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Helpless | The Fear of Being Left Alone

 

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With a title like Helpless, it would be hard to imagine a cheerful game. Indeed, the game takes place in a harsh and cruel world. We step into the shoes of a young man who is on the road with his sick mother, both doing their best to survive.

The game probably has a few other themes, but I would like to focus on what I thought encompassed everything. There are few things as scary as the fear of being left alone. It’s a crushing feeling, knowing that no matter what we do, solitude is where we’ll end. It makes you feel helpless.

I don’t want to talk about the plot. It’s a thirty minute game that’s free on Steam. This beautiful work of art needs to be experienced first hand. 

Anyway, let’s go ahead and talk about level design. During the day, we play as the boy and explore the desolate world as we look for items. The city is in ruins and there is no sign of human life. We run into two animals, a dog and a snake, but that’s it for other lifeforms. We explore under the sweltering sun, and we can easily overwhelm ourselves. Run too fast and we’ll be exhausted. Spend just a little too much time in the sun and we’ll die of the heat.

The design and the survival mechanism force us to slow down and explore with an attentive eye. And it would be very hard to not notice the loneliness that’s lingering through everything. The levels are limited and short, but always with the distinct touch of a lack of life.

This is accompanied by the soothing and melancholic music. Listening to the slow tones almost feel like the instruments and musicians were choking back their tears, causing a similar reaction in you. Or at least, in me.

And finally, I’ll lightly touch on the plot. The exploration of the city, seeing this lifeless world and losing our senses in the music is a mere distraction. At the center of this story is a mother and son struggling with the pain of losing their loved ones, of surviving in the present, and the fear of not having one another, of not being there.


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