
Release Date: December 3, 2014
An independent adventure game focused on exploration and plot. The title, developed by American studio PostMod, takes the player to an abandoned city, where they are tasked with discovering the reasons why the place became desolated. During the journey the player is looking for answers to philosophical questions related to humans and the choices they make.
The Old City: Leviathan for PC is an unusual, independent adventure game focused on philosophical themes. The game is a debut project of the American studio PostMod. The developers created an epistemological adventure focused on choices made by humans.
In The Old City: Leviathan for PC the player assumes the role of a lonesome man traveling through the desolated city many years before it was abandoned by the civilization that inhabited it. Neither the story nor the objective of this journey is known to the player. The mysteries of the titular city are discovered by exploring semi-open levels. However, during the journey the player must choose one of a few paths. These paths don’t intersect with each other. Because of that, in order to discover all secrets of the city, the game must be completed many times.
In The Old City for PC there are no weapons, items or character development trees. Only the protagonist and the city matters here. The choices made by the player impact the outcome of the story. The developers aren’t eager to call their production a “game” in the classic meaning of the word. Instead, they consider the medium as the best way for sharing a deeper message with the user. Contrary to modern, high-budget games that are focused on providing entertainment, The Old City is meant to teach the player something deeper. Exploration of the city and interactions with objects are the less important – merely the means to push the story forward.
The developers from SoftMod provided visuals and sounds that are adequate to the story. The graphics are powered by Unreal Development Kit and they are of high quality. The atmospheric visuals are filled with foggy locations and extraordinary light and shadow play that greatly fit the specifics of an abandoned city. During the game the player is accompanied by a dark-ambient music composed by Swedish artist Atrium Carceri.
Platforms:
PC Windows
Developer: PostMod Softworks
Publisher: PostMod Softworks
Age restrictions: none
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System Requirements for The Old City: Leviathan Video Game:
PC / Windows
Recommended System Requirements:
Core i3 2.4 GHz, 4 GB RAM, graphic card 1 GB (GeForce GTX 760 or better), 3 GB HDD, Windows Vista(SP2)/7(SP1)/8.
Game Ratings for The Old City: Leviathan Video Game.
USgamer: 4 / 5 by Bob Mackey
The Old City offers a great story, and one that's at its most rewarding when approached with a literary mindset. If you're not offended by a game with an ending that raises more questions than answers, Postmod's creation delivers an experience with a noteworthy amount of restraint—and one that's begging to be revisited multiple times.
PCGamesN: 6 / 10 by Fraser Brown
The possibility that the world is illusory and that what we're seeing is a lie makes the world impossible to embrace, however. There's no strong sense of place, and nothing to anchor the high falutin ponderings that make up so much of the game. And even if we were to take it at face value, which seems to be impossible, it's only a snapshot, a vertical slice of this world without much context, making it hard to reach any solid conclusions. Theories and guesses, though? I've got dozens.
Gaming Nexus: 8.8 / 10 by Travis Huinker
The Old City: Leviathan is a bold game for its complete focus on the narrative that translates into a gameplay experience that is both atmospheric and haunting. While the game's story can sometimes become too obscure for its own good, the majority of the narrative experience shouldn't be missed by adventurous gamers.
Average score from votes.