TPG Second Look: Proteus Review

By – Armaan Khan

Omar reviewed Proteus a couple months back. While he appreciated what the game tried to do, he ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the money because he didn’t see it providing enough value to justify the $10 price tag. He found it boring, and wasn’t able to stand it for longer than 20 minutes at a time. In fact, what little joy he was able to extract from the experience was due to it being a review copy, so he didn’t waste his own money on the title. If Omar had bought it himself, he would have felt ripped off.

It’s a fair enough opinion. We all know what we like, what we value, and how much we’d be willing to shell out for a game. But Proteus is a special case. It’s a weird, experimental thing and I thought it might be a good idea to take another look at it from the perspective of a person who put cash money on the line.

Proteus is a first-person walking simulator. You wake up on the ocean with an island slightly visible some distance ahead. That’s pretty much all there is to it; no tutorial, no directional arrow pointing you where to go, no narrator to provide context to the situation. You’re just literally standing there with the island in the distance and nothing else to do.

From that point, you walk. Assuming you walk toward the island, you’ll find about what you’d expect from such a place: trees, rocks, animals, and some abandoned structures that hint at previous inhabitants. The terrain and layout is random each time you play, but every island has the same things. You’ll see the same house, the same graveyard, the same everything else, just in different places. The occasional weather effect spices things up a bit, adding to the effect of exploring an isolated place.

If you’re a fan of a good aimless wander in real life, you should see the appeal to the game: it’s a new place to explore. There are several advantages to walking around in Proteus as opposed to real life, however. It’s safe, isolated, and time-compressed. You’ll see magnificent scenery and exhilarate in the unique thrill that comes from being alone in nature for days at a time, without having to spend actual days doing so.

The biggest advantage is the music. In real life, you’re likely not hearing a dreamy, melodic soundtrack while you walk, unless you’re wearing a pair of headphones (and if you are wearing headphones, what’s the point of even being outside?). In , there’s a base melody that plays all the time, but layers are added depending on what’s around you. Discovering the island becomes not only a visual exploration, but an aural one as well, and the result is magically immersive.

There is a story/purpose that underpins the walking, which you’ll inevitably be caught up in on your first playthrough. That’s the more artsy aspect of the game, in that it’s not explicitly told and you’re forced to figure out what it all “means” on your own. I liked it, but your mileage may vary.

What you’re guaranteed to enjoy are the events that occur if you’re in the right place at the right time. Oh, the things I’ve seen, but won’t share because I’m greedy and the island of Proteus is easily accessible to anyone who’s interested. Suffice to say, there’s enough going on there to keep me coming back for more.

Conclusion—Is It Worth The Money?

Omar raised a good question in his review. He wondered why a person would play Proteus instead of any of the myriad other games we have in our backlogs. My answer is that it fulfills the same role that a game like Microsoft Flight does; I’ll boot it up when I want that specific sensation I can’t get in real life. In the case of Proteus, that’s the feeling of exploring the natural world without having to worry about death by exposure. It’s an interactive experience I’ve been craving since the first time I stepped out of Oblivion’s introductory dungeon in the gorgeous night air, and was then subsequently killed by a crab. I paid $5 for it on sale and don’t regret the purchase one bit. I wouldn’t regret if I had paid the full $10 price as well.