The Silent Age (PC) Second Opinion Review

Ever wondered what the future looks like compared to now? What it would be like to be able to switch momentarily between the present and years ahead to compare and contrast? Well, in The Silent Age a simple janitor, named Joe, is thrown into a complex time-travelling adventure where that is indeed possible. Taking on a regular point-and-click style (although also allowing for controller mapping for movement and actions, depending upon preference), the escapade plays out in the same vein as other titles in this genre, with interactions between the lead and other characters, the collection and manipulation of objects to use with various aspects of the surrounding environment, and plenty of visiting (and re-visiting) numerous areas to progress the story and figure out how to complete Janitor Joe's newfound mission.

The twist comes in how switching from one time period to the next means that certain things will have changed. Saplings will have grown beyond imagination, walls will have started to crumble, and various people are now mere skeletal figures, to name just a few examples. It is this particular switching element of the adventure that drives the majority of the puzzles through the first half, and although extremely simple in nature at times (no way out in the present, and then suddenly flicking to the future to find a gaping hole in the floor, for instance), there is a novelty factor that carries the action forwards, tied together with the intriguing tale of what Joe must do to prevent the supposed impending doom.

The main issue with The Silent Age is that it feels like two completely different games, with a marked uptick in quality from around the sixth chapter onwards. That may sound unusual, but the final parts are indeed so in-depth compared to the first section of the story that it feels like two different teams worked on this. The first half, whilst still highly engaging as Joe's new reality unfolds, can be breezed through with the greatest of ease thanks to the placing of objects nearby to puzzles that need cracking. Therefore, although in sheer number it may seem like there are fewer chapters included in the latter half, they actually far outweigh the initial parts because of their far smarter development and the core story reveals that are fleshed out considerably more than before. It starts to feel more like the finished product that House on Fire clearly set out to achieve in the first place.

Why is it so disjointed, though? Well, it comes down to the fact that this was originally a free-to-play mobile effort from back in 2012 containing the early chapters, and 2015's PC release is a 'complete' edition that brings together the first part and the pay-to-play follow-up that had hit mobile devices over a year after the debut episodes, thus having the benefit of the development team having had time to take on-board feedback and make a more well-rounded second, concluding part. It is a similar situation to the République games, which started with three releases on iOS and then the fourth and fifth parts coming at a much later date. It skews the experience to a degree, but at least it also gives an extra bit of oomph to the latter parts, rather than everything trailing off into mediocrity as sometimes happens with this development model.

One minor bugbear must be addressed, no matter how the development was split: some key parts of the story are not explained in the simplest of ways. Sure, there are some great voiced sections, but then there are also extremely long-winded explanations that may keep the attention at first for those gripped by the undoubtedly interesting tale at hand, but will start to fade into the background slightly as certain characters go on exceptionally lengthy monologues. Actions speak louder than words, and visual aids would have helped more in one or two cases, but if you can keep focused, the reveals are actually very important in pulling all of the pieces together and giving a satisfying conclusion to the events at play.