Zeno Clash
Ghat was raised in Halstedom with his brothers and sisters under Father-Mother's guidance. A crow-like creature, Father-Mother unites the family, which is as closely nit as it is hostile to outsiders. They - the family - do not want Ghat any more, he mingled with the Corwid's, became one of them, and for that Father-Mother banishes him.
The Corwids, are a simplistic and misunderstood people, some believe them to be mad, yet Ghat somehow envies their simplistic lives. They are not slaves to their reality, they do not have the burdens that life bring. Oxameter, he just walks in a straight line, he cannot be moved from this course because "that's what Oxameter does”. Erminia, “she peed on her self and then starved to death anonymously”. Gabel eats people, it's his thing, Ghat discovers this the hard way. Helim, Helim had to be invisible to everyone who saw him. How did he accomplish this? By removing the eyes of any onlooker, it sounds strange, but to a Corwid the question “Why not?” appears more of a pertinent question than simply asking “why?”
There is something wonderful in these austere descriptions of the Corwid, something which exposes them as mad, yet within the bizarre and violent world of Zenozoik there is a certain purity which can be found in their singular purpose; their choice to ignore all other facets of life, even if that means ignoring their own bodily functions. Whilst the Corwid may appear to be the strangest element within the game, the whole host of characters are visually or mentally eccentric in unique ways.
Father-Mother is perhaps Zeno Clash's most intriguing concept, her appearance is disturbing to most who encounter the game for the first time, we're lead to assume he is not raising, but rather eating the babies she carries around. Father-Mother appears to be asexual as a creature, her name hints at this and his appearance lends no real clues either way. She is addressed as female, yet as male also, her gender is amorphous it seems, he is feminine, maternal in nature, yet she is paternal, fearful and monstrous at times.
If obscurity is the visual syntax of this world, then violence is its grammar. This is hardly unique to Zeno Clash's world however, being a brawler means that brutal fights should be its staple by nature. Sadly, Zeno Clash is a game where its abstract and provocative ideas are often prohibited by its chosen method of story telling. Many would argue that Half Life was a display of storytelling excellence and considering Zeno Clash is built on the same engine, recreating that same level of storytelling would certainly be considered possible.
Zeno Clash, for all its “difference” employs “traditional” cut-scenes where the storytelling is done in third person, which is in addition to the standard “exposition on the go” affair that missions are often reduced to. The sum of this is a jarring disconnect between ludic and narrative elements – it feels considerably outdated. Ghat is a sufficient narrator and protagonist for this tale, however, there is no connection between Ghat, the truth seeker, and you the brawler.
This state without law, founded on a lie, based on false truths and propagated by a violent system could have become any dystopian game. Instead Zeno Clash tried to be something different, and that has certainly been achieved. It is certainly a shame that the freshness of the visuals and inhabitants of Zenozoik, which, I am sure we have only seen a tiny proportion of, do not seem to connect with game which that have tried to produce.