Umurangi Generation Macro | Review

Umurangi Generation is updated with the Macro DLC and, just like a macro photograph, it is an invitation to discover details, textures and details that the lens magnifies without distorting. Four new scenarios to play, nine tools with which to update your shots, but above all precious moments in which environmental storytelling beats hard on our consciences and presents us the background that gives a new interpretation to what has been played previously. Macro, however, does not tell a completely direct story, there are no names, characters and traits that are imposed on us: it is our eye that records the clues present in the maps, while our sensitivity lets itself be impressed in the same way that light affects. on the film. Umurangi Generation is a work created and immersed in the New Zealand context, however it has a universal language that speaks to those who today find it difficult to be heard.

Classism, colonialism, racism, oppression, environmentalism. There is not a single key to the interpretation, on the contrary there are many ideas that the game offers. It is up to us photographers to capture a message, choosing the right shot and giving space to what is meaningful to us. One of the most surprising aspects of Umurangi Generation is that it is a title with a strong cyberpunk root, but it does not flaunt it just because in 2020 it is so fashionable. As already noted in the review phase of the base game, it is a title based on life, the real one, the one not always happy, full of injustices. It's a current title where everything seems frighteningly too true, it's not science fiction, it's not light years away. It is difficult to spend time between its levels and not reflect on what we are experiencing globally, on what directly affects us and what happens outside our homes, whether in Hong Kong or in the United States.

Perhaps there is still time out there for us, but the signs of the end of the world in Umurangi Generation are a warning to us and are everywhere we look: on people's faces, on graffiti on walls or enclosed in ramshackle architecture made of wooden planks and makeshift materials. To take even more exciting photos that capture all the nuances, there is now greater control over exposure times, aperture and ISO. In terms of mechanics, the game also goes further, paying homage to one of its main sources of inspiration: Jet Set Radio. Thanks to a pair of skates we will be able to accelerate and speed up our movements, while with the supplied spray we can write about the properties of the UN. On a creative level, the spray can is one of the most interesting additions because it now allows us to leave our messages and make the shots even more personal. Unfortunately it has some limitations due to the fact that you cannot write everywhere.

Other gadgets include selfie lenses, scrape pads with which we can lower ourselves to the ground to shoot from a new perspective, square format photos and an incredible device that makes us relive the times of the Game Boy Camera. Not only does Macro add 4 new levels to explore in search of more or less difficult objectives to complete, but it greatly extends our creative possibilities. Completing Umurangi Generation does not take many hours, however if you are passionate about photo mode in video games, you will find yourself retracing each level with new features for your camera in search of unusual perspectives and new adjustments to immortalize scenes in ways previously inaccessible. .

One of the scenarios we liked the most is The Depths. In the depths, hidden from the eyes of the more affluent, tent cities grow like mushrooms among the toxic sewage of the sewers. The graffiti on the walls are real works of art of a bright fluorescent that stands out when compared with the dull and dark tones of the level. This is the most detailed level and also the one where a mistake, such as falling into the sewage, forces us to start over from the entrance. The levels on the whole are growing, ending with the last one that apparently seems the poorest of all, instead hides a powerful message that has the opportunity to echo with even more force thanks to the absence of elements that would have diverted the our attention.

Macro inevitably carries with it some problems it inherits from the base game, such as the scrambled movements that emerge in the levels with multiple platforms, and we must also report that we have experienced a bit of motion sickness. The field of view is not adjustable and is currently very narrow, this, combined with the new speed given by the skates, could have had a negative impact giving us a sense of nausea. Currently the game offers the ability to remove the blur effect to mitigate the sensation. Once these problems have been overcome, Umurangi Generation confirms itself as a very courageous independent title in tackling uncomfortable issues. Given the additions to the objective park, the more in-depth controls and game details that enrich the previous plot, Umurangi Generation Macro is more than just a filler, it is a fundamental piece to continue to tell your point of view through art.