more fraud glazing but I really love how powerless it makes you feel. this is a game where you play as possibly the most sophisticated warmachine ever created, one of your main goals is to kill as stylishly and as often as possible, and “wouldn’t it be cool if you could do x” is likely the main question asked when developing new levels and weapons
and yet fraud turns that all on its head. I think a large part of that is how it works in tandem with violence—honestly fraud made me think about violence in a completely different way. this layer showcases the best of V1’s abilities—violence is what it was made for. think about how it feels to be fighting the last wave of enemies inside the earthmover while the wwr guitar riff plays. think about how it feels to kill the earthmover, watch humanity’s magnum opus, its antennas to heaven, collapse into burning rubble. honestly the entirety of 7-4 flows together so seamlessly, even though you’ve only seen the earthmovers once before and you’re momentarily shocked by how big they are you fall into rhythm very quickly because this is what v1 was (likely) meant to do
go further back. violence comes after heresy, where v1 takes down an archangel for the second time and inspires it to go on its own triage of violence. of course you can never really talk about v1 without talking about Gabriel. gabriel’s defeat is what v1 should not have been able to do, and it makes you feel powerful. you’re dropped into violence, and you carry out the task you were made for, and it makes you feel powerful. and then you fall into fraud and it’s immediately clear that things are no longer what they seem, and you start to feel a little less confident
now the player is already used to illusions because of limbo. it’s so obvious, the speakers are right there, the walls have black bars when you walk up to them. how could a sinner ever think this was paradise? but fraud just pushes it so much further and turns up the symbolism to a point that makes you uncomfortable. the levels are genuinely disorienting. there’s twist upon twist, from the level end fakeout in 8-1 to the one at the beginning in 8-3 to later on in the level where you’re straight up just thrown into space (or at least, what hell wants you to think is space). the statues at the beginning of 8-1 are cool, and then the game just drops its interpretation of God. you see the archangel mural, and any excitement at seeing their designs is quickly replaced by dread when you see one of them clawed out. seeing v1 in the mirror is neat initially, and then you see its reflection strung up and splayed out on the ground. the deathcatchers give v1 more to kill, but without granting kills or style it feels more overwhelming than exhilarating. their only purpose is to heal, to keep v1 fighting for just a moment longer. you push up against the skybox in 8-2, and like limbo, you see through it—except, instead of revealing that you’re in an illusion, you realize you’re on the other side of the screen. seeing that huge empty theater makes you uneasy—you’re being watched, but you’re not even granted the chance to see who’s watching.
(it’s hell, of course. its biggest regret is that it does not have a body to manifest into a seat, no big grin to flash at you as you try to peer through the fourth wall.)
you progress through 8-3 and you see the flesh of king minos, and you’re immediately reminded of gabriel. you think maybe hell will replay some memory, make some crude amalgamation of him, but no, it’s one of his disciples. they ask where is Gabriel and what have you done to him and you think. shit. where is Gabriel? violence does such a good job at making you forget. immediately after heresy you’re flashbanged and brought into this beautiful maze of pure white, jumpscared by mannequins and pursued by the Minotaur. you get caught up in the horror of the mannequins’ creation, then the gutterman’s poem, the suffering of its mother, the earthmovers in the distance. you lose yourself in painting the world red. it feels good. it feels natural. even though 7-3 is somber and uncomfortable you’re given a simple task—FEED IT—and you execute it flawlessly. you forget about Gabriel.
you forget about Gabriel and the powers make you remember. honestly the last power encounter makes me so scared. WHY are you perched on top of the suicide tree. I have a vague feeling that where is Gabriel and what have you done to him may be echoed by us when treachery comes out
who’s to say hell isn’t messing with Gabriel as well? does hell want v1 to fight Gabriel? it would be too satisfying for both of them. it would make this all end too soon. what else will v1 fuel itself off of? how many sinners and machines does hell have left to throw at it? the deathcatchers can’t generate blood for v1 forever. I think v1 and Gabriel dying is the best possible outcome
what are the chances Gabriel is just dead by the time we get to him in treachery? what if hell kills him in the middle of the fight? puts them both into an infinite timeloop? keeps gabriel on a sliver of health and makes you chase him throughout the encores? think about the act’s name being godfist suicide and the theory that Gabe has the gold arm—will he kill himself with it, or rip it off of his body and give it to you to kill him? is that the only way to kill an archangel?
and then where is the missing archangel and who is it? who sculpted the deathcatchers (I mean I think it was geryon but who knows), or the Minotaur? fraud leaves you with a LOT more questions than answers considering it’s so close to the end of the game
you’re no longer in violence. you are no longer where you are meant to be, you are no longer doing what you excel best at. you are entirely wrapped around hell’s finger and there is nothing you can do about it
the world looks red/glory motif plays in 8-3 almost to lull you into a sense of familiarity, though, especially combined with the tree and power. see, look, you’re in violence again, you can do what you were made for and it will be enough. see, look, if you squint hard enough the power looks like Gabriel and he’s here to fight you one last time
8-4 ends.. scarily calmly. the channel switch at the end of the geryon fight makes it crystal clear what hell is doing to v1 if it wasn’t obvious enough already (it also reminded me a lot of the tenna fight lmao). it is leaving absolutely NO room for interpretation, it tells you exactly what is going on because it knows you have no power to change it
you’re expecting another fakeout, a second phase or boss, but there is nothing. with geryon’s terminal entry it almost makes me feel.. sad? its body is constantly failing it, it has multiple consciousnesses that can’t communicate, and it goes for mercy kills in one of the worst layers of hell to end up in
I almost wonder if hell purposely made v1 fight it for that reason? it definitely played a part as without the channel switch v1 would have kept falling forever, and it allows geryon to finally die by being impaled by a state. and when it dies it looks a LOT like a deathcatcher
and you end up in that theater. it almost feels intimate in a superficial way. Hell is allowing you backstage, giving you a false sense of control. you can come to the other side. you can see how I see you. Isn’t it lovely? you leave the theater and there is nobody to greet you, to applaud your performance, just one poster that depicts v1 in such a cutesy casual way it’s almost insulting
up until this point you are the most powerful thing. you take down your successor, your hunter, your prey. hell uses fraud to remind you that you’re not
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