Remember that Treehouse of Horror episode when Homer Simpson used a toaster to time travel and one of the times he travelled to was ruled by Ned Flanders? Well, the protagonist of American Arcadia, Trevor Hills, does quasi-resemble a 1970s Ned Flanders, but he’s also a citizen of a pristine city known as Arcadia. All seems prim and proper for our mustachioed 28-year-old Trevor until one day he discovers that Arcadia is one huge set-dressing and that Trevor himself has been living inside a TV show—and now he wants out of it! With a familiar set-up if you’ve watched The Truman Show, American Arcadia leaves an indelible impression on you that wastes no time and is rather clever with how it coalesces its elements together. But will you want to make like Trevor and run away from this adventure, or do you want to stay and drink in Arcadia, knowing all the while you’ll be streamed constantly and will have to fall in line?
American Arcadia wastes no time establishing its premise by beginning in medias res with our main man Trevor, desperately trying to escape a helicopter spraying bullets at his frightened tooshie. After which, we see Trevor sitting down and answering questions documentary-style, layering up the intrigue behind what we’re about to uncover about Trevor himself, as well as his home city of Arcadia. Poor Trevor is run ragged throughout American Arcadia, and you may find yourself feeling sympathy for this aquaberry sweater-wearing young man. All he ever wanted to be was a simple man working a simple job in an office—possibly clocking in the predictable 9-5 routine as well.
Suffices to say you’ll root for Trevor’s situation and, as such, you’ll be invested in his plight. Not many popular modern games can pull a lasso around you and draw you in like American Arcadia can, and that’s a testament to its engrossing premise and the story beneath it. Yeah, it may take its cues from a Jim Carrey flick, but some of the best pieces of fiction were inspired by other works—so it’s best to embrace Trevor’s escape rather than nitpicking.
The only saving grace for Trevor is that he is not alone. His counterpart, Angela Solono, is a stage technician working for a production firm, who assists Trevor through his perilous situation, sometimes threatening to compromise herself as well as Trevor in the process. One instance has Angela go undercover—because of course she’s helping public enemy number one—and this can produce some tense and hair-raising moments, including one nerve-wracking house call you’ll need to quickly prepare for before you’re found out.
Angela’s job is to keep Trevor moving and navigating the obstacles impeding his path, whether they be human or object, and the two work together to keep the heat off Trevor’s back. Angela may be a secondary character playing an auxiliary role, but she is a vital part of keeping the agent-suited wolves from Trevor’s confused and mustachioed human-shaped door.
How do Trevor and Angela work together in American Arcadia? Trevor has his hands full with all the drama and constantly being hunted down, and his side of the gameplay experience you control is from a 2.5D perspective. Trevor will have to hide behind objects and, at times, go incognito to avoid detection. Meanwhile, Angela uses behind-the-scenes systems to manipulate objects that are either in Trevor’s way—moving them out of the way—or turning them so Trevor can safely jump his way across to safety.
You’ll find yourself crisscrossing between controlling Trevor in the midst of evading his pursuers and manning systems as Angela. You’ll need to keep your eyes peeled for prompts that appear on-screen that’ll signal when you can switch from Trevor to Angela, which—if timed correctly—will slow down or halt the chasers. It all feels a little bit like Jason Bourne trying to help that journalist escape CIA officers in The Bourne Ultimatum, in the sense that the drama is swift and will keep you on your toes throughout—except you won’t be sniped if you panic too much, unlike that poor journo.
Sometimes there’s interplay between the two types of gameplay, such as when you’re under interrogation as Angela and you have to hide from agents as Trevor while answering questions from your stern interrogator. These moments are fleeting and provide a break from the rudimentary activities of pushing boxes as Trevor and solving puzzles and entering passcodes as Angela. But when American Arcadia puts its foot down and revs full-force with its imagination, it can be deliciously inspired.
American Arcadia puts together some clever scenarios and brain-scratchers, which feel organic and are neatly aligned with the urgency of the game’s story. At one point, you—as Trevor—hop onto a lift, and as Angela, you have to guide the lift towards safety while avoiding windows showing nefarious agents who’ll quickly dispose of Trevor if caught. Another cool scenario has you operating a conveyor belt to guide a small yellow suitcase towards the hotel room Trevor is staying in. American Arcadia puffs out fresh ideas, and it’s lovely to behold the ingenuity on display when you witness them.
You won’t see these scenarios coming, and because of that, American Arcadia keeps things fresh time and again – even despite its short runtime. Yes, you can compare it with Playdead’s Limbo and Inside, even though American Arcadia doesn’t contain a sense of mystery. But it continually pushes the pace forward with new puzzles and scenarios.
The only real downsides to American Arcadia are the characters. Not that they don’t have personalities, but you won’t be playing American Arcadia for their quirks. Trevor is just a poor sap whose appearance is far more noticeable than anything he says, and Angela can be quite sneaky—but she’s ultimately an employee doing her job, or otherwise helping Trevor and earning her way towards sabotaging it. The other characters are fine – even the head of Arcadia TV Programming, Vivian Walton, is just a charming face, though she exudes more flavourful charisma than any other member of the cast – maybe because she’s the empress of Walton Media.
Conclusion
Whether you’ve come for a good yarn, intense drama, or intriguing puzzles, American Arcadia has you covered nicely without ever overstaying its welcome. Experiencing Trevor’s story and the interplay between Trevor and Angela is engaging and high-quality entertainment. It’s brief, and the characters aren’t particularly interesting, but American Arcadia is a game with plenty to say – an inspired, brief, but pleasurable title that deserves attention.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
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