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Short and intense

  • calunio
  • 08/26/2010 02:46 PM
  • 6480 views
DOWNLOAD WARNING
The main download of this gameprofile doesn't work properly. Use the following link:
http://www.chip.de/downloads/Clock-of-Atonement_34066730.html

Clock of Atonement is a very short game. You play as a psycho who stalks a girl and kills her. You regret killing her very much, so a strange man gives you an object called the Clock of Atonement, giving you the chance to go back in time and change what happened.

When you go back in time, you don't get to control your past self, but some sort of ghost that witnesses everything and is somehow able to interact with objects. The clock has two functions: move forward, making the story proceed, and rewind, moving back past events. The story will occasionally stop, giving you the change to interact with certain objects and change the events that will happen next. For example, at one point the girl will try to run away, and you can push a chair in front of her so she will fall. You can also not do anything and watch what will happen next. Small changes such as this lead to different outcomes.

Interaction in this game is very limited, since everything happens in a single room, and there aren't many objects you can interact with. I'm not sure if I'd call Clock of Atonement a puzzle, an adventure game, or even a visual novel. There is a certain sequence of events you have to watch and make happen in order to reach the ending, so even though you get to move time back and forth, the whole story is pretty linear, and there is only one ending.

Still, it is a very interesting story, developed in a very interesting way. The game sets the "stalker x girl" mood with extreme competence, and the atmosphere is very tense at all times. There is no background music, just a few well placed eventual creepy sounds and sound effects.



When I first saw this game's screenshots, I thought they were real funny, and this was something of a comedy game, but far from it.

MINOR SPOILER
What really makes the game so tense and compelling is that you can control everything in the environment, except the psycho nature of your past self. You get the weird feeling that no matter what you do, you'll always screw things up in the end.

My only complaint about this game is that interaction possibilities were too limited, so there isn't much to explore, it would be nice if there were more alternative outcomes to things that happen in that house.

I recommend it to everyone who likes short games, puzzle games, time travel games, pshycological horror and innovative concepts.

Posts

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There are actually 4 endings, or at least "outcomes" Your review title should have been "worth your time" for pun hilarity, but yeah it is a great short game.
Like the walkthrough says, you need to get 3 endings before you get the final ending, but there's only one.
Welp, this review has convinced me to check this game out.
comment=41473
Welp, this review has convinced me to check this game out.


This
i dont understand why everyone shys away from 5 stars. It certainly does not mean its perfect, every game has its flaws while some have less than others.

This game is original, complex and overall, brilliantly done. i reckon it would have deserved 5 stars but thats just my opinion.
comment=42401
i dont understand why everyone shys away from 5 stars. It certainly does not mean its perfect, every game has its flaws while some have less than others.

This game is original, complex and overall, brilliantly done. i reckon it would have deserved 5 stars but thats just my opinion.

calunio is the first to tell people to give 5s. 4.5 is still a legitimate score, and we shouldn't always give a 5 instead of a 4.5 or else the current problem will reverse.
My original score was 4 stars, I had decided to deduct one point because of this:

My only complaint about this game is that interaction possibilities were too limited, so there isn't much to explore, it would be nice if there were more alternative outcomes to things that happen in that house.


It's a single complaint, but I think it is a big issue, and all the other reviews mentioned this as well.

But then I raised to 4.5 because, apart from this flaw, this game had such big impact on me.
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