Critical Play: Virginia

For this critical play, I looked at Virginia, a first-person video game about a FBI special agent investigating a mysterious case. First off, the graphics seem to fit the style of the game. There is something a bit ominous about the blocky design elements, seeing as there’s a sense of anthropomorphism going on — the humans don’t actually look like humans, to me at least. Another element that made me feel on edge was the perspective of the game. Given that you’re seeing the story unfold from the first-person perspective of the FBI agent, and there’s no dialogue and suspenseful music, I definitely felt immersed in the game. It felt like my senses were heightened because of the fact that there is no dialogue. The details of what I was viewing and the music I was hearing felt more prominent compared to other games I’ve played. I liked the cinematic aspect of the game, which helped propel the mystery narrative. After interacting with key objects, the game would show different cut scenes or jump to different points in time, which helped the story unravel. Overall, I think I was definitely spooked and engaged in the mystery narrative being told. The story is communicated quite well through animations, seeing as there is no dialogue at all. I appreciate all of the hard work and detail that went into the animations and the editing of the game as a whole.