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Sometimes when you are browsing the internet for information on how to do something, you stumble upon ideas or projects or even games that people might be working on. In my quest to learn about Music Production, I stumbled across several prolific musicians who are creating songs for video games. One of those people is Venus Theory. Cameron, Venus Theory's real name, is fantastic and I've been following his YouTube channel for quite some time.
Now, you may be wondering why I am beginning with that small bit of preamble, and that is because I learned about The Core through one of his videos. Naturally, I looked it up and was immediately sold. This game is right up my alley. Thus, I asked to see if we could get a code. Anyways, I have to say that I'm excited about The Core's full release and I'll be giving a bit of a quick preview about the game today.
Introduction
The best way to describe The Core would be a cross between Marble Madness and Portal 2 because you play as Skatoo (Sc-2), a sentient mechanical ball. In this way, Skatoo reminds me of the character Wheatley (who is also a mechanical ball in Portal 2). Though, this character doesn't have the sense of humor and wit we have all come to know and love. It also reminds me of Marble Madness (which is dating myself, I know) because your objective is to get to the end of the level as a marble when restricted by a time limit. Take a look here for a couple of levels of gameplay, if you are interested. Between some of the level design choices and overall objectives, The Core weirdly brings back memories and a bit of marble PTSD. (LOL!)
Anyways, The Core is intriguing to me since instead of racing against time to complete levels, your objective is to find out who you are and what happened to the facility you find yourself in. At first, all you can do is collect bits of tech scattered about the area which you will use a bit later. In your investigation, you stumble across a computer terminal (a dated computer that oddly still functions). When you use the computer, you hear and see an AI assistant named LANDA. She is equally as confused as you are about what has happened, but more importantly, she is cut off from a lot of the network. Combined with her information gathering and your assistance to gain access to other parts of the building through collection of technology, you set out on a journey of discovery.
It becomes clear what might have happened to the workers when you begin looking at the information left around the place. There are newspapers that talk about the construction of the facility and its people. In the papers and printouts, you discover that the facility was meant to be a testing ground that took 5 years to build. (You see why I compare this to Portal 2 at points, yeah?) And you, Skatoo, are not the only one who must be 'awake' within the facility...
Gameplay
As with games that involve precise movement, using a controller to play The Core is best. When you get further into the game, you will traverse thin pipes and small platforms that require careful and subtle movements. Skatoo is a sentient mechanical ball that does not survive a dip in the pool, so you must be careful.
After your initial conversation with LANDA, you will need to pick up an accessory ring to equip tools and weapons for your journey. Then, you will need to grab a bunch of tech in order to upgrade your abilities so that you can jump, use a flashlight, or zap open doors. Upgrading your character requires you to approach a strange machine that brings up a terminal where you choose your abilities.
Most importantly, you will need to complete Cain's Trials which help you to learn how to stop on a dime and reach high locations.
The trials are not too difficult in the beginning, and they will always include the technology you need to complete the level task. It is here as you begin a trial, you will not have any of your purchased upgrades, so you must use what is available in the trial. That said, in order to progress in the game, you will be forced to complete the trials, so be sure to find the access cards as soon as you can. Anyways, by completing the trials you will get an idea of the upgrades you might want to purchase for the next area. It should be said that after you complete the trials, you will have all of your purchased upgrades back; so don't panic!
Once you complete the first area of trials, you will have access to more of the facility and can get out of the building with a minor set of puzzles. These are not difficult but they will require you to be perceptive so that you can find the combination code for a locked door. After you traverse over some pipes, you will make it to the elevator that will take you outside of the facility. This is truly where the fun begins.
In the open air, you discover there are evil mechanical balls who chase you down to try to kill you. And it is here that you learn more about what is happening but not yet why. Little Skatoo, new to the world, has to fight to survive. What a fun introduction to The Core!
The Music
Since I mentioned that I discovered The Core through one of the composers, I thought I'd talk a little bit about the audio design and about Venus Theory. Cameron began his music journey years ago when he was part of a band. He used to tour and mingle with big name people in the industry but he absolutely hated being in the spotlight. So, with his background in music he began working as a music composer and producer instead of performer. This is evident if you look at his tracks that can be found on Bandcamp. Cameron also has a background in video editing and web design which he said translated well into YouTube content. It is because of his YouTube content that I discovered him, although, he has a website which lists his other social media links and information: www.venustheory.com.
Cameron has been around the music industry for a long time. Not only does he have several VSTs through Decent Sampler that are both free and paid versions, but he has composed music for several video games like Hello World, Don't Look at Grandma, and Mini Airways. Though, I suspect most people would be more familiar with his work in the popular action RPG titled AVOWED. And although the game was not as great as people hoped, the project was a bit of challenge for Cameron. As an avid gamer himself, he opts to play the game and take notes on who his character talks to and what he wants in the moment before he moves on to music composition.
As for The Core's music, Cameron followed the same process where he played the game first and then began the composition process. In fact, there is a nice clip of him playing one of the trial maps on Instagram. He plays the level after the piece is already finished, which is neat. Anyways, the developer reached out to Cameron about composing music for his game. In a devlog which was posted back in May, Cameron said,
"VT: For me, the soundtrack of The Core was designed as a sort of love letter to games from my childhood in the 2000s. The idea of this ‘digital era nostalgia’ seemed like a perfect fit, given the themes of the game’s story and character arcs. For the OST, I’ve been utilizing a combination of retro music gear of the era and modern production techniques to re-imagine the sound of my favorite games if they were produced today and expanded upon with the production technology we have now. It’s been a very fun process to combine late 90s/00s music gear like digital romplers and early VA synths with things like spectral synthesis and modern resampling techniques to give the game a life of its own that feels familiar while finding new territories to explore."
I know that some of that is a bit technical, but it is fascinating to those of us interested in music production. Anyways, from playing enough of the game to give a taste of what The Core is, I have to say that the music perfectly encapsulates the world in which Skatoo wakes up in. The music builds at the right times and fades into the background when there isn't much going on. However, there is an element of suspense as you roll through the empty hallways where the lights don't always work. Honestly, the developers chose a fantastic composer, and I can't wait to hear some of the easter eggs that Cameron mentioned in the devblog.
Final Impressions
Even though this is only a preview of The Core, I'm very impressed and quite excited for the full release of it. Everything from the art style to the music to the storytelling in this game cause me to fall into a bout of nostalgia of the 90s and early 2000s. The computers and the newspapers add to the atmosphere in a way that made me smile. Plus, there are interesting environmental puzzles that will likely cause me stress later in the game. And while I can't give The Core an official score yet, I can't wait to talk about it more after it has released.
Be sure to wishlist the game on Steam here and check out Electric Machine Games linktree too!
Article by: Susan N.
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