You Are Empty

Believe it or not, it’s 2007 and we still aren’t safe from the commies!

1C and Atari have teamed up for multiple releases, one of which is “You Are Empty,” (YAE) a FPS set in an alternate 1950’s Soviet Union. Something heinous has caused a large number of folks and animals behind the “iron curtain” to transform into horribly mutated, bloodthirsty predators hell-bent on taking out any poor souls who happen to cross paths with them. The game’s unknown protagonist is one such poor soul. You will wake up in an asylum as someone who has no idea why the world is falling apart around him. Essentially, you have stay alive long enough find out exactly what happened and what, if anything, can be done about the current state of affairs.

We’ve seen this plot device (an unknown main character that must piece his memory back together) a number of times before, but that fact isn’t necessarily a strike against YAE. You will piece the back-story together, mostly, by reading various notes you find lying around. This is not the talking man’s shooter, so conversations with NPCs are close to nil; the general order of business is to shoot first and not ask questions, ever.

The gameplay in YAE offers up a well known but dated formula: run and gun. Don’t get me wrong here. There is nothing inherently wrong with run and gun as a gameplay mechanic (in fact, there are number of shooters that offer gamers a very good time using this very mechanic), but FPSs have generally evolved past being solely run and gun, and YAE just can’t hold a candle to a number of the more recent entries in the genre.

As a case in point, the box boasts “sophisticated AI,” but you will be hard pressed to find an opponent that justifies that claim. Most of the baddies will simply charge right at you with no self-regard. In fact, you will wonder if the commies had any concept of cover as you plow your way through level after level of enemies who will recklessly offer themselves to you for target practice. One could argue here that self-preservation went out the window since we’re dealing with the warped minds of mutants who have lost their humanity, and sanity, in one tragic swoop, a logic with which I could agree.

But the opponents you will face are so far from “sophisticated,” one has to note the contradiction between what’s advertised and what is delivered.
Complicating matters more is the fact that much of the level design makes you feel as if you’re a rat in a maze (albeit a rat packing some firepower); YAE is as linear as they come. Crates, furniture, and anything else you can think of will block doors and stairways to steer you down the one and only predetermined path on any given level. Again, this doesn’t have to be a dealbreaker, as there a plenty of titles that are linear and still have a high fun factor (think “Quake 4” or “HL2” etc). The difference between YAE and the more entertaining titles is they do a better job of making a linear game feel less linear. Somehow, YAE makes you feel every ounce of its linearity with its labyrinthine level design. This is further aggravated by the fact that your character only has one speed: slow as hell. You can’t run in this game, and, after playing for about an hour, gamers are likely to start getting frustrated with just plodding along. Why not include a sprint ability of some sort? It would not only help with the pacing of the game, but would also help you to get to cover sooner when you find yourself being shot at simultaneously from multiple angles.

In a strange way, however, getting to cover too slowly isn’t often a major problem, because, even on the “normal” setting, the game is way too easy, as health drinks are around just about every corner, literally. They are so numerous, in fact, you will worry very little, if at all, about dying. This kind of low stakes gameplay is more conducive for adventure gaming (where there is often more emphasis on exploration) than for the FPS genre, which thrives on offering just enough challenge to keep the adrenaline going. In short, if it’s too easy, it just isn’t fun.

The inability to run is not the only forehead-smacking omission here. The devs have included a realistically modeled Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle, but you can’t use the gunsight to assist with longer range shots. This is inexplicable, given that you can use the sight/zoom on other weapons in your arsenal, like the Mauser pistol or the machine pistol. Imagine using a pistol to shoot a baddie at long range because I can better aim using its sight than I can with a rifle that was historically used by snipers. It simply defies logic. Adding insult to injury, the rifle’s secondary attack employs its bayonet in a melee attack, which would be quite useful if there were ever an opportunity to use it on opponents without taking so much damage that it effectively renders the bayonet useless.

Gamers looking for a large arsenal will have to seek it elsewhere; YAE’s platter of make-em-dead-quick is limited to about 10 weapons, only one of which has an alternate fire mode. Most of the weapons have been seen in countless titles (i.e. double-barreled shot gun, pistol, etc.). However, to YAE’s credit, there are a couple of interesting weapons you might not expect for a shooter set behind the Iron Curtain in 1950, like the Lightning Gun or the pneumatic Nail Gun. The weapons are generally satisfying to use (except for the Lightning Gun, which seems rather anemic in the damage it deals), but there’s nothing here that will knock your socks off.

What about the eye candy? YAE is a decent looking shooter. Crank up the graphics options and you will be in for a solid visual ride. The game’s visuals are not stunning, but environments are quite detailed and textures are sharp. Generally, you will find yourself in areas that are in some state of disarray, and the engine does a nice of job rendering the chaotic, mostly urban environments. On the other hand, the lighting in the game often leaves something to be desired. It’s hard to put my finger on it exactly, but it just seems as if the lighting could have been used to more dramatic effect. Play a title like STALKER, which offers nice counterpoint in its use of lighting, and you’ll know what YAE is missing in this department.

The game’s sound doesn’t perform any aural miracles, but it works. This is another title in the minimalist vein of ambient music. Tracks play at certain key moments, but most of your journey may seem like a walk through a Zen rock garden until a gunfight erupts or you hear some poor mutated creature nearby. Weapons generally sound convincing, especially the aural punch behind the shotgun and the distinct sound of quickly displaced air coming from the Nail Gun.

One another note, one rather hidden gem that I don’t want to forget to mention is the cut scenes. I have been gaming for quite some time, on a variety of platforms, but few cut scenes have impressed me as much as some of those found in YAE. They are not rendered using the game’s engine; instead, they are almost like a pastiche of high contrast sketches mixed with live action and archived footage. The end result is actually quite impressive, because it allows for some interesting abstractions that are linked to some of the narrative’s dominant themes. They don’t tell a linear narrative as much as they set a discordant tone that often adds to the game’s atmosphere. It’s like watching a series of short films that draw on a variety of media to deliver their content. The team deserves kudos for style and execution in this department.

When all is said and done, however, the problem is that, for its American release, YAE missed the mark by about 2-3 years. This title would have trouble competing with “Painkiller” (a solid gorefest in its own right, by the way) today, let alone titles likes of “Bioschock” and the soon-to-be-released “Crysis,” which offer a greater variety of gameplay options for gamers. Shooter fans looking for something to sink their teeth into would be far better off with those titles or checking out STALKER (which is now the same price as YAE) if they haven’t already.

As it stands, it is hard to recommend this title to fans of the genre with so many other tantalizing options on the table. The one-dimensional run-and-gun gameplay mechanic simply fails to generate any excitement when you are faced with opponents that are generally suicidal, and the sometimes claustrophobic, linear level design only makes matters worse. Unfortunately, what YAE has to offer is really too little too late.

Gameplay: 5.0
Old school run and gun is marred by uninspiring level design that is more claustrophobic than entertaining, and probably too easy for the tastes of mainstream shooter fans.

Graphics: 7.0
Generally solid. Nothing spectacular here, but the visuals do their job. The lighting can leave something to be desired.

Sound: 7.0
Also generally solid. Music has a minimal presence. Weapon and creature sounds are decent.

Difficulty: Easy
Way too easy on the normal setting. Kicking it up to hard ups the ante a bit, but gamers still probably won’t feel a sense of accomplishment once they have completed a level.

Concept: 5.0
Mixing it up with communist mutants is a far-fetched but workable premise; however, the game needs to diversify its gameplay mechanic.

Overall: 5.0
Any fan of the genre has already been here and done this before — probably 2-3 years ago. While the visual and aural facets of YAE are generally solid, its gameplay is not all that entertaining, and there are plenty of other titles in the genre that can offer a more entertaining and diversified gaming experience.