Beholder: Conductor Review

I’m a huge fan of the Beholder series. The sinister action, moral dilemmas, and interesting settings are enough to get under your skin. Accordingly, when I was offered Beholder: Conductor, I couldn’t resist. This embodies the core gameplay mechanics while adding an interesting twist in the totalitarian state.

Alawar Entertainment developed this dystopian adventure. It is a single-player game with many weird undertones. Furthermore, it is often uncomfortable as you must make some awful decisions. Do you do what is right or do you listen to your oppressive bosses? Either way, the world keeps spinning, and the wheels keep turning. Therefore, you are but a small cog in an almighty horrendous machine.

Beholder: Conductor makes you realise how insignificant you are.

The Beholder series plays on that “Big Brother” is watching theme. Additionally, it is often uncomfortable to play as things are usually out of your control. However, it is the sense of doing what is right that’ll keep you going. Alternatively, maybe you like to appease your evil overlords. If that is the case, you’ll love the oppressive and often unfair quests you are made to go on.

You play the role of an inexperienced conductor on the prestigious train, the Determination Bringer. Immediately, you understand that things aren’t right with the setup. There are shady individuals, an overpowering boss, and too many unwanted requests. However, there is little you can do about it. Your only power is to choose to do the wrong or right thing. Although this could impact your standing with the Ministry, you must listen to your moral compass.

Tense and slow action.

My overwhelming feeling of Beholder: Conductor was the sense of tension and slow action. The gameplay is never in a rush, and there is more time to complete tasks than you’d ever expect. On top of this, there is an unbelievable amount of tension as you undertake sneaky tasks, report individuals for minor infractions, and generally act like a stealthy snitch.

However, you can play things any way you like. If you don’t want to frame people, you don’t have to. If you want to let something slide, you are free to do so. Whatever you decide has a massive impact on the ending you’ll experience. It took me a while to realise that my actions had very real consequences. I loved planting evidence and grassing on my commuters. This gave me a sense of power even if it wasn’t deserved.

Much of the action requires you to spy on your passengers. Looking through peepholes, following them from vehicle to vehicle, and searching their belongings are par for the course. Yet, you don’t have to plant evidence if you don’t want to. This was my go-to option. Search their things, find that they were innocent, and place apples, fish, drugs, books, or anything the Ministry decided was illegal in their bags. It was sneaky, unfair, but bloody rewarding.

What I failed to recognise was the impact this had on my game. It wasn’t until the second playthrough that I realised I could be slower, more deliberate, and let the quests play out before I screwed people over. This is all part of the learning curve, and something that makes Beholder: Conductor unique. You will make mistakes, and you will ruin your run, but it doesn’t matter. Instead, you must enjoy what you’ve created and see how each new story plays out.

Beholder: Conductor is grim.

The dull colour palette, the oppressive character models, and the repetitive nature of your surroundings complement the dark and sinister action. Everything feels overwhelming and overbearing. Even when you move from 3rd class to 1st class, there is a sense of filth and control. This is what makes Beholder: Conductor great to play. The setting and the theme work in perfect harmony. This is matched further by the sombre audio. Moments of silence complement the sense of despair. Simple sound effects are effective, and the slow build-up of drama feels edgy and horrible to experience.

The control system is probably the worst element of this game. Although it is mostly fine, it is particularly clunky when searching your passengers’ belongings. I can’t see this being an issue with a mouse and keyboard, but the analogue controls for a gamepad are relatively slow and awkward. If you can overlook this, the UI is easy to manage, and working through quests and core elements is a cinch. Longevity is based around your desire to see every ending. This takes some time, and the repetitive nature may put some people off.

Beholder: Conductor is brilliant but uncomfortable.

I absolutely adore Beholder: Conductor! It is a simple concept done extremely well. The action is horribly uncomfortable, and the moral dilemmas are nasty. However, if you can cope with the sinister action, you’ll love this detective adventure experience. Big brother is always watching in this horrendously uncomfortable experience. Dark, divisive, but fantastic! Accordingly, I recommend grabbing a copy from the Xbox Store