Beholder: Complete Edition Review

"Eyes Wide Open"

Campaign

Beholder: Complete Edition is the full version of this fantastic spying based game. As a worker for the glorious government you need to manage a series of individuals that stay within your building. This is done by watching, reporting and even plotting against those that you look after. It's an interesting display of a totalitarian type government through a perspective that we don't often see in any sort of media. The original version of the game is fantastic and honestly it's even better on the console with a streamlined play system. I'm really impressed by how it ported over so well.

That aside the general story has you coming into this situation of running the building with your family. You need to install cameras, plant evidence and keep all eyes open on what's going on. The Ministry will occasionally call asking you to do things, you never know what's going to happen and there are many endings to explore. The tasks vary from harmless to deadly and you're able to achieve things through any force necessary. Aside from the core story you also get Blissful Sleep which is a DLC about the man who ran the show prior to your arrival.

Gameplay

It all works remarkably well with a controller in what's essentially a content management game. You run the apartments by installing things, fixing items or watching what's going on. You sneak around looking through things, talking with folks and gathering intel as that pays the bills. You can buy illegal items, steal items or even plant evidence to remove a pest.

You can take in a number of perspectives as you can easily change camera views and get a full idea of what everyone is doing at any time. There's so much control here and you can try to be as moral as you'd like. It's a complex title yet simplistic in its art style. Everyone is essentially a shadow and the art work is so charming working perfectly to convey a dreary yet exciting world.

The Conclusion

I really did enjoy Beholder: Complete Edition as it's a full experience and a really engaging game to play. I enjoyed it originally on PC and feel it runs even better on the console as everything is so easy to manage. It's easy to waste hours under pressure as you deal with the ones you love, care for and particularly listen to the government's demands.

There's a nice sense of freedom here as you go about doing whatever you'd like with only intense consequences getting in the way. You get the full core game and even a nice exploration of the past with the Blissful Sleep DLC. This is an amazing game not only in telling a unique perspective, but being fascinating to work through.

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Beholder: Complete Edition Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Evolve PR

Rating Overall: 8.4