Crisol: Theater of Idols Review
Fresh Blood
Summary: Crisol: Theater of Idols is a unique blend of action and puzzles that has enough potential to keep the player engaged until the very end, but lacks enough narrative and gameplay depth to be remembered for long.
3.5
A Unique Blend of Action and Puzzles
Crisol: Theater of Idols is an FPS title that tries to be more than just another AA shooter. The game pays homage to great action games such as Bioshock and Resident Evil when it comes to blending story-driven gunplay with unique puzzles. Is the Spanish AA studio behind it — Vermila Studios — successful in catching lightning in a bottle like the sources of its inspirations?
Crisol: Theater of Idols is set in a fictional world ruled by the Sun. The devoted followers of the sun god are tasked with maintaining order and fighting any opposing forces, namely the followers of the imprisoned sea god. The protagonist of the game, Gabriel, is a member of a special task force trying to infiltrate the home island of the sea followers and prevent them from breaking the spell that holds the opposing god imprisoned. The story of the game has quite a few twists and turns, but also its fair share of plot holes. The narrative, on the other hand, masterfully unmasks the truth, gradually spreading doubt in Gabriel’s heart as his confrontations with the devoted followers of the sea make him question his faith and the righteousness of his actions.
The best way to describe the gameplay in Crisol: Theater of Idols is to call it “Resident Evil meets Bioshock.” The enemies are mostly idols and man-sized statues that attack Gabriel primarily with melee weapons. Shooting the limbs of the statues causes them to break, halting their movement or making them drop the weapons they are carrying. The magical weapons at Gabriel’s disposal use his blood as ammo. Thus, Gabriel’s health is at the same time his ammo. Blood can be siphoned from the corpses of humans and animals or injected using syringes to refill Gabriel’s health. This interesting mechanism makes you think twice before pulling the trigger, as each bullet also reduces Gabriel’s health. Some weapons, such as the shotgun, require a lot of blood to reload and, in return, deal massive damage, while others, such as the handgun or machine gun, are more balanced. All weapons can be upgraded throughout the game to deal more damage, hold more bullets, and reload faster.
The gunplay has nothing out of the ordinary and even lacks some of the more standard modern mechanics, such as aiming down sights, while the enemy and boss variety of the game is minimal at best. But where the gameplay truly shines is in the puzzles. A decent portion of the game is dedicated to solving puzzles to progress. These puzzles vary from finding the correct way through a labyrinth-like production line to finding the correct order of names based on notes and environmental clues to open a vault. The puzzles in Crisol: Theater of Idols never get dull and remain fresh to the very end of the experience.
Though the game is not long, it feels like the story is stretched thin near the end. Perhaps the reason behind it is the monotonous environmental design of Crisol: Theater of Idols. Players need to visit three different districts on the island to get to the bottom of the mystery. The first district is a market with different shops and public facilities. The second one is the mining and industrial district of the island, and the last one is the historic and religious center. Though these are three inherently different environments, the color palette and structural identity of all of them remain the same. The same animal corpses, vehicles, structures, and enemies can be found throughout all these districts, and that makes you feel as if you are just playing the same long and stretched level for hours.
Final Thoughts
As the premier AA title of Vermila Studios, Crisol: Theater of Idols is a unique blend of action and puzzles that has enough potential to keep the player engaged until the very end, but lacks enough narrative and gameplay depth to be remembered for long. All brilliant aspects of the game are accompanied by a discouraging counterpart. The nice graphics and world-building of the game are dwarfed by bad performance and a lack of decent upscaling options such as DLSS and FSR. The interesting narrative and story are cut short near the end of the game due to plot holes and monotonous level design. The great puzzles of the game are held back by lackluster gunplay. Consequently, Crisol: Theater of Idols is more like a promising prologue for Vermila Studios’ next game.
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