The Captain – Spotlight
This is the story of Captain Thomas Welmu, a Spacefleet captain on a mission to bring precious fuel cells to Earth so that humanity can defeat a powerful ship known as the Sunblaster. At first, the mission is successful, but a mistake causes Thomas to become lost in the galaxy. Before the Sunblaster arrives, Thomas must find a way back to Earth within the next two years. To get back home, you must find the fuel cells and other resources that have gone missing on various planets in the adventure game The Captain. Even though you have a dire and urgent mission at hand, you have an excellent cast of characters who bring some much-needed humour to the situation.
From the sarcastic Ship computer to the naive and optimistic JEFF robot, the cast of characters in this game is diverse and engaging. It’s not just the funny moments that are done well, however. One of the game’s greatest strengths is its ability to deliver emotionally charged moments, such as deciding whether or not to abandon a family in need. At the very least, your goal is to return to Earth with a fuel cell, but you must also have enough resources to begin with. You’ll learn quickly that outposts are being attacked and that if you don’t intervene quickly, one of them may not make it. Are you prepared to put up a fight? You’ll have to put money and resources into improving your ship.
However, obtaining these resources may put other people’s lives in jeopardy on the planets you visit. Because you need 300 credits to buy a new engine, you could bring down an entire civilization. In order to provide for her child, a single mother in need may be forced to marry a man she doesn’t like by blackmail. However, the man is willing to pay you to leave as soon as possible if you don’t want to stay and help the mother. Do you accept the bribe or leave? There is no one-size-fits-all answer for every situation. When you’re forced to make morally dubious choices due to a lack of other options, the mission always takes precedence in your thoughts.
As a result of this difficult decision-making, you’ll be forced to reevaluate your priorities. Even if avoiding the problem altogether is the best solution, it forces you to think and search for one. Even if they seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, you will be confronted with these issues in a way that feels natural and not intrusive. They may be typical of the point-and-click adventure genre, but none of the problems or puzzles in The Captain seem to be there just to lengthen the game or to make people struggle. Under those circumstances it would be normal for you to encounter difficulties. In either case, you’ll be asked to complete three tasks because the criminal boss doesn’t trust anyone they don’t know.
With happy endings, it really feels as if you’re helping characters out in some small way. Because even the more difficult puzzle solutions aren’t ridiculous or out of place, the game doesn’t lose its grip on your attention. When it comes to gameplay, the main mission doesn’t have much to offer in terms of story. Immersion in the worlds you visit is critical if you want to get the most enjoyment out of your journeys. Sadly, this sense of immersion can be shattered due to the fact that the problems on each planet may have multiple solutions, some obvious and others obscure. As a player, you can use the Captain’s “Ending Cards” mechanic to remember the outcomes of your previous missions. You can “auto-complete” an adventure by selecting an Ending Card on a future playthrough, so you don’t have to go through the entire adventure again.
It’s not difficult to find at least one or two Ending Cards on a planet, but finding some of the endings can be frustrating. This also applies to some of the solutions needed to reach these conclusions. Using the Captain is most effective if you are actively participating in the game at hand. You can identify with the characters because you are on a mission, but you stop at various planets along the way to lend a hand and gather resources that will aid your efforts.
Aside from the reminder that getting back to Earth is the number one priority, the story of a man returning to save everyone is otherwise unremarkable save for that immersion. It is possible to get bogged down in obtaining all of a planet’s Ending Cards, wanting to know how a story will conclude or in search of a specific resource that could aid you in completing your mission. It’s possible that the lack of an ideal solution may go undetected at times, which can disrupt the flow of the narrative. It’s a familiar story: the two survivors in the lab volunteer because they believe they can get what they need to do before the alien catches up to them, as in that story.
Because of the way the options are presented, it’s clear that you’re forced to choose between them. Thirdly, you may be able to save the entire population. As frustrating as it may be, there’s no way to save everyone, so you’ll have to accept that. A lot of effort may have gone into saving everyone, but in the end it will all be for naught. In addition, there’s an interesting puzzle that involves meditating on a specific planet. Continue meditating seems like an obvious action, but it is actually a puzzle that you must solve. You have no idea what you’re looking for or what your inputs mean, so you’re left to guess or look it up online.
In some cases, the path to a specific conclusion is unclear. In some cases, the only thing you might know about an ending is that you haven’t gotten there yet, but you don’t know where it is. When this happens, you may end up trying a lot of different ideas before realising that you have nothing else and have to go online to look for help. As long as you’re able to stay in the world, The Captain is a fun game. Because of the difficulty and obscurity of the solutions, if you have to break the immersion just so you can learn how to proceed, your experience may be ruined. When you have to scour the Internet just to figure out how to get there, making difficult decisions loses its allure.
This is a rare occurrence, but enough immersion-breaking moments exist in the game to make it less enjoyable for the player. In terms of plot, the Captain’s situation is straightforward. The variety of characters you meet, as well as the interesting stories you encounter on the planets you visit, are the primary sources of narrative interest. Even if you’re doing everything you can to be a good person, it can be difficult to prioritise your return to Earth over making a morally beneficial decision. In addition to challenging puzzles and obstacles, you feel like a space captain making difficult decisions.
It’s a shame that the game has moments where you’re left with no idea how to proceed due to ambiguous endings or solutions. If you can’t finish the story, you won’t enjoy it. As a result, The Captain accomplishes its goals and does an excellent job of evoking the emotions of a desperate space captain determined to return home no matter the cost. The Captain is a great place to start if you’ve never had to make difficult decisions in space before.
