There’s so much potential here with Spectre: a combination of interactive narrative, simple platforming, and multiple endings. The artwork is arresting and the music engaging. The simple platform levels aren’t too terribly conceived, but the voice acting and physics of the world leave much to be desired. That’s not the real problem of this game. The problem is that it succeeds or fails on one thing—the power of the narrator’s memories. Unfortunately, they’re dull. The story, if written out linearly, would bore even the most casual reader. Clichés abound and most scenes lack even the most basic narrative arc. The concept of putting together a story from disjointed memories isn’t necessarily novel, and so there’s plenty of inspiration to be had from people who’ve succeeded in this style of storytelling. It’s too bad that Spectre reflects none of that inspiration.

Perhaps if Spectre had attempted to be more of a game and less of a freshman art project I would have enjoyed it more. The concept is certainly interesting enough. You play a man reflecting on his life’s memories. The problem is that behind the stylized visuals and soothing, yet melancholy new age rhythms it’s just not that much fun to play. Your character moves slowly in a floaty, dream-like state that is more annoying than anything else. The mini-games that make up the actual gameplay are boring and often share little connection to whatever memory the protagonist is recollecting. The memories themselves are dictated to the player while you work through the mini-games, and tend to come off as little more than pretentious and uninteresting. A lofty concept with good intentions that ultimately fails in execution.