Culpa Innata Review

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Culpa Innata

Review by Old RoosterJanuary 2008

“It Is the Golden Age in Mankind’s Evolution”

Welcome to the year 2047. With the enlightened countries of the Earth united under the leadership of the World Union, we find the best society ever created—no crime, poverty, or disease. Citizens are the smartest, healthiest, and wealthiest. Surely, civilization has reached its zenith. Or has it? Clearly, science has brought us to a perfection of societal relationships. Life is good—perfect even. Or is it?

Against this intriguing Orwellian backdrop, we are introduced to a young security officer, Phoenix Wallis, who becomes the lens through which you see and play the game. We follow her through a murder investigation of a citizen traveling to Russia, one of the “rogue states.”

“Individuals Are Worth What They Own and Consume” —Encyclopedia Galactica

Culpa Innata, however, presents more than a murder mystery. As we become acquainted with Phoenix, we also explore this society, its rules, relationships, idiosyncrasies. Initially, Phoenix seems rather naive about procedures and aspects of her job and surroundings. She sometimes acts like she’s never seen things before. But this musing and self-reflection technique is beautifully used to inform us, the players. Phoenix starts and continues, for the most part, as a “true believer.” She has drunk the Kool Aid, so to speak. As the game moves on, though, we do find some questions, even seeds of doubt, developing.

One of the advantages of an adventure game is that you can take your time exploring, reading, absorbing, thinking. You don’t have zombies, RTS armies, or RPG tasks around the corner to be worried about. Culpa Innata uses this feature particularly well. Near the beginning of the game, for example, you’ll find bulletin boards describing in appalling detail the events leading to this controlled, “perfect” society. As Phoenix comments while walking by them, “So much has changed in the last thirty years.” You’ll learn about a hyper-depression in 2015 and a Russia-China-India oil war in 2025. It’s important in this game to take your time with the environs and read plaques, signs, clues as to the nature of Phoenix’s world.

In addition to signage and Phoenix’s musings enriching our knowledge of the World Union, we also have many conversations with many characters, all of which tell us something about this sexually obsessed population. As one of the cast comments, “Selfishness is in human nature and is a good thing.” It truly is a hedonistic, arrogant, quite cold society.

“Finally, I Can Get on with My New Assignment” —Phoenix

Well, this is just a game, isn’t it? Having, I trust, interested you in entering this “brave new world,” it is fitting to discuss some technical aspects of how that journey is managed. Culpa Innata is a third-person perspective adventure with the player controlling Phoenix exclusively. As is traditional, Phoenix has areas to explore, items to accumulate, problems to solve, conversations in which to engage. Culpa Innata installed and loaded easily on my DX 10 Vista system, playing smoothly and beautifully full-screen on a 24″ wide-screen monitor. In spite of concerns reported by some, I had no crashes or other glitches after installing the available patch. In that regard, it should be noted that the development team has been extraordinarily active and helpful in adventure community forums as well as on the game’s homepage.

Phoenix works with a most effective interface, highlighted by her Personal Assistant device. This technological marvel projects a holographic image featuring a contact list (including genetic information), inventory (showing both information and use), navigation map, diary, and controls (save, load, exit). Particular mention must be made of a very neat diary feature. When Phoenix’s thoughts are written in red, this represents a task or issue still to be accomplished or resolved. Since the game soon becomes very nonlinear, this hint system is most helpful.

The World Union is presented in a colorful and detailed fashion, although the graphics are dated by today’s big-studio standards, with the technical quality level a concern (maximum resolution, jagged edges, etc.). The choice of furnishings is sometimes odd, as well. It’s been 40 years since I’ve seen so many lava lamps! Particular care, though, has been given to facial mannerisms, such as lip movement coinciding with speech. Background music is satisfactory, with voice acting of the two main characters, Phoenix and her boss, very well done. Ambient sounds, however, are minimal, perhaps deliberately reflecting the relative sterility of this society.

“You’re Eventually Gonna Make a Mistake” —Julio to Phoenix

We’ve mentioned the Personal Assistant. It’s an earpiece that everyone needs to wear. Initially, Phoenix has misplaced hers and has to locate it ASAP. The first part of the game is nicely used as a tutorial, guiding our heroine through her own office as well as security headquarters. This will familiarize the player with game controls and provide an introduction to this special kind of world. Scene transitions are generally smoothly done, and as new locales open, a very efficient instant-transit map becomes available. Pathfinding and camera angles can be a bit awkward in spots.

As the game develops and new locations are added, we come upon one of the most distinctive features of Culpa Innata—its basic nonlinearity. Although there are triggers to move you along, there is clearly more than one path to what appears to be the possibility of multiple outcomes. I say “appears to be,” because I’m well into my second play-through at this point, deliberately doing things differently, and have yet to see the end result. My suspicion is I won’t be able to solve the crime.

There are some parameters and constrictions placed upon Phoenix, imposed by the nature of the controlled society (and, of course, the game design). Our detective has twenty days to solve the crime. At times, she needs to go home to sleep or even head out for an evening’s entertainment. What happens during those days is largely up to you, the player. Our police procedural tasks do require a lot of interviewing. But, even here, the society has rules. Suspects can only be interviewed once per day for a limited time period. This may lead to several return visits, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. It is possible, even likely, that you can finish the game without nearly exhausting all of the sidetracks and potential conversations.

“I Think I’ve Heard Enough Nonsense from Him Today” —Phoenix

Conversations with NPCs can become exhausting, boring, redundant. Choices can be made within conversational trees that may lead Phoenix in differing directions, and whole trees can be skipped with a right-click of the mouse. The scripting emphasis within exchanges seems more related to societal backdrop information than to solving the crime. Although it soon becomes apparent there is an underlying theme going on in the game beyond the specific murder, you will find yourself wanting to move quickly beyond these extended chats with sometimes very silly people. Indeed, although Culpa Innata is a self-contained game, it does beg for a sequel to further explore a hinted-at underground movement and Phoenix’s possible disillusionment arising from her increasing questions.

Early on, we find that citizens are awarded a Human Development Index (HDI) score, which you would like to be 90 or above. This is largely based on efficiency and societal rule-following. So, too, the player is awarded an HDI result at the end of the game, presumably based on efficiency in solving the crime in the most straightforward way. Replayability may alter this result one way or the other. Some players are replaying just for that reason. I must say, unless there is a pragmatic outcome to replaying beyond number count, I wouldn’t find that particularly motivating in and of itself.

Although I’m not one who is particularly enchanted by puzzles for puzzles’ sake in adventure games, I must say that I was very impressed by the offerings in Culpa Innata. They are mostly inventory- and design-based, generally in a middling range of difficulty. They often provided needed relief from the sometimes tiresome drudgery of trudging about the city engaging in often exasperating interviews.

“I’m So Proud of Our World Union” —Phoenix

Culpa Innata is one of the finest adventure games of 2007. Although not without flaws (graphics, pathfinding, wordiness), it offers a solid police procedural within an engrossing futuristic setting. Further, the game is the most nonlinear I can recall within this genre, offering multiple paths to differing outcomes. The acting and puzzles are top-notch, as is the underlying deeper storyline, which makes one hope we see a sequel from this talented development team. Congratulations!

What I Like Most About Culpa Innata

  • A fascinating and well-fleshed out futuristic society;
  • Excellent storyline—police procedural plus deeper underlying theme;
  • Detailed depictions of the history and nature of the World Union;
  • Effective PA interface, particularly the diary task feature;
  • Multiple paths and outcomes; excellent replayability;
  • Very good facial depictions and animations;
  • Fine voice acting, especially from the lead characters;
  • An excellent set of puzzles, both as to variety and range of difficulty;
  • Outstanding development team follow-up, both formally and informally.

What I Didn’t Like

  • Dated graphics, often of mediocre quality;
  • Camera angles and pathfinding sometimes problematic;
  • In spite of instant transport map, too much footwork required;
  • Extreme conversational wordiness, often irrelevant. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Momentum AS Publisher: Strategy First Release Date: November 1, 2007

Available for: Windows

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System Requirements

Windows 2000/XP/Vista Pentium III 800 MHz/Athlon XP1600+ (Pentium IV 3.0 GHz/AMD Athlon 64 3700+ recommended) 512 MB RAM (1024 MB recommended) 128 MB video card (512 MB recommended) DirectX 9.0c Sound card 3.5 GB free hard drive space DVD player

Where to Find It

Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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