Flashback: The Quest for Identity

"A game to be appreciated 15 years later"

Flashback: The Quest for Identity is one of these games that are hard to master but very enjoyable later on. It was made by Dolphine Software that also brought us Another World. I actually didn't play Flashback until this year but I played Another world when I was 8 and the gameplay is so similar that I want to share my memories.

So when I first touched the game I was pretty astonished with pretty graphics that came close to a nice cyberpunk cartoon. The cinematic turned flawlessly into gameplay and I didn't know at first that I am already in control. The character movement was great and realistic, much like in prince of persia but it the graphics felt less generic (no outlines less artificial shininess and 3d feel). The next thing I discovered in Another World is that there was a lot of ways to die. In fact every 5 seconds there was a new danger, In Flashback you have sort of 4 lives so it is a bit better. But in Another world? A worm poisons you, you die, a beast catches you, you die, you jum two stories down, you die, aliens shoot you, you die. And I was 8 so the most I could make was second level. In both games there are passwords. However password comes only for every stage and even though Another world stages where 15 minutes long, for Flashback a stage can take as much as an hour. Thanks god we have emulators now to play it.

The Story (6/10)
In Flashback we play as Conrad, who lost his memory during a police chase. We have no idea why they were chasing us but a prerecorded hologram of yourself tell us to go to a friend in the city. Pretty much the whole game is like that, there is little reason to go to a certain place rather than somebody tells us to. I didn't mind that at the beginning but later it took away some of the excitement. Why do we go to Earth, how come we instantly get into some alien hideout? The redeeming factor is that we do not spend all of the time fighting. In the city we take jobs to earn money. In between you are free to explore the city. Not that there is much to it but at least an end to a stage doesn't mean the beginning of another like it is with hundreds of other games.

The gameplay - realism (10/10)
All the character moves are restricted by his real live abilities. We can only jump like two meters away and to the ledge above. It seems restricted but at least there are no places where you can press a button a millisecond to early and fall through the floor on the other side (many games had these issues). The character moves are drawn to represent that and during a move you can't do other things. It seems obvious from other games that a character can jump and shoot but in real life it would be possible and so it isn't here. Realism also include shooting a guy and killing him in one shot. Same would apply to you but because of a great difficulty they decided to give you a shield which can take 4 hits and can be recharged in one of many power stations. Still the shield will not save you from falling 5 meters down.

The objects that you encounter in the game are also realistic. You don't carry a heavy machinegun in your pocket and if you find something it will be lying on the floor instead of hovering in the air. When an enemy dies he lies on the floor dead, he doesn't change into a hear or an object and evaporate. Policeman disappear but it is safe to say they teleport out of danger. (you use a teleporter yourself later)

The gameplay - controls (7/10)
Controls are a little bit hard to master. The character moves in grid-like environment - step forward and step back will always land you in the same place. This is confusing when you stand below the ledge and because of the isometric view it seems you can jump up when in fact you are on step away. You also have a gun which can fire indefinately (laser weapon something) but when drawn, you can't walk. In stead of walking the character is doing this slow movement with his back against the wall, which is very slow and enemies can get a cheap shot at you. This is annoying as you can roll and a lot of fights are won only because of rolling. One nice move is drawing your gun and jumping off a ledge - you land and immediately assume a low shooting position to take out bad guys. Something realistic that might annoy is that it takes time to draw your weapon and turning around is not instantaneous, which I find as a nice touch, since every other game lets you just shoot the second you press a button.

The most annoying part is the stages being too long. Its not that they are a little long, they can take an afternoon away. There are savepoints but that only because some stages are hard and you wil die a lot. At one point there are seven missions to complete in the city, all of them take as much as 70 minutes and you also have to travel to start the mission. That counting the time you learn how to pass a certain stage - when you fix the reactor it gives you 90 second but you have to at least once on every screen to get the idea of what to do. Savepoint is close but still it takes too much time.

There is no tutorial and the first jungle stage is already very long and confusing. At later stages it is possible to use a teleporter and block yourself from advancing.

The graphics (10/10)
I love the graphics - they are realistic like in Another World but at the same time better drawn like in Lion King only less cartoonish. Backgrounds are beautiful and differ from place to place - the jungle, the city, the club, the base and the alien world. There are animated sequences are nicely done, although there is too much of them - the one where you pick the key has to be seen like 20 times during the game. Use start button to skip them. The important thing is that all the things fit together nicely. You never get the feel that two different artist worked on the game (even though there probably was more), everything feels very consistent.

The music (7/10)
It gets awfully quiet sometimes and the sound of your footsteps can get on your nerves but when the music starts playing (usually some tense moments) it is alright and I have to say I like these moments

Value (7/10)
There is almost no replay value since the game is really hard and really long. However completing a stage gives a great satisfaction and you are urged to complete it. Comparing to other games in terms of graphics and overall visual achievement this game is well worth to be bought.

Conclusion
It is striking of how deep the gameplay of this game is. Compared to Prince of Persia the story is great (pass 12 levels of palace and rescue the princess, anyone?) even though the realism is upped a notch. It easy to say it is to hard but hard to get used to the controls. The gameplay mix of finding the right objects and shooting bad guys is a nice breath of fresh air from other game where you kill hundreds enemies who just happen to make this mass assault on you in each stage. Even though the second half of the game gets repetitive I would still recommend it as great game.

Maybe it is not as good as Zelda but at least it isn't the clone of Zelda. Or any other game for that matter.
9/10 - for originality and graphics

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/15/09

Game Release: Flashback: The Quest for Identity (US, February 1994)