No program is quite what they seem on the surface, though while Bithell’s script keeps us guessing, our instincts serve us well. Word to the wise: trying to keep everyone alive isn’t necessarily be the wisest course of action
Mike Bithell says he might be the only game director who doesn’t secretly want to make films.In some ways that’s a pity – certainly, his latest project suggests he has a taut, 90-minute single-location thriller in him. Because that is, by and large, what Identity is: this stylish, choice-driven visual novel pairs a compact detective noir story with Solitaire-like puzzles. It’s not always a harmonious mix, and occasionally the presentation crosses the narrow dividing line between sleekly minimalistic and, well, slightly cheap-looking. But between Dan Le Sac’s brooding score and Bithell’s genre-savvy storytelling, it packs plenty of rich atmosphere and world-building into its slender runtime. After a close encounter with a light cycle (that the IP’s most iconic element is dispensed with in a matter of moments is a clear statement of intent), you’re held within the confines of the Repository, a towering structure at the heart of Tron’s computer world. Cast as Query, a detective program, it’s your job to look into the cause of an explosion in the vault at the building’s core. Your early responses determine whether gruff security program Grish accompanies you; the game shows its working so you can see how your choices guide your investigation, if not entirely steer the story. The detonation has apparently affected every program in the vicinity to differing degrees, from bewildered guard Cass to smarmy admin Prinz, allowing for a change of pace as you defrag their identity disks. Here, you pair tiles (which must either be adjacent or, arbitrarily, three spaces apart) with similar icons or numbers, repeating the process until you’ve removed enough clutter to restore their memories.