3 hours of trying to figure out if I'm the titular Betrayer

The Basics: 16th century First person mystery/exploration

Previous Time Spent: none

Expectation of learning Curve: low 

Why I bought this: I've read a decent number of reviews, and been told specifically to get into it by a close friend. Additionally, this seemed inspired by the lost Roanoke Colony, which seemed novel

First Impressions: Betrayer has a striking look achieved by the use of monochrome and red. It also is a great game to play with the headphones on, and just get blown away by the sensory experience. You definitely feel transported to a different place. Wind blows around, moving the trees, and terrifying apparitions attack. There's a sense of danger and a great mystery hook. 

 

My 3 Hours with the Game:You begin shipwrecked on the shores of the new world, wandering to a colony that has clearly failed. As mentioned previously, the use of color is great, and there's a very real sense of being in another time and place. There's great use of sound, such as rushing wind, and the combat is tense, frightening, and novel. Betrayer didn't need to be a first person shooter in order to accomplish the atmospheric storytelling,  but the combat wasn't unwelcome either. 

I hit some initial technical frustrations with the game, involving odd controls, but after a bit of internet digging, I was able to solve this. I appreciated the fact that in spite of being a game that leads you from waypoint to waypoint, I was able to actually get stuck in the plot early on, requiring some more sleuthing, and use of the listening power (which I had previously ignored). I spent most of my time seeking out clues, following them, talking to ghosts and uncovering tantalizing clues to the doom that fell over this colony, which seemed to have multiple factors, from the geopolitical to the fantastical.  

My highlight:The first time I rang the bell in the first fort, and found myself in the night world, able to speak to ghosts and presented with more fantastical enemies. The sounds were effective and quite frightening, and the realization that I could go through and deal with the corruption that had begun blighting the land was heartening. (Plus, who doesn't want to fight skeletons under black skies with a slowly reloading musket?)

My verdict: I'd strongly recommend giving this a shot(but maybe on a steam sale). The atmosphere is great, and the sense of danger inherent in fighting well armed monsters with a bow, musket or other 17th century weapon feels very real. There's a great frantic sense to reloading a musket while being charged by a squad of Spanish Soldiers (who seem like revenants or ghouls). Additionally, the story is fairly interesting, however I did get a bit of a sense of repetition after hitting hour 3, as much of the gameplay involves searching for waypoints on the map, clearing them, learning clues and talking to ghosts before preceding. 

-Jon