Beholder 3 Review friv game – Everything is almost under control

The first Beholder from Russian developers not only got a foothold in the tops of the most unusual projects, but also became one of the best (if not the best) game about a dystopia, and specifically about a totalitarian regime. Very quickly, it grew into a series, and today we have the third part on review, where we have to play again for the state "informer" and suffer from moral dilemmas.

In Beholder 3, we play the role of Frank Schwartz, a family man and an honest employee of the Ministry of a fictional totalitarian state, where the "top" strictly controls everything and keeps the population in a tight grip. According to the plot, someone sets up the hero: he loses his job and almost ends up in the mines, but he is saved by a high-ranking security officer. Of course, not just like that - now Frank is forced to become a state spy.

In the first part, we spied on the residents of an apartment building, in the second, we followed our colleagues in the Ministry, and the third decided to collect these places and offers to work both there and there. The developer, by the way, changed, and Friv2Online Studio decided not to experiment, taking and combining what worked well before.

First, we become a landlord - Frank and his family move to a new apartment, one of the rooms of which is furnished with numerous monitors, and people "from above" can suddenly call on an ominous telephone, standing on a separate table.

The gameplay is still a mixture of rpg and quest, and makes it unique espionage mechanics and difficult moral choices. Get ready for a boring job (taking out the garbage, washing things, paying bills) seasoned with espionage cases - so, the first task will be to get to know the residents of the house, after which you will send reports about them to your superiors on the computer. After you have to watch them and report on everything you see, if, of course, you want.

I was pleased that in Beholder 3 they quickly draw a portrait of each NPC, and you immediately understand what you will do with them in the future. For example, a mother with many children lives in one of the apartments, whose child fell ill with pneumonia, and next to them is an eerily unpleasant and rude type, whom the authorities really want to lay down.

The game encourages creative problem solving - you can place video cameras in a closed room and secretly spy on the residents, act less smart and peep at them through the keyhole, or even sneak inside while they are away in search of secrets.

Moral dilemmas are not long in coming. So, you will find prohibited drugs in one tenant, and, in theory, you need to write a report to your top. The same drugs can be given to that child and, thereby, save his life - and the mother will offer an impressive reward, but you can refuse it. Obviously, in this case, you will find yourself almost at the threshold of an ominous mine, and you will have to return the trust of Big Brother. This is just a small part of what Beholder 3 has.

There are only two resources in the friv game - money and reputation. Lose your reputation - lost. There will be no money - you will also lose, but not so quickly. Moreover, the same medicines mentioned above can be purchased from an illegal dealer, thus saving face in front of the authorities. As I said, the game pushes you to approach the puzzles creatively, because almost everyone has different ways of solving.

But the apartment building is one of two large locations in the game.

After about a quarter of the passage, you will be hired by the Ministry, where, however, you will do the same things, but on a much larger scale - spying on colleagues, moving up in the service for your "merits" and helping various factions that are fighting for power in the country.

No one bothers to help the resistance, or to follow the party line, but the main thing is that these swings maintain at least some balance. In this case, the work of the landlord will not go anywhere, so you will have to be torn into two “fronts”.

Another number of issues to be resolved are related to the family - Frank has a hardworking wife from whom you can take money, a problematic daughter and a little son. And, you know, family problems are sometimes even more interesting than working as a spy - relatives also often throw up quests (although you can easily miss them), and the unlucky daughter is constantly eager to participate in anti-government rallies, indulges in drugs and often conflicts with her mother. It turns out that you are not only torn between two jobs, but also decide what role the family plays in this.

Perhaps the game would be too simple if not for one small detail - time. It works against you and forces you to decide which task is more important, because a certain number of hours are allotted for each task. You could see something similar in “Mor. Utopia ”and the Dead Rising series - this mechanic infuriates someone, but I think that it perfectly dilutes the gameplay and makes it clear that this is not a children's sandbox for you. You can't do everything in life, right?

Another triquel will delight with a gloomy cartoon picture and unique character animation - these are black silhouettes that almost do not differ in any way. Obviously, this is how the authors show that in a totalitarian regime, citizens lose their face. I will also note the music - charming and at the same time frightening, skillfully immersing you in the atmosphere of what is happening.

I didn't like that the game is poorly optimized - on my workhorse the fps counter did not exceed 15, although Beholder 3 looks quite simple, and it lacks three-dimensional graphics elements. Translation after the middle of the game suffers greatly, and words from other languages ​​leak onto the screen.

But the main sin of the third part is that it does not offer anything interesting about the first and second games. The new developer did not even dare to experiment, not even boldly, but at least some experiments (the original pleased with the idea, the sequel diluted it with a new place and mini-games), which is why those who played Beholder will find this project boring.

Moreover, the totalitarian regime has weakened here, and the game allows you to choose between three factions, so sometimes it’s not necessary to be a “snitch” at all.