We have all had one of those “what if” moments… you know the one where you wonder what could have been if you said or did something different in the heat of the moment. As is the way with the universe, you never get to have a do over, but it’s the core idea at the heart of Liverpool-based Cosmonaut Studios latest game. Eternal Threads which bills itself as first-person story-driven “puzzle” game; though with time manipulation, choice and consequence.
You play as a new qualified operative called 43, from the future whose mission is to fix corruptions in the timestream so that humanity lives its best life, as you change and shape the past to ultimately better the future. It’s worth noting that it’s a future based on an already busted past, as when we first got the power to time travel you can bet your bottom dollar we royally made a mess of it all. So, now you are trying to fix it. This sees you being sent to the North of England in May 2015, where six people died in a house fire. You are not there just to stop the fire, but also must make sure that all six housemates survive the event which see you having to shape their lives for the best outcome. Eternal Threads comes in two modes Normal – which is the full fat game where all choices and decisions must be made; or Abridged mode – where things are trimmed down a little leaving only the main choices, to make the whole thing a bit faster. (Somewhat a Spoiler!!! completing the game on Abridged sees your save file being upgraded to Normal with all that modes extra bits to play through. So, really Abridged is the way to play if you’re looking to best manage your time, as that first playthrough will be about 8 hours.)
Eternal Threads is very much a walking sim, with its main gameplay loop being based around shaping conversations by choices. You land in the burnt shell of a house and then start piecing together the past as you “meet” the six housemates and start shaping things. Quickly it hits you that your job is here to save them, not get embroiled in their… honestly complicated lives – as some of the choices you are given are just not great for all parties, but that’s the point really. It’s not the learnings along the journey that matters here, but the final destination. As you change things up, the house starts to alter and shows that things have started to shift as it leads up to the point of the fire. You are limited to being in the house for the most part, which does get a bit repetitive, even with it changing over the 7-day timeline.
Visually Eternal Threads looks the part and actually strikes a very tense and almost horror like atmosphere, even though the game is not that, because as you explore the burnt-out house you see the memories of the housemates played back as holograms. Sound is solid across the board adding to the horror vibes at times, and the voice acting is of a good standard that holds your interest in the cast. It falls a little short by some of the choices being too obscure and just overly random to really achieve the best outcome for the character, while other choices have next to no logical or consistent connection to the tale. It also becomes a bit light on gameplay towards the end, having played its hand early doors, there are no new features or mechanics in the latter half of the game really.
Eternal Threads is an extremely interesting and thought-provoking title that does make a strong impact, but over its time it fades due to mainly running out of gas as it never really moves up the gears. There are moments of greatness here, but the obscure choices, one location and lack of evolution just bog things down overall. However, there are worse ways to spend your time if I am honest.
An Xbox review copy of Eternal Threads was provided by Cosmonaut Studios PR team, and the game is out now on Xbox, PC, Switch & PlayStation for around £20.
The Verdict
Stuart Cullen
Latest posts by Stuart Cullen (see all)
- 2023 Games of the Year – January 8, 2024
- Best Games of 2022 – Scotch Corner’s Verdict – December 28, 2022
- Turbo Golf Racing Preview – August 11, 2022