Sigono’s OPUS: Rocket Of Whispers has you exploring a literal ghost town. After an apocalyptic plague that killed most of Earth’s population, a rocket engineer and a witch try to send the spirits to their final resting place – to space.
Much like The Day We Found Earth, Sigono’s previous game, Rocket of Whispers has a story to tell, and it tells you in a slow, relaxed pace, giving you something to do inbetween story beats. In this case, you’re building a rocket out of scrap metal by exploring a deserted, snowy town and dismantling old machines.
Why would you do that, you ask? Well, apparently this strange world was conducting “space burials” before the plague hit. The spirits would otherwise linger on and disturb the residents – and after the plague there are a lot of spirits.
This is a slow-paced, character-focused game, and sometimes the exploration feels like it is meant to just give you something to do and not just watch the story unfold – which is perfectly fine.
I’ve grown to enjoy this kind of storytelling, and it fits the medium incredibly well (especially on the Switch, which lets me play in bed, right before going to sleep). This slow, melancholy story would probably bore me out of my wits as a book or television series.
However, as a game, the repetition and plodding exploration becomes part of its very structure, part of what it is and how it tells its story. And it does so remarkably well.
You can purchase OPUS: Rocket Of Whispers from Steam for $ 8.99. It is also available for the Nintendo Switch, as well as Android and iOS devices. For more information, visit the game’s website or follow developer Sigono on Facebook and Twitter.
