Game Stray

Developer BlueTwelve Studio

Publisher Annapurna Interactive

Format PC, PS4, PS5

Release 2022

Eyes wide, ears perked and tail swaying gently, a small cat pads through the drizzly cobblestone streets of Midtown. And as his paws splash softly through scattered puddles reflecting the neon signs on the buildings that loom over him on both sides, we’re reminded that BlueTwelve’s co-founders know plenty about crafting beguiling worlds.

Vivien Mermet-Guyenet –a level artist on ZombiU – and former Ubisoft Montréal environment and lighting artist Colas Koola are obviously accustomed to creating the kind of virtual spaces that are designed to be lingered in and gawped at. There are details to draw the eye at every turn, and an atmosphere so thick you can almost smell it. That adds up to a place that feels startlingly real, even as the city’s other inhabitants make clear we’re in the realms of speculative fiction. Sure, there are plenty of familiar elements here, the kind of sights and sounds we’ve seen and heard in other urban dystopias. But even these are rejuvenated, this inquisitive lead transforming this space into somewhere that feels thrillingly new. Dangerous, too. You know what they say about curiosity, after all.

“Controlling the cat raised some interesting camera challenges,” Martin-Raget says.

Martin-Raget: “The setting is going to make more and more sense as you progress”

There may be no imminent threat, but this world thrums with menace from the off. That’s partly because our demo starts in a dark, litter-strewn alley, with thin sodium lamps outside shuttered shops the only sources of light. But it’s also because you’re instantly made to feel vulnerable. We’re a short way into the game, and our four-legged hero has fallen into this place, separated from family and friends as he seeks an escape route. Limping gingerly, unable to put any real weight on his left hind leg, he mewls in a way that instantly arouses our pity. He trots awkwardly on, past strewn bin bags and an old bike that looks like it’s been lying there for some time, a chain-link fence blocking his path. Turning his gaze upwards prompts the appearance of a tiny context-sensitive button prompt. With a tap of the Cross button, he hops up onto a wheelie bin, and then again onto the awning above it. Looking ahead, he doesn’t notice the ominous red light of a CCTV camera, as it turns slowly to keep an eye on this curious interloper. Two more taps, and he’s back down to street level, now able to walk unhindered. A little way ahead are two more red lights: as the cat approaches, there’s a faint chittering sound, and two small, strange creatures scuttle out of sight.

“Obviously this place is supposed to be at least unwelcoming,” producer Swann Martin-Raget tells us, before turning his attention to a nearby sign. “This is why we also developed an alphabet for the whole language for the game – to have players really feel that they don’t understand this place and they don’t get all the codes of this environment.” Soon after, we see another notice, though this one’s a little more clear: several letters on an extinguished neon sign suddenly spark back to life, spelling out ‘HELP’, with two arrows pointing to the right. That happens to be past an area that’s flooded – yet that’s no problem for the cat, who nimbly leaps across barrels onto aircon units and then pipes to make the crossing without getting his paws wet. Then it’s through a small hole where another chain-link fence has been pulled back, and into another side-street where an arrangement of nine flickering TV screens beckons: ‘Follow me’.