian aesthetic illustrates a totalitarian world on the brink of revolution with an interesting set of characters and soundtrack to boot She then said But while it s geared towards player agency it can feel like you re under the thumb of the state more often than not and that means you may feel forced to walk a path you didn t necessarily choose 14 Awards Edit Beholder has been nominated and won several conference awards Excellence in Game Design and Best Indie Game awards at the Minsk DevGAMM Conference 2016 1 Best Adventure Game IGN Russia 2 Winner in Entertainment Category GDWC 2016 3 Best in Play Game Developers Conference GDC Play 2017 4 Most Creative amp Original Game Best Indie Game Game Connection America 2017 5 Sequel EditA sequel to the game Beholder 2 was released for Windows macOS and Linux on December 4 2018 15 for Android and iOS on August 16 2019 citation needed for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on October 22 2019 citation needed and for Xbox One on April 9 2020 citation needed A third game Beholder 3 16 was released for Windows on March 3 2022 and PlayStation 4 and 5 Xbox One and Xbox Series X S on December 15 2022 17 Short film EditExternal video Beholder short live action filmRussian filmmakers Nikita Ordynskiy and Liliya Tkach released a live action short film for Beholder with Russian actor Evgeniy Stychkin playing the role of Carl The film was released onto YouTube on February 1 2019 18 19 20 References Edit a b c d e f g DevGAMM Awards Winners DevGAMM Minsk 2016 2016 11 22 Archived from the original on 2016 12 01 Retrieved 2016 12 01 a b c d e ITOGI 2016 GODA IGN Russia Ziff Davis 2016 12 31 Archived from the original on 2017 06 17 Retrieved 25 May 2017 a b c Rasila Leevi Game Development World Championship 2016 Winners Archived from the original on 23 July 2018 Retrieved 25 May 2017 via Facebook non primary source needed a b c These are your Best In Play winners for GDC Play 2017 GDC Conference UBM 2017 02 21 Archived from the original on 2017 07 14 Retrieved 25 May 2017 a b Game Connection America 2017 Development Awards Game Connection Fazae Archived from the original on 22 August 2017 Retrieved 25 May 2017 a b Beholder for PC Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on 2018 08 21 Retrieved 2018 07 03 a b Beholder for iPhone iPad Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on 2018 06 24 Retrieved 2018 07 03 a b Beholder Complete Edition for PlayStation 4 Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on 2018 07 23 Retrieved 2018 07 03 a b Beholder Complete Edition for Xbox One Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on 2019 06 11 Retrieved 2018 07 03 a b Beholder Complete Edition for Switch Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on 2021 11 09 Retrieved 2021 11 09 a b O Connor James 2017 02 07 Beholder Review GameSpot CBS Interactive Archived from the original on 2019 06 08 Retrieved 2018 11 15 a b Lazarides Tasos 2017 06 02 Beholder Review Oppressing People and Taking Names Was Never This Fun TouchArcade Archived from the original on 2018 07 04 Retrieved 2018 07 03 a b Zdanowicz Mateusz January 9 2017 Beholder Review EuroGamer Archived from the original on August 15 2023 Retrieved August 15 2023 a b Petty Gabriella January 19 2018 Beholder Complete Edition Review PS4 Push Square Archived from the original on February 23 2023 Retrieved August 15 2023 Beholder 2 on Steam Archived from the original on 2021 08 18 Retrieved 2021 08 11 Beholder 3 Paintbucket Games paintbucket de Archived from the original on 2023 01 20 Retrieved 2023 01 20 Beholder 3 in the Internet Game Database Archived from the original on January 20 2023 Retrieved Jan 20 2023 Fogel Stephanie September 17 2018 Papers Please Filmmakers Working on a Beholder Adaptation Variety Archived from the original on January 15 2019 Retrieved January 14 2019 Horti Samuel February 2 2019 Watch the official Beholder film from studio behind Papers Please short PC Gamer Archived from the original on February 3 2019 Retrieved February 2 2019 BEHOLDER Official Short Film 2019 4K Nikita Ordynskij 1 February 2019 Archived from the original on 28 March 2020 Retrieved 5 August 2019 via YouTube External links EditOfficial website Beholder review at PC Gamer Beholder review at Destructoid Beholder review at Rock Paper Shotgun Beholder review at GamespotPortal Video games Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Beholder video game amp oldid 1170516587, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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