Void Collector Review (PC)

I’ll be honest, I have quite a few things on my bingo card, but I can’t say that I have ‘flipping the middle finger at a windmill’ written on it. Void Collector — I’m pointing the finger at you.

From what I remember, I figured Void Collector was to be a different, perhaps even relaxing first-person shooter — like playing a round of rock, paper, scissors with a few chums to pass the time. But to my surprise, it wasn’t anything of the sort. No, it was far more taxing than that. And when I say taxing, I don’t mean that it was physically taxing, but mentally, it was on another level. Turned out, a middle finger could eject laser beams, and a clenched fist could trigger a series of blasts that could single-handedly annihilate a green toasted marshmallow. Perhaps I might’ve missed the tutorial, or maybe, just maybe, I expected the journey to be a tad more forgiving. But it wasn’t. Shifting hands and alternating fingers guns aside, it also rolled out timed levels, scoring systems, and even a dopamine (or JUICE) meter to keep me on my toes.

Thankfully, I had already played one too many rounds of MULLET MADJACK to comprehend how it would work, so to some extent, I was able to connect the dots and formulate the equation. Hand gestures plus short bouts of dopamine plus points equaled, well, another version of MULLET MADJACK — but with a big ol’ middle finger slapped over the tip of it. That basic understanding was enough in itself for me to come to grips with the objective at hand: point fingers at bad guys, and rack up enough points to satisfy that lust for accreditation in a jacked-up world. Heck, all I needed was the mullet to go the whole hog.

Flipping the Bird

Void Collector wasn’t so much about collecting voids as it was about flexing fingers in an abnormal way to enact powers beyond my wildest dreams. That, really, was what the majority of the journey entailed: hopping between cartoon worlds, and using the power of both my own two hands and imaginative gestures to defeat enemies, overcome colorful hurdles, and compete against timed events to earn perks and, from what I understood, another opportunity to do it all again for even greater rewards.

The game is described as something of a ludicrously fast-paced first-person shooter — and I can vouch for that. The gameplay itself isn’t the obstacle that you need to overcome here; it’s the ever-shifting carousel of hand gestures-turned-weapons that you need to decipher, that’s the problem. Unlike your traditional first-person shooter, you don’t have the ability to use whatever weapon that falls into your grips to protect yourself from harm. Here, each hand gesture has a power—a power that correlates with an obstacle in the environment. It’s your job, in short, to alternate between these gestures and, well, romp through the wilds in an attempt to claim admirable scores, times, and leaderboard-worthy victories. Sounds easy, right? Eh — yes and no.

These Fingers Work Miracles

Immediate learning curve cast aside, Void Collector is an absolute blast to shovel through. It’s brash and it’s provocative, yet even with its inclusion of an uphill struggle, it still finds ways to keep you hungering for another round, if not with the promise of more Juice, then memorabilia—“doodads” that offer additional value to your collection of weapons and accolades. There’s also a solid selection of zones to chomp through, enemies to tackle, and engaging obstacles to conquer, thus creating a well-wrapped world with plenty of bang for your buck.

At the heart of Void Collector is five distinct worlds, with each world offering a tutorial level plus four separate stages, all of which feature their own scores, challenges, and shortcuts to sniff out. Once you make sense of the mechanics—how to alternate between one of five hand gestures, that is—you have the chance to venture deep into each stage, tackle the corridors and set personal benchmarks for yourself to achieve, whether it’s by taking the initiative to unravel the fastest route, or by earning the added collectibles to flesh out your portfolio.

I feel as if the art style is something else that’s worth mentioning here. It’s a surreal experience, plodding through the vibrant boroughs of a cartoon world with oh-so many moving parts. Sure enough, it is a lot like ENA: Dream BBQ, in the case that, well, not a lot of it makes a lick of sense. But that’s what makes it all the more appealing — that it has no formal structure, let alone a sense of linearity in its design. To say that it’s an unpredictable endeavor wouldn’t be giving it the credit it deserves, to be honest.

Verdict

Void Collector brings that silly-yet-equally-striking sense of humor to a finger-fumbling first-person shooter experience that has just as many hilarious moments as it does unique characters and charming world events. It’s a pretty difficult game, what with the amount of hand gestures (or weapons, if you will) to learn and deploy on the battlefield. That said, the more you devote your time to finessing the combat mechanics, the better and more enjoyable the journey eventually becomes. It’s like learning how to play the guitar, in ways: as your hand begins to rely on muscle memory to hit the correct notes and chords, the music begins to flow and sound more palatable. A mediocre analogy, I’ll admit — but you get the point.

There’s a tremendous amount of fun that you can create for yourself in Void Collector—so much of it, in fact, that I could quite easily count the number of obtainable incentives on two hands. Simply put, if you like unusual artwork, fast-paced quips, and original combat mechanics that are as equally challenging as they are satisfying to master, then you will probably enjoy flipping the bird to the creations that flesh out this comical work of art. It’s a weird piece, I’ll admit, but I’m not one to point fingers — unless it’s directed at Gunther.