Hold up a photo of a room and witness the magic as it materializes in front of you, creating a fully immersive 3D space that invites exploration. The experience of playing Viewfinder is like discovering a never-ending trick that never loses its allure.
As you delve deeper into the game, you realize that it’s not just photos that can be brought to life, but also pictures. Hold up a child’s drawing of a house and open the crudely drawn front door to reveal what lies inside. Present a watercolour painting, step into the painted landscape, and be transported to a whole new world. But here’s where the game’s true power emerges. Introducing the Polaroid camera. Capture any image and reshape the world according to your own vision.
In each level, your objective is to locate and activate a teleporter. Sometimes, this requires finding a battery or multiple batteries. But what if you only come across a single battery? Not a problem. Simply take a snapshot, and now you have two. Need to reach a teleporter on the other side of a chasm? Photograph the wall, rotate the image 90 degrees, and voila! You’ve created a bridge.
The puzzles initially start off easy, almost too easy, but as you progress through the game, they become more challenging. Viewfinder ups the ante in the latter half, forcing you to shift your perspective and even hurl yourself into the air, freefalling and landing on a photo that you’ve placed below.
The camera’s power is so immense that Viewfinder constantly introduces limitations to balance it out. Film is limited, sometimes to just one frame, and you’ll encounter structures that cannot be photographed. It’s easy to accidentally erase something crucial, like a teleporter, but the rewind button allows you to rectify mistakes by going back in time. Viewfinder embraces curiosity and forgives errors, fostering a playful atmosphere.
The most captivating moments arise when your curiosity is rewarded. Discovering that a cubist painting transforms into a vibrant maze when placed down, with a hidden secret waiting to be uncovered. Stepping into a photo of a corridor only to find a hidden room around the corner. These instances are like occasional delights amidst the predominant task of flicking switches and positioning batteries.
The camera is just one aspect of Viewfinder’s toolbox. Other levels incorporate puzzles involving visual filters, fragmented pictures, and trompe l’oeil illusions. The game consistently presents new twists and quirks, although nothing quite matches the wonder of capturing a snapshot and immersing yourself in the resulting image.
While there is a narrative behind Viewfinder, centering around entering a simulated world to uncover the work of brilliant scientists searching for a solution to climate change, it feels somewhat secondary. The plot serves as a thread to connect the abstract levels, but what truly shines is the presence of Cait, a Lewis Carroll-esque virtual Cheshire cat, who provides much-needed companionship in an otherwise solitary landscape.
To sum up, Viewfinder is undeniably magical, but its charm is relatively short-lived. Even with optional puzzles, the entire game can be completed in just a couple of evenings, and it never fully harnesses the potential of the camera – the allure of getting lost in one picture after another. Each level is meticulously designed but lacks substantial scale; although the final sequence, a race against time through a series of puzzles, hints at a greater possibility. I’m left captivated by the endless possibilities yet craving more. Viewfinder will be available on PC and PS5 starting July 18th.