Quadrilateral Cowboy, a fresh and unique take on video game hacking
Quadrilateral Cowboy is a first person puzzle adventure game released on July 25, 2016 by independent video game studio Blendo Games for the PC. Blendo Games is a studio that primarily consists of one man Brendon Chung and consists of a variety of separate types of games already under his belt. His only other previous first person games have been of the more cinematic less focused on gameplay or interactivity such as 2009’s Gravity Bone or 2012’s Thirty Flights of Loving. I have always found them unique in the way he can utilize non verbal or environmental based storytelling to create an interesting world especially in the ways Chung builds very detailed environments for the players to go with a bunch of pointless items that only serve to further establish the characters and world it takes place in. One of the reasons why I find QC such an enjoyable game is that it takes interesting ways to make video game centered storytelling but puts it into a real game with actual gameplay and not just a so called “walking simulator”.
The story of the game is based around three friends who begin pulling off several heists around the games world, which is a sort of blend of a retro aesthetic mixed with sci-fi elements and takes place in the same world as the previous two games I talked about. While his method of storytelling has been very vague it has been done in a way where I enjoy seeing more of the world and trying to piece everything together at the end.
The game itself tasks players with pulling off heists through the use of inputting actual code into a virtual computer referred to as a“deck”. The simplest way this works is, if you want to open a door labeled “door 3” for three seconds then you have to type out “door3.open(3)” into your characters laptop. Of course this process gets more complicated as the game introduces time limits, multiple different devices with new functions, newer problems, and dealing with multiple commands with the same input. The whole game essentially serves as a puzzle game where the player is put into a level with a set objective and has to figure out how they can complete it without setting off alarms.
The reason why the game stood out to me is with its unique gameplay premise. Most games that feature hacking do it through silly little mini games that have no real connection to the action the character is actually doing but this game provides a closer more realistic connection to said hacking. I would have to say this game pulls off the hacking very well as it becomes more and more satisfying as the game gets more complex. I also enjoy how the game doesn’t require the player to be experienced in coding with how it introduces each new idea one step at a time so the player can get used to it if they have never coded before.
The initial primary game play loop is based around getting a new device, getting some time to understand how to use it, and then going off to complete a level using it. The game also has “story” segments where you can see bits of the characters’ lives in between each new mission. While the levels themselves are where the player must think, plan, and try to figure out the best way to beat each task placed ahead of them. The story segments are more of breaks where the player can take a look at locations and gather an understanding of the characters and world.
While I find the game to be a really unique and fun experience there are some flaws that I would like to go over. There are only save points between levels so if you make a mistake you have to start over at the beginning, while this isn’t too bad at the start as each level has just one task to complete, as it gets more complicated it can get rather tiring having to reset everything up when you fail. And a majority of the game is spent introducing each new device to the player with only a handful of levels left testing the player on how they use all of them. The game feels a little short with how quickly you can breeze through it once you know what you’re doing, but in some ways that’s good as it doesn’t get old or overstay its welcome.
Something that can be either a positive or negative is that replay value can vary wildly depending on the player. Once you know how to get past a level once you won’t really have any trouble doing it again. But each level is timed so if you’re the kind of player who loves to aim for the shortest time possible with the fewest alarms set off then there will be a lot of reason to play again after you know everything.
Also what was kind of a weird change was there was a bit in the middle of the game where the deck was abandoned and was instead based around switching between two separate characters (the two other characters of the main three that weren’t playable before) with their own ability for a couple of levels. However, I did not mind this too much as this section did have its own tutorial so the player can get a grasp on the new mechanics. The idea itself was also interesting how when swapping between characters you would be essentially playing with a recording version of yourself doing everything you did as the previous character alongside the one you were currently playing as. Even though it was essential similar to a standard multiplayer puzzle game, the way you would have to time yourself and play in sync with a previous version of yourself was a cool twist.
A little bonus feature that I loved after beating the game was a developer commentary mode where as you play the game you can read messages left behind by Chung to understand some of the process and problems he had to solve while creating this game. It was interesting to see how much work had to be done in regards to the player’s line of sight or making it so they understand what to do next and not get stuck, which is an important insight into how to design a level. Another small note is that Brendon Chung has done various in development twitch streams where he live streams himself working on whatever game he is making at the time if anyone would want to see an indie developer in action. There have been several of them for this game as well, but also for most of his other works too.
All in all, I would sincerely recommend people to at least give this game a shot. There isn’t much out there like it and this is an impressive work done by one man. So I would consider this game to be worth a purchase, regardless of what flaws it had. I still had a great time with it and would like to spread the word of it around so that others can enjoy it too.
