5 minute read
BLACKwood CrossiNg
Scarlett’s personality and style underwent numerous changes before PaperSeven settled on ‘thoughtful, artistic hippy’
PuBlisher ViSion gAmeS PubliSHing / develoPer PAPerSeVen / forMat XboX one / release date out now / cost £12.79
a GaME THaT LEaVES US SCaRLETT wiTH DESiRE kiMBerleY Ballard
Why is childhood such a special time? Perhaps it’s the innocence that is synonymous with this age, or perhaps it’s the magic. As adults, it’s easy to look back and see childhood as a completely different realm, one where people are puzzles to be unlocked and ordinary objects reverberate with the language of dreams.
Blackwood Crossing celebrates the romanticism of childhood and all the treasures that line its path: the treehouses, stuffed toys, railway sets and summer holidays. The game opens with Scarlett, the playable teenage girl who wakes up on a train to discover her younger brother, Finn, has gone missing and that strange, masked figures linger in every room.
Emerging indie dev PaperSeven has crafted a stunning debut. Driven by its sumptuous visuals, the game feels inspired by the exaggerated features of old-school claymation (Scarlett and Finn are two pairs of huge eyes in freckled porcelain faces) crossed with the modern gloss of computer animation. It’s a delight to sink into, especially when you notice how detailed the canvas is, from Scarlett’s chipped nail varnish to the lines of hair that stick up at the back of Finn’s head like sprigs of grass.
The thick, creeping atmosphere also makes Blackwood Crossing feel singular. PaperSeven hems most of the action into a single location, with each encounter and narrative twist taking place on the train. Being confined to a snaking line of corridors and small rooms is beautifully unsettling, and it’s hard not to break out in goosebumps when you turn a corner and see a child in a bunny mask. If that sounds like a cue from Alice In Wonderland, it’s an apt comparison. Scarlett is very much our Alice, and the further the game progresses, the deeper into the rabbit hole she falls.
short cut
What is it?
A first-person mystery game about two siblings who wake up on a magical train. What’s it like?
A coming-of-age novel mixed with the visuals of a Henry Selick film. Who’s it for?
People who crave atmosphere, whimsy and beautiful animation.
Nostalgia vision
If Blackwood Crossing were merely an exercise in style and tension, PaperSeven would have achieved a brilliantly evocative game. Instead the developer chooses to go deeper, unearthing emotions and exploring topics that many games wouldn’t touch: topics such as love, loss and the passage of childhood.
Scarlett is very much the vessel for these ideas. Stuck in the apex between innocence and experience, Scarlett tries to raise her brother despite only being a child herself. With the use of dialogue trees, you can shape Scarlett’s interactions with Finn, choosing responses that are gentle, sarcastic or angry. Though it has little impact on the plot, our own personalities come into play: would
RiGHT why do tyres always seem to hang ominiously in the foreground?
faR LEfT we already told this annoying bunny boy that we returned his copy of watership Down!
LEfT Scarlett’s brother finn is quite sweet... except when he’s setting things on fire.
we berate a naughty child or would we recognise his vulnerability?
The story of Scarlett and Finn soon becomes the most striking element of the game. Like a lot of sibling relationships, their interactions are veined with antagonism yet couched in affection. Through them, the game shows just how much we lash out and hurt the people we care for the most. “This is why you don’t have any friends,” Scarlett hisses at Finn after finding out he’d punched another boy. “He’s not my friend. I hate him. I hate you!” Finn roars back. In places like this, the game positively stings.
The actual mechanics of the game are very simple, centring on exploration and a series of puzzles. At first, these puzzles feel inspired and are tricky enough to stump you in a few places. They reward your curiosity, too: interacting with objects will tell you more about the siblings and unlock different parts of the train as you try to find Finn. One particular puzzle, however, is repeated three times. At first it’s effective, but once you’ve figured it out, it’s very easy to piece together again. Including puzzles of different calibres would have helped the game feel fresh.
SeVentH HeAVen
PaperSeven is a small, independent studio based in brighton. it’s made up of ex-employees from the defunct AAA studio black rock Studio, who made racing games like Pure and Split/ Second. the team is joined by oliver reid-Smith, who wrote fireproof’s puzzle series the room and helped design the burnout games. blackwood crossing marks a new direction for the members of PaperSeven, swapping highoctane thrills for magic and mystery.
Passion project
But what makes Blackwood Crossing feel special is its devotion to magic, and the imagination of children. In one breathtaking scene, a tree grows in the middle of the train, breaking into the ceiling and emerging in Scarlett and Finn’s treehouse from back home. Scarlett can also breathe life into paper butterflies, and in one disturbing sequence, Finn’s rage sets fire to all of their childhood relics.
The game brims with this dreamlike logic, especially when Scarlett tries to uncover who the masked figures are. Like people plucked from Salvador Dali paintings, they flicker like holograms and hide their faces behind tribal masks. It’s a simplistic gimmick but one that’s eerily effective.
Blackwood Crossing may be too light on action for some players but it’s a touching experience: a portrait of childhood and an exploration of how memory and perspective can change a single scene for two people. A game where two children navigate a strange world, it’ll bring back strands of your own childhood, and the people you loved along the way. n
oXM verdict
the puzzles may be easy, but this is a beautiful and genuinely moving ode to childhood.
