by In South of the Circle , we follow Peter , a Cambridge graduate who crash lands in Antarctica . It is the middle of the Cold War and tensions are high between West and East. Peter is unharmed, but his pilot is ill there and can’t get out of the plane. Peter now begins the long and dangerous trek across the ice to find help. Meanwhile, he thinks back on his life and what choices he has made. Every choice we then make during the journey affects the end of the story. Should we choose love or career?
South of the Circle begins right in the middle of the action. We just crashed and now need to find help. The game mechanics are very simple. At each crossroads in the dialogue, you are given different choices that affect your future. It’s worth thinking about, because how you behave towards your surroundings will affect the end of the story. Once you’re out of the plane, you can control your avatar – but he has a very small area that he can move on, so it’s more of an illusion of free movement.
As I move forward through the barren iceland, I begin to see details and think I’m on my way to my destination, but I’m not. Instead, I go straight into a flashback. This is where South of the Circle really shows its greatness. The transitions between the present and the past flow together perfectly and there are no loading times or anything else that disturbs the illusion and the experience. I actually played South of the Circle on the Xbox Series S , which is one of the strongest machines on the market, but I can imagine that it runs well even on a weaker console precisely because the graphics are still quite simple but nice.
The acting is very good and after a while I almost forget that I’m actually playing a game. And herein lies the only negative of South of the Circle . The game mechanics are insanely easy and our avatar is sometimes quite difficult to control, especially indoors, in smaller buildings. Many times there are no choices either, but you just need to press a button to move on.
In summary, I still can’t give South of the Circle a rating other than a must . Because even if the game mechanics are not very advanced, the rest of the game experience is. The fact that the game later costs about the same as a lunch does not make matters worse. Take the opportunity to lose yourself in a slightly different adventure that will stay with you long after you’ve beaten the game the first time.
