Publisher: DePaul Game Elites
Developer: DePaul Game Elites
System requirements: Windows XP, Vista or 7, Dual Core 2 GHz or Single Core 3 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, GeForce 8000 series or Radeon X3650 or better graphics card, 1 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Indie
Release date: Available now

First and foremost, before anyone unearths this dark and terrible secret and calls me out on it, I want to mention that I am an acquaintance of one of the developers of Devil’s Tuning Fork. This relationship doesn’t affect my opinion of the game’s strengths and weaknesses, but I thought I’d bring it up in the spirit of full disclosure. DTF is an indie game created by game development students at DePaul University in Chicago. It’s a result of a six-month (and ongoing) effort, it’s their entry into the Independent Games Festival, and it’s free to download and play.

After a brief cinematic, which informs you that children all over the world have been falling into unexplained comas, you control a child in a place of complete darkness. The only thing you can make out is some pulsing light ahead. If you go towards the light (movement is achieved by standard WASD+Mouselook controls), you soon end up in a small room with the titular tuning fork on a small pedestal. The fork in question is not so much the Devil’s, but rather M. C. Escher’s, and as such cannot be rendered in 3D; it’s the only object in the game that uses a sprite rather than a 3D model.

After picking up this essential tool, you use it to emit sound waves and thus “illuminate” your way. This is what bats do. Aside from the “regular” tone, the fork can emit two more types of waves, low frequency and focused. The former is used to detect unstable floor tiles, while the latter can ring bells and reflect off mirrors. As you move around, you use these sounds to both find your way about and to solve puzzles. The goal is to rescue children, represented as stuffed animals. There are three chapters in the game, and after beating the final one, you wake up to see your overjoyed parents once more.

Even though I beat DTF in about 20 to 30 minutes, it provided me with everything I expect from a game. I was challenged, I was frustrated at being stuck at certain puzzles, and I felt a sense of accomplishment after finally solving them. In short, I was entertained. More importantly, I was treated to actual innovation, which is obviously the point of indie games. The creative idea behind DTF is both clever and novel. I wish the developers had had more time to work on it, but even left as is, it serves as a good proof of concept. If upon their graduation these guys go on to form their own studios, we can potentially expect great things from them. Time will tell.

As far as specific aspects, the most impressive feature happens to be the sound. The ambient voices are reproduced very well; quite a few high-budget games would benefit from having this level of sound quality. The graphics engine is decent if a little hardware-demanding. Compared to many other indie games, DTF ranks fairly high, but there are still problems. The level design is rudimentary, exiting the game drops all progress, and there is no option to play at my beloved 2560×1600 resolution. Sometimes I even got stuck trying to climb stairs that were supposed to be accessible.

It goes without saying that a good deal of polish would dramatically improve DTF. The important thing, however, is that, unlike some, this game can be polished. It certainly has potential, and it’s reasonable to expect that, with enough investment (monetary and otherwise), this potential can be fulfilled. If you game to rack up high scores or to “pwn the n00bs,” you could probably skip Devil’s Tuning Fork without missing much. But if you delight in creativity and artistic vision, you should consider spending 30 minutes of your time on it. Since it’s free to download and play, you’re likely to be happy with the rate at which this investment pays off.

Our Score:

Our Recommendation: