Immersion can paint an entire world within the blank slate of your mind.
With Darkfield’s new immersive experience “Arcade” attempts to transport the players/audience into a world of warfare and deceit, all through the power of binaural sound and an interactive arcade machine. Although the ideas at play here are fascinating and hold potential for truly groundbreaking experiences, “Arcade” fails to capture any sense of world-building or pathos.
The audience are taken into a cargo container filled with identical arcade machines, instructed to turn off any devices that may emit light and listen to the instructions for how to operate the arcades. But then you are plunged entirely into darkness, as the voice of your character, Milk, and the characters that people her world enter your ears through a set of headphones.
The story follows a path of a choose-your-own-adventure, branching out in different directions depending on your choices, which are made by pressing the only button on the blank arcade board. We are led to imagine the real-life game we are playing through the blank canvas of the darkness that surrounds us, which is a wholly inventive way to create immersion.
I would say that the story works hard to keep you engaged, with a fast pace and vitriolic dialogue, but there is no sense of emotional pay-off at any point. The piece itself ends with a lacklustre finale, calling to mind a very disappointing rollercoaster.
The potential for greatness is there, but with a short runtime and empty story, Darkfield’s “Arcade” does not hit the mark.