A common problem with time travel stories is, that when you start to think about them, they rarely make much sense. There's always something in the plot, that makes me wonder "what?", "that made little sense" or "how's that possible then". Not the technicality of time travel, mind you as for me sleeping or being in a come to the future is just as good as some time machine doohickey, but the cause and the effects of the story. And that is the exact problem that The Silent Age has. While it is a pretty well adventure game, the time travel plot of it doesn't really work, expect on when you use time travel as a method of puzzle solving.
Puzzles really are the strong point of the Silent Age. Those and the minimalistic art style, which makes the game as a whole really stand out. As it is a point and click adventure game, you do collect items and use them on screen in order to progress, but a lot of times you need to swap between the present and the future in order to get certain items or get past obstacles on your way. This system works very well and adds an extra layer of depth on puzzles that otherwise could be classified as simple, especially if you've played adventure games before.
The atmosphere of the Silent Age is strong as well. While the game itself isn't long, it's a bit under 3-hour experience as a whole, it is engaging thanks to nice graphical style, good music and sound effects. The voice acting is also pretty good, which is always a pleasant surprise when it comes to modern adventures, which often are budget affairs (which is true with this as well). There's isn't much talking in the game, which probably has helped the devs in getting a small, yet solid cast.
As I said in the opening though, the plot doesn't really work that well, especially when you start thinking about it. There are things that clash a bit even during the gameplay itself when you pick up an inconsistency or two. That's a pretty common problem with time travel stories, especially when the story is, like this one is, strongly about jumping back and forth in time. I did like the overall idea of it, but as a whole, the plot is what it is, to the predictable end.
The Silent Age isn't a bad game though. Far from it. In fact, I'd say it's one of the better adventure games I've played recently. It is short, so if you're one of those people who think all games should be +10 hours, it's not necessarily a game for you, but if you're looking for an atmospheric, story-driven game, it just might be.
If you want it, it's on Steam. Also for mobile devices.
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