I
nkle’s sci-fi archaeology adventure,
Heaven’s Vault, is one of the most
promising detective games that I have
played in recent years. Instead of a
murder to solve, you’re playing as archaeologist
Aliya Elasra, investigating sites of historical
interest, and using inscriptions and relics to
discover an ancient civilization.Later on, the interface lets you see
similar hieroglyphics when translating a
new word. It also drops your previous
translations into spaces where the symbol
recurs, letting you see if it still makes
sense. Inkle says you won’t ever be
entirely sure if your translations are
correct, but the main character, Aliya, can
become confident enough to add a
translation to her dictionary.
The ink engine beautifully supports a
fluid exploration of these clues, and allows
them to feed back into Aliya’s
understanding of a place. Translating a
sign as ‘garden of the dead’ meant she
viewed the ruin as a graveyard from then
onward. Missing that translation out in a
second playthrough made for a far less
certain exploration of the space.My demo was short, set in one area, so
it’s hard to get a sense of how those
uncertainties will build over a broader
game, and how far you can stray from a
specific interpretation of the ancient
world. That said, I played it through several
times and managed to have a different
experience each time as a result of making
slightly different choices.INFER-ABLE SKILLS
Navigating the space took a little getting
used to, and I found it hard to select the
object I wanted to interact with at times.
But the team has continued working on
the game, and I think that ironing out
camera glitches will go a long way towards
solving those navigational oddities.
Overall, I’d say it’s one of the games I’m
most excited about for 2019. There’s a
gentle uncertainty running through the
demo, which I love. It’s about inference,
rather than completing a tick list, and that
harmonizes perfectly with the story. I
mean, what sounds more fallible and
uncertain than a tale of humans trying to
figure out what other humans were up to?
Philippa WarrTHERE’S A GENTLE
UNCERTAINTY
RUNNING THROUGH
THE DEMOPLAYED
ITBecome a history detective in
inkle’s archaeological adventure
HEAVEN’S VAULT
The demo build focuses on an overgrown
ruin, hidden away on a lush moon. As well
as artifacts to collect for further study, you
will discover inscriptions which you can
use to build a little library of translations
for the ancient civilization’s hieroglyphic
language.
When figuring out the language I was
using a mix of context, guesswork and
common sense at first. For example, I’d
eliminate any of the translations which
resulted in nonsense. Then I’d see whether
any of the suggested combinations fit with
the function of the object I’d found it on.RELEASE
2019DEVELOPER
inkle LtdPUBLISHER
In-houseLINK
http://www.inklestudios.comNEED TO KNOW
The glasshouse is one
possible route.PREVIEW