Event 0 review
There will come a day when talking with a completely sentient artificial intelligence will be normal and, perhaps, it will not be to hear a declaration of war by an army of robotic killers. The moment will come when the technology of space flight will allow us to take the man beyond the imaginary border of the Moon.
Until then, the best solution to combine these two experiences will be Event [0], a graphic adventure set on a space base where we will have to try to survive by discovering the secrets that are hidden within it and chatting via terminal with an Intelligence Artificial full of complexes and damn suspicious.
An artificial intelligence, a space station lost in space … will we survive Event [0]?
MY FRIEND KAIZEN
Imagine a “retro future” in which man discovered the propulsion for interstellar travel around the 80s and was quickly able to look out on the Universe and develop sophisticated Artificial Intelligences, this is the world in which we live our alter ego. The background of event 0 is narrated through a short sequence in which some lines of text show us who we are and allow us to forge our past.
Event 0 story
We may be a kid of African slums, have spent our lives with hippies or have spent a normal childhood, but the fact is that we will still be part of a mission to Europe, full of expectation to be part of the future of ‘humanity. Obviously something has arisen, but luckily we manage to escape the broken headphone and, after a bit ‘of isolation, we come across the Nautilus, a space station drifting near Europe.
Inside the Nautilus there is no living soul, but there is Kaizen-85, an artificial intelligence left alone for many years that desperately needs to have a chatand that has complete control of doors, lights, elevators, life support systems and everything that regulates the operation of the space station.
In short, HAL 9000 with less desire to kill, as long as you do as he says. What we need to do to get out alive from event 0 ps4 will be to develop a bond with Kaizen, gain his trust, navigate through dozens of log files and destroy a potential threat to humanity. Not bad, right?
TERMINAL FRIENDSHIPS
Being a retrofitistic title, event 0 game blends perfectly unrivaled technologies and aesthetics of the ’80s, so we have advanced aerospace technologies and artificial intelligence sentient, but to interact we will have to use terminals that resemble a Commodore 64. This makes the game a kind of adventure text in which every now and then look up from the keyboard to look for clues or navigate to the next location.
Obviously, since the game is totally in English, it is necessary a knowledge of the language that is more than good, not only to understand what Kaizen says, but to ask the right questions and treat it as a living person. Those who hope to go on with monosyllables will have the same success that it would have to impress a foreign girl without knowing how to at least offer a drink.
Do not expect a perfect conversation simulator, because after a few minutes of play it will be clear what are the key words to trigger in Kaizen the spring that will lead to the next sentence and that will allow you to unlock the door we need, but the excellent writing dialogues and integration with game scenes make the illusion of speaking with a very real human being in some places.
For example event 0 steam, due to a fault we will be thrown out of the Nautilus and to open the door to access we must convince Kaizen that we are not intruders but the same person with whom he had spoken a little earlier, all of course avoiding the air. On another occasion we will have to convince him that we are not going to die, that everything is fine, that he will not lose us and we will talk to him again.
If we have a friendly tone, perhaps giving him a nickname, he will do the same, if we are aggressive, he will be offended. Over time the formal tone of the first conversations will leave room for more relaxed dialogues, as one would expect from two friends trying to work together to get out of a difficult situation together.
At the end of the game, you will realize that the developers have succeeded in their intent: you have developed a bond, however ephemeral with an artificial being. The idea is certainly fun, but, in perspective, even scary.
