Is destiny in the eye of this beholder?
Seize control of your destiny in a grim dystopian world over which the State has absolute authority. Privacy is dead in this forbidding new age but you still have to make a living. As the manager of a government-run apartment building, you must keep your residents comfortable and well-fed while fulfilling the directives of your superiors, who insist on knowing everything that’s going on between your dilapidated walls.
Beholder is a strange game of running an apartment building, but also spying on your residents and potentially blackmailing them or reporting them to your superiors in the government. The controls take a while to get used to, but once mastered this is a game that is fun as it is bleak.
You start with simple objectives like installing spy cameras in an apartment while a resident is out and then later you gain evidence to use against him for your own gain. Morally speaking, Beholder is a game that will question yours, although I clearly lack any as I have no problem blackmailing the residents in the game.
The game is very much trial and error, the same can be said for the controls which aren’t the most precise and can hinder you at times. The choices made to you are mostly black and white, but they are still tough ones. There are also a good number of different endings, which naturally adds to the replay value.
Visually, Beholder is a nice-looking game that has a unique art style. It runs smoothly overall and while the game looks simplistic in design, it has a grim charm to it. The same can be said for the soundtrack.
The Verdict
Beholder: Complete Edition is a decent point-and-click game that makes you decide morally difficult things. The controls may be a mixed bag, but there’s a fun game to be found here under the bleak floorboards of this particular apartment.