My Favourite Video Game: Failstate

My Favourite Video Game is a guest feature from bands and artists where we set them a simple task… tell us about your favourite video game. In this feature, members of anthemic alternative rock band, Failstate accept the challenge.

Their explosive new single and video, ‘Lifeguard’, arrives everywhere on Friday 10th May.

Dave Morgan (Vocals & Guitar)

Signalis is a sci- fi, survival-horror game by small German developer Rose Engine; and by that I mean a really small developer consisting of two people. The game is set in a dystopian/totalitarian future and follows an android as they travel through an abandoned and twisted mining facility, populated by crazed, synthetic monsters in search of their partner.

The game imitates the visual style of the PS1 era. This is done in part as a homage to its clear inspiration taken from the early Silent Hill and Resident Evil games but also the janky, unclear, low poly aesthetic does a lot to add to the unease of what you see. The visuals blend a lot of body horror with sci-fi machinery in a way similar to H.R. Geiger’s work, but is still distinct enough to be its own thing.

I think the fact that the game was made by only two people really helped keep their vision pure and simplistic. The plot is disorienting and unclear all the way through to the end but despite this, or perhaps because of this, it’s one of my favourite stories I’ve ever experienced in a game. What I wasn’t expecting was how deep and emotional it gets. It has heavy themes of isolation, rejection, love and existentialism. It’s one of those special pieces of art that spoke to me and has stayed in my head ever since playing it.

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