Review: The Park

Some say it’s less about the conclusion and more about the journey. While that holds true in some cases, in others, it does not. Sometimes the journey needs a solid ending, the build up to something compelling as the whole is better than each of its parts. In the case of Funcom’s The Park, this rings true. Squandered potential. Anti-climactic. Narrative blue balls.

Admittedly inspired by games like Dear Esther and Gone Home, The Park is a narrative driven experience about a troubled single mother who loses her son in a theme park with a dark past, where freak accidents and deaths occurred regularly. Lorraine, the mother in question, sets out into the Atlantic Island Park after her son Callum, and there she’s faced with obstacles of the supernatural and psychological kind. But unlike the titles it aims to be like, The Park flops between styles of storytelling and takes freedom away from the player occasionally to display a cutscene or funnel them down one linear path at a time. It’s disconcerting and shows a lack of understanding to what made the storytelling in the aforementioned games so effective.

What’s done decently well, though, are Lorraine’s vocalized observations and thoughts, performed adequately by her voice actor. The game’s mocked “X to Jason” button – an unintentional meme created by Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain – to repeatedly call to Callum (as well as highlight points of interest) didn’t bother me, and I actually thought its implementation worked well when I used it contextually. It to the game’s narrative but overuse does produce alternating gentle and threatening calls to Callum. If this was indicative of Lorraine’s mental state, it was done so lacking grace.

I’ve been waiting a long time for a game to approach the mother-son dynamic. The Park touches upon themes of postpartum depression, with protagonist Lorraine’s feelings about her son and her problematic history revealed throughout the game’s 2-hour runtime. But her character becomes inconsistent, with there seemingly being gaps in the narrative. The things she says and her actions don’t make sense with what we see on screen. It’s like a chunk of the game’s story is missing. Throw in the game’s supernatural themes, and we’re left with just pieces of a grander story Funcom potentially aspired to tell, but couldn’t due to the scope of the game itself. This leads to an incredibly disappointing ending that seemingly contradicts the emotional path Lorraine takes. It was so jarring that I assumed I did something wrong and missed a button prompt within the climax, giving me a “bad” ending. Wrong. Funcom for whatever reason chose an ending they felt made the game’s story more tragic. Wrong again.

Much like the location in which it’s set, The Park is a series of set pieces, tied to the attractions of the park itself. Players can get on its many rides to trigger key scenes, most with fairly inspired moments such as a monstrous figure coming into view with each ride rotation, or a roller coaster of literal emotion. But like a theme park, the game has high moments with lots of flair but a tepid overall experience sours these – but at least the design of the theme park itself is a sight to behold. I liked the game’s visual style a lot, and the developers framed the park very well from its various paths and peaks. If only more time could have been spent there, letting players explore it thoroughly, left to our own devices to uncover its secrets. Instead, we’re tasked with following linear paths from one attraction to the next, only to be satiated by notes about the park’s demented history. A jump scare or two are thrown in for good measure as well.

Knowing The Park takes place in the same universe as Funcom’s MMO The Secret World did peak my interest in that game and its lore, but whatever ties there are doesn’t help The Park’s story feel any less incomplete and unsatisfying. I’d love for Funcom to revisit it, deliver a fully developed story, because The Park has just enough to make me recognize what they’re capable of. I expected a crunchy corn dog. Instead, I got a cold hot dog on a stick.