Qasir Al-Wasat: International Edition Review

There are games which have clearly been made under the influence of what I like to call “the funny smoke”. For example, Tempest, Killer7, the entire Metal Gear Solid series – these are entities which cannot have been, in any way, created sober. Don't get me wrong: I'm 100% glad that the aforementioned developers smoked whatever they smoked, but their concepts are so outlandish that they beggar belief. In the same vein comes Qasir al-Wasat, a game about an invisible otherworldly beast who has to sneak through an Arabian palace in order to go back to his home planet. Just let that sink in for a moment.

To delve deeper, the story of this game goes like such: there are two worlds, the human world and the other world, and beings from this “other” world can be summoned by humans who know how. The protagonist, the beast known as Subtle, is summoned to Earth by the summoner and owner of the palace, who cuts Subtle a deal: if he can kill three targets within the palace, he'll be sent back home with the payment of three poisons, hidden in the targets' weapons. This plot doesn't make too much sense, but don't think about it too deeply: Qasir al-Wasat sets us up for a tried-and-true gameplay structure similar to the Zelda series.

Qasir al-Wasat is essentially a stealth game. You can attack, yes, but the palace is littered with heavily armed guards who will cleave your hide in two, given a quarter of a chance. This is where your Randall Boggs-like ability of bestial invisibility comes into play; you'll need to very slowly sneak from point A to point B of a room, doing so to avoid the guards but also sneak beside ones having conversations, so you can glean any vital information you need. If anyone gets in your way, you can stealthily kill them from behind, but beware, as this function comes with two massive caveats. As simple videogame logic should tell you, if you kill a guard with others about, this will arouse suspicion, and you have literally only one hitpoint. Second, you may be able to turn invisible, but any blood spattered on you can't be, which will be a dead giveaway to any of the guards. Of course, any guards who see a floating speck of blood making its way through a castle who immediately decide to attack said speck of blood are probably just a touch too genre-savvy, but the idea stands: treat sneaking through the palace carefully. As such, we have a sneaking simulator that will set the heart racing, making for an incredibly immersive experience.

Today, it is too easy to be heavy-handed with a game and call it art, but make no mistake: Qasir al-Wasat is true art. The game employs wonderful hand-drawn graphics which make the world that Subtle is forced to traverse through come alive, using a beautiful colour palette to evoke the scene of the palace. Despite being a game where you have to be constantly careful, Qasir al-Wasat looks warm, comforting, and in rare instances, even sensual. This game excels in its field and is definitely a big contender for prettiest game of 2016.

A small presentational touch to note, but one that absolutely makes this game: Qasir al-Wasat is quite light on music, but will employ harrowing violin pieces to punctuate the action. This is excellent in and of itself, but violin strums also accompany the footfalls of guards around the room as they circle you, making the experience even more tense. A small touch, but a great one implemented that makes Qasir al-Wasat a true class act of a game.

However, perhaps the most fulfilling part about Qasir al-Wasat is the way it approaches gameplay. There's no hand-holding, no directions, no linear storytelling even – the game puts you down in the centre of the map, simply expecting you to find your own way. Unlike a story-driven game with added extras, you are much more likely to see everything of what Qasir al-Wasat has to offer this way, as you're in a large palace all by yourself; you can't afford to leave any stone unturned. Basically, you'll have to work everything out for yourself as you sneak through the map, which makes the game much longer and more edifying as a result.

As skilfully crafted a game as you'll see this year, Qasir al-Wasat is tense, well-crafted, and well engineered as a game, with the non-linear style providing ample replay value. For the gameplay, the art, or the thoughtful approach to game mechanics, Qasir al-Wasat is like Subtle: worth keeping an eye out for.