South of the Circle is a narrative adventure game centred on survival and romance. It is published by 11 bit studios and developed by State of Play Games. I found myself reminded of Firewatch a lot when playing this, which should be high enough praise in itself!
South of the Circle is the story of Peter, a Cambridge academic who finds himself fighting for survival in Antarctica during the 1960’s Cold War. Peter flashes back to his life at the university and his relationship with a fellow lecturer, Clara.
Because it is a heavily story driven game, I don’t want to give too much away, but it starts with Peter and his co-pilot having crashed in the middle of Antarctica. The co-pilot is very badly injured and it is up to you, Peter, to try and find some help and rescue him.
The game switches between past and present. You’ll be doing something in the present and all of a sudden you’ll be in a flashback to the past. The transitions for these moments are executed brilliantly. From turning on a light to walking through thick fog, they’re all done in a variety of different ways.
Most of the time you are either walking or driving around the world, discovering new areas and interacting with objects to try to learn what is going on in the present. However, there are also interactive cinematics, mainly in the flashbacks. Through these the story excels, learning about Peter and what he been through to get to this point but also being presented with choices that matter later down the line (#nospoilers).
To progress the story you will be prompted to pick symbols to express your emotions. A sun icon may represent excitement or happiness, whilst a red dot may be concern or a panic response. Sometimes you don’t get a choice of emotion and when there is a choice if you abstain it will pick one at random. Unlike some choose your own adventure games, saying nothing is never an option.
Everything is voice acted and no reading is required, although whilst I turn subtitles on for every game, I did find there was a particular need with this game and it is off by default. I actually really liked how the game was presented and they picked each voice actor perfectly. Everything is motion captured and even with the style of graphics used the performances are done so well. The characters are distinctive enough, even though they don’t have many facial features. It allows you to use your imagination to interpret what you think they are showing.
South of the Circle isn’t a long game – it probably takes you around 3-4 hours to complete. I knew it would be a game I was going to enjoy as soon as I was given the option of what I wanted my character to say. This feels very much like a walking sim but has a really good story driven narrative. Never are you left in a dull moment, with the frequent transitions from past to present.
Conclusion
South of the Circle is an enjoyable experience. If you are looking for something where you can chill out and let the story do most of the work, then this is for you. You will grow to love Peter and Clara and I thoroughly enjoyed my playthrough.
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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.
