Contrast -- Dawn

Contrast, the upcoming XBLA game by Compulsion Games, just received a new trailer, and it looks phenomenal. The film noir aesthetic and jazz music tie in very well to the trailer’s usage of light and shadow, the game’s main mechanic. It also hints at a bit of the plot, focused around Didi and her imaginary friend Dawn, who possesses the ability to blend into and out of shadows, which usually means switching from 3D gameplay to 2D platforming across a variety of shadows cast by environmental objects.

The trailer opens with Didi alone in her bed, presumably narrating over her own story.  Didi’s imagination is as rampant as ever, as she discusses fairy tales where the little girl (read: herself) is really a princess, and her parents aren’t really her parents.  Once the trailer picks up, it shows some more cinematic angles of the build many of us saw at E3.  The upbeat musical score was a highlight of the game at E3, and the trailer here features an excellent musical accompaniment as well.  To some, the music may come across as contrasting with the somber plot about a girl’s relationship with her family, but this dissonance creates interest in the plot, not unlike the cabaret scene Nick recently wrote about in his feature preview of Contrast.

The trailer was coupled with the announcement that there will be a new build of Contrast available at PAX Prime, so we will get a deeper look into Didi’s world in a few weeks.  For now, enjoy the new trailer — what does everyone think of it?

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