American Arcadia puts a retro future twist on Truman Show voyeurism

destructoid.com:

One of the most compelling things a game can do in my eyes is have a clear artistic vision and go balls-to-the-wall in order to execute it. American Arcadia is one of those games. From the very first trailer I saw, I knew it was going to be one of those titles that delivers on aesthetic and concept, which can either be spectacular, or flop on its face. After playing a preview of American Arcadia for the Tribeca Games Fest, I have a feeling it will be leaning toward the former.

Sometimes a game can bite off more than it can chew with a bunch of different elements — more complexity isn’t always better. There’s certainly much more game than what I got to play of American Arcadia, but from what I did get to see, it looks like a really fun balance of different styles of art and gameplay. It’s got a little bit of retro-future ’70s flair, a little bit of voyeuristic, capitalist dread, some platforming, some puzzles, some snarky dialogue — and yet somehow, it all works together.

The story follows Trevor, a man who thinks he’s living a normal life, but it turns out he and all of the other citizens of Arcadia are being broadcast live 24/7. Sound familiar? It’s inspired by The Truman Show, but actually gives the concept an interesting new twist instead of resting on its laurels. That’s one of my favorite movies, so seeing a game take the conceit and run with it is really cool as a fan.

The twist is that a hacker on the outside, Angela, has taken an interest in Trevor, and wants to help him escape. American Arcadia‘s story cuts between the two characters as they try to navigate the escape, with Angela using the camera feeds and controls to clear the way for Trevor to get the hell out of dodge.

Trevor’s portion of the game has 2.5D