PAX East 2012: Kairo

 
In the Indie Megabooth there was more than one puzzle-focused first-person adventure.  Whereas Antichamber was bright and focused on the shifting of perception, Locked Door Puzzle's Kairo takes a more monolithic, architectural sojourn into the abyss.  We got to speak with the man behind Kairo, Richard Perrin, and we asked him about the influences behind the world and what we can expect from the ominous landscapes around us. [Check out the preview after the break.]

Kairo is an exploration-based first-person adventure with a focus on the unknown.  The story behind Kairo is as mysterious and the landscape you traverse.  The player has no real idea as to what the world of Kario presents, and over time, as the world's ancient machinery begins to activate and return to autonomy, the player will learn what the abandoned world's true purpose is.

Having spent some time on the game, I found myself fairly enamored by the simple yet ominous designs of the demo's architecture.  Starting on a throne in a white-filled void, I ventured across the empty space toward my destination, or rather, my only path to take.  At its end lay a giant stone structure as an ominous hum rose into my headphones.  Entering the building, the world's color became a blue hue, all but one stone column standing down the corridor, as still as they had been since their creation.  I waited for something to happen as I looked around, but as I would find, the world would only react to me, not the other way around.  At least, from my time in the demo, anyways.

Each room is filled with like-colored stone structures and a dim light which proceeds to add to the world's curious and dark nature.  The ambient music only further isolated me from the rest of the showfloor, which only made things harder for me to stop.  In regards to the puzzles, I had a couple pass by me over my playthrough.  In one, platforms rose from a black void with each step of progression I made, and so I would need to avert my steps to allow an eventual entrance to the opposing room.  After passing through what I believed to be a mausoleum, I found a room covered in switches, each with a mark resembling a part of the symbol I had seen moments earlier.  I would not pass this room before my time was over, but it seemed to be a fairly simple puzzle from there.  Regardless, it was the presentation which pulled me in before the puzzles greeted me as a mutual friend.

Kairo is available for preorder now for PC from the official website and should be released sometime this year.