Crisol: Theater of Idols Review

Crisol: Theater of Idols puts players into the virtual shoes of Gabriel Escudero, an assassin sent from the Sun God, exploring the island of Tormentosa, Hispania, a twisted version of Spain. Our protagonist will need to survive an onslaught of living puppet-like statues in this war against the Sea God. The further he gets into the conflict, the more it becomes about the history and politics of the two deities.

Crisol: Theater of Idols is a typical first person shooter where you’ll explore a medium size open area. As with any shooter, you’ll be able to defend yourself with a handful of weapons you’ll collect throughout this adventure. The thing that makes this stand out from other FPS is how your ammo is handled. Your ammo is your blood/health.

It’s a nice and unique mechanic that adds a layer of challenge and, indirectly, exploration. You’ll need to find all health syringes you can to replenish your health; but you’ll also need to find corpses, humans and animals, or blood fountains to replenish your health as you need to save your vials for when you’re in a bind. It also means you need to make sure to not miss your shots. You also have a trusty knife when in a bind; it also requires a bit of maintenance.

You’ll have to find sharpening station to keep your knife healthy… which requires gasoline tanks. Exploration is highly recommended as well so you can find items such as Holy Blood vials to increase your health, save crows from cages for the shop owner, star shaped keys for chests, etc. As you save crows, the shop owner will offer additional upgrades for your weapons and skill upgrades.

The game looks great overall although don’t expect it to push the consoles’ power to the max. The island is overall well designed, with a dark/drab color palette representing the dread of the area. The environment was inspired by religious and folklore designs. The enemies are well done and have a level of creepyness that will keep you on your toes; even when you shoot them, they won’t die unless they burst into flames. Legs and torso of a single enemy can still come after you. On the audio side of things, nothing out of the ordinary to report. The voiceover work is pretty solid and the ambiant noise makes for a great addition to the atmosphere. Hearing wood clacking as wooden puppets come out of hiding is slightly unnerving.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this game, there are a few nuisances. Some areas you will be hunted down by a giant unkillable doll and this mechanic feels overused. Also when opening gates, instead of opening automatically once you interact with the lever, you need to manually rotate the left joystick sloooooowly to open the gates which takes about 15-20 seconds. There’s a bit of repetitiveness; find a fix number key items, open door, rinse, repeat. Also annoying flying enemies.

If you’re looking to fill that Bioshock void, Crisol: Theater of Idols is the closest thing we’ll get as of this writing. The combat is unique and solid, the atmosphere is top notch, and the island is really fun to explore. Despite the little aforementioned nuisances it won’t hinder the experience. Combat is fun and unique, there’s lots to explore in each burrough and the game is atmospheric. Highly recommended.