Game Review: 12 Minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, time for a new review on the blog and this one is a game I recently played, which is an intriguing one that I had played which is the adventure game 12 Minutes that was released for Xbox and Windows platforms and I played it on the Xbox Series X console.

So, how does 12 minutes fair? And does it last longer than 12 minutes??? Well, let's find out...

And as I will mention a little about the plot I was put the warning below...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD (BUT NOT TOO MANY!).

STORY

So, I will quote a bit of the plot from Wikipedia below.

"Twelve Minutes is a decision-driven game involving time loops, however, the order of events will differ depending on how the game plays. This summary provides a broad overview of the general narrative without reflecting any specific order of decisions.

A husband (voiced by James MacAvoy) returns to his apartment after work and is greeted by his wife (voiced by Daisy Ridley) who surprises him with the news that she is pregnant. As they start to celebrate, a man claiming to be a cop (voiced by Willem Defoe) knocks on their door and accuses the wife of murder. The cop attacks them, binds their hands, and proceeds to strangle the husband to death.

The husband suddenly finds himself back when he entered the apartment, up to ten minutes prior, and realizes he is trapped in a time loop..."

THOUGHTS

12 Minutes is without a doubt one of the most interesting and unique games that has come out in recent years although there are of course have been various decision based games in the past such as Detroit Become Human. But here however it takes the decision driven concept and adds a twist to it via the time loop scenario in which the playable character is trapped into living the same 10 minutes over and over (even though it says 12 in the title but I think there is more to that of course as the game goes on). 

And the game is really fascinating as you try and find new ways to play out different scenarios and obtain clues to help you progress and get new details from the wife or even the cop. The frustration of the game however comes from trying to find new clues and hints to progress but I can say more about that later. But suffice to say this is definitely a game with an intriguing idea and one that works very well.

GAMEPLAY 

As for the gameplay, it is somewhat unique as it offers a top down perspective as we don't properly see the character's faces but it works pretty well and adds a sense of unease to the game. The game also deploys the use of a point and click system for the character to interact with different objects and items or even talk to their wife or the cop. 

Thoughout the game, the husband can talk about different topics to his wife and as he learns more details of the events that happen in each time loop, he can use those to question and learn more from his wife. The same can be said for interacting with the cop but main difference is you need to go through a series of actions before you can properly get any information from him, so I won't go into that here as I don't want to spoil anything. 

As for the time loops, they last a maximum of 10 minutes as shown by the clock's time face as it when it reaches that time, the husband is sent back to the start of the loop. However the time loops can also be reset by either walking out the apartment door or via other actions involving the cop. There are over 10 loops in the game and you have to keep playing them out and exhausting all dialogue options in order to progress them. 

GRAPHICS

As for the game's graphics, they are pretty good and the top down perspective offers a unique visual look here and funnily enough the game even makes a nod to The Shining as the design of the apartment building carpet is exactly the same as the one in the Overlook Hotel. The character models are also good but they aren't clearly seen due to the top down perspective and I often wondered whether the cop in the game is either wearing a mask or has a beard as its hard to tell from that angle! Overall however the graphics and game presentation are very good and offer something a bit more unique than usual.

VOICE ACTING (Warning: this section may mention one spoiler!)

As for the voice acting, overall its excellent from the three lead performers, who are all well established Hollywood actors in their own rights. 

Starting with James MacAvoy who is great in the role of the husband and his American accent is actually pretty good despite being a Scottish actor, he affects the accent efficiently. MacAvoy also does a great job at displaying the husband's anguish and torment as he keeps living through the same loop over and over again but he also allows for some moments of humour in the game too, so its a very solid performance.

Daisy Ridley next is also excellent in her role as the wife and for the most part I didn't really think I was listening to her as she sounded like someone else as she also does a pretty good American accent. The only bit where you can clearly hear that it is Ridley's voice is in one scene where the husband tells the wife an incredible detail about her past and she goes "What the fu**?!!" and then you know for sure its her although you know that anyway! So, Ridley also does a great job here in this role and she does very well at conveying the wife's shock and surprise at the events her husband is going through over and over. 

And last of all is Willem Dafoe is great in his role as the cop, who keeps turning up the couple's apartment to (SPOILER!!) accuse the wife of murdering her father and he appears to be a real cold blooded bastard at first but as the game progresses you learn more about him and why he is doing this. Dafoe also does a fine job at showing the cop's darker side and his brutal methods of interrogtation that he uses on the couple but also the softer side when we learn more details about him.

MUSIC 

As for the music score it was by Neil Bones, who does a fine job here and provides a score that has plenty of suspense to it but also tinges of sadness and poignancy. And the score will change at key points during certain moments of dialogue as we get more details of the story involving the wife's past before returning to a more sinister tone. 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may refer to the odd spoiler here and there)

As for flaws...well 12 Minutes does have some.

For starters one thing that does bug me about the game and its the main one really, is that its a really hard game to progress on your own initiative (well for me anyway!) as I had to keep looking at Youtube videos to make headway in the game as I more often than not kept hitting a brick wall with my progress. So, you could go in and get so many details and clues from the wife and objects in the apartment or even from the cop before you hit a wall and you need help from Youtube. And for me I would definitely say that Youtube was the only I was going to actually complete this game. 

Another issue is to do with the somewhat inconsistent tone of the game as it has some lighter moments where without too much away, the couple will have a nice desert and share some happy news and can even dance together. However then we get the cop barging in, who can brutally interrogate the wife and in fact if you stay out of her way and hide, he will actually kill her once he get's what he is after from her. You can also even have the chance to stab the wife with a knife that is on the kitchen counter, which again opens an unpleasant avenue for the gamer to explore. So, yeah the tone of the game is definitely somewhat inconsistent as it can go from being light to pretty dark. 

I also felt at times you had to be very precise with your timing of when to use different items on a character as if you don't time it right then the game will send you back to the start of the loop again. This is especially the case near the end of the game where you offer the cop an item that offers a bit clue to the story but I timed it wrong and he left before I could use the item, which forced me to start the loop over again! 

And lastly unless I missed something, I just wonder why the game is actually called 12 Minutes anyway especially as the time loops only last 10 minutes. Not unless the final time loop lasts that bit longer, which could be the case but I am a bit hazy on why it is 12 minutes in the first place and not just 10. 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, 12 Minutes is an engrossing adventure puzzle mystery game, which offers something a bit more unique in terms of not only its decision based concept but also its visual top down perspective that provides the player something different. The performances from the three leads are also excellent and they have plenty of great dialogue and choices to offer the player as the game itself is a bit of a rollercoaster of emtoions.

There are of course a few issues with the game such as the game's cryptic nature of trying to find out details to progress the story and unless you use Youtube videos or online guides to help you then you will find it very hard to make headway in the game (unless you are really good puzzle games unlike me of course!). The game also requires the player to react quickly in certain moments, which can have a negative impact on the loop you are in and send you back to the start if you mess it up, which is quite frustrating. 

However if you can forgive these faults then there is still much to enjoy in 12 Minutes and its definitely the most unique games I've played in quite some time. 

So, I will rate 12 Minutes:

8.5 out of 10 

Right, that's it for now and I hope you enjoyed this review and I will be back soon with another review.

Until then its bye for now!