Harold Halibut
Developer: Slow Bros
When it comes to an industry where so much has already been done, it’s hard to think of what new innovations could come along. Harold Halibut is proof that there’s always something new to bring.
Stop motion and video games aren’t two things that are very often in the same conversation, and yet Slow Bros have managed to make that overlapping Venn diagram happen. When I first saw this game, I was both impressed and baffled by how it could have been made. Stop-motion is a painstaking process, requiring years of work and patience to produce something smooth. And yet there it was on the screen, what seemed like puppets moving around. That was the magic centre point.
The models in the game are, of course, not hand-animated, not completely. A lot of the models do exist in the real world, with the same level of work put in as if they were being filmed, but they’ve been 3D scanned and digitally animated. Not just the characters, but some of the sets, too. Over twelve years of development has resulted in a world that feels like it could’ve been torn from the mind of Nick Park himself. The motions aren’t always smooth - in fact they’re often a little glitchy - but there’s a weird charm to it. Somewhere between puppets on a string and claymation - clunky at times, but the idea is there.
The fantastic soundtrack complements some of the more trippy sequences of the game. Most of the music comes from Onat Hekimoglu, with contributions from a few more artists. There are even a couple of licensed tracks which, unfortunately, don’t come with the OST despite being used in the most iconic moments in the game. The voice acting is also incredible, pulling talent from video games to theatre. Each character feels unique and full of personality. They’re given so much emotion and life that it’s sometimes easy to forget these are puppets.
Harold Halibut is our eponymous protagonist - a handyman/lab tech and passenger of the ill-fated Fedora II spaceship. Having crash-landed on a water planet after an unfortunate run-in with a solar wind, the people have lived on the ship for generations spanning 250 years, under the care of the All Water company. Harold mostly works with Dr Jeanne Maroeux, the ship’s leading scientist. During some routine maintenance for the good Dr, Harold happens across an alien lifeform. The two take care of the creature until it regains consciousness, at which point Harold’s world suddenly gets a lot more interesting.
The underlying tone of the game is about friendship and helping those around you, doing what you can. See, Harold is a nice fellow, well-liked amongst the crew. He’s also quite hapless, and occasionally taken advantage of or mocked by those around him. Still, he never lets it get him down. Harold knows what his limits are, but he tries anyway. Despite the simple premise, the game actually gets into some deep philosophical ideas. It questions what happiness really is, whether you really know what you’re working towards, or if you’ll find your place in the universe somewhere you never expected.
The story can be a slow burn, with a lot of the first part being repetitive drudgery. The travel system is wildly tedious at times, and you’ll be running back and forth a lot. There’s definitely some commentary here on being a cog in the corporate machine. The day-to-day life of a handyman isn’t exactly riveting, but that’s kind of the point - despite the mediocre life Harold has, even aboard this futuristic home beneath the sea of an alien world, he carries on. If you stick with it through the early stages, there’s a lot to really love and learn.
There’s an argument to be made that something like this could have been better told as a film, akin to Wallace and Gromit. And in some respects, it could. The few choices you can make don’t matter greatly, the puzzles could barely be considered such, and there’s not much daylight between this and a walking sim. I think the difference comes with the attachment to the character. Playing as Harold, seeing all his weird moments, builds the connection. It’s all well and good seeing a character succeed in a film, but it hits differently when you’ve been that character.
Ultimately, Harold Halibut is less about being exciting as a game. SlowBros have pulled from not just video games, but filmmaking, carpentry, apparel making, and illustration; it’s a bringing together of mediums. This is a concept piece and a work of art. It’s a reminder that if you’re feeling lost, it’s that you’re not where you’re meant to be just yet. Be patient, be kind, be you. You have a place in the universe, and you’ll get there.
