Buster Keatoncore platformer Silent Sadie hearkens back to the roaring, bouncing, sliding ’20s

Credit is due to Silent Sadie, whose Steam Next Fest demo is already released: even within the confines of a 2.5D platformer, I don’t think it could lean more on its love of 1920s comedy, falling and tapping piano. cinema.

As some harsh black-and-white captions explain, you are Sadie, an aspiring actress and stuntwoman who had a fair shot at making it in Hollywood’s Golden Age. Sadie’s solution, apparently, is to just pin him to the left of the stage, making his way through an entire marathon of increasingly dangerous film sets and prop warehouses.

As a platformer, it’s functional and expertly animated, even if it’s about as deep as Charlie Chaplin’s hat. His dedication to silent cinema, however, is sure to bring a smile. In addition to the film’s black and white look and the fact that Sadie starts doing the Charleston if you put the controller aside for a while, the big highlight is the use of sound. In place of realistic action noises, Sadie’s traversal movements are synchronized with short, period-appropriate instrumental flourishes. Twisting ropes accompany rope grabs, their pitch rising happily with successive swings, and hard landings produce a cheeky drum roll to emphasize the timeless slapstick quality of falling on your butt. It’s not a rhythm game, but when you successfully string together jumps and slides, there’s an extremely satisfying feeling that you’re playing the lead in a 1920s movie. and composing the score at the same time.

There’s also an attention to detail that really helps bring these plywood gauntlets to life. Foremen and set designers work around him, putting the finishing touches on his faux western/pirate/farm scenes, while forklift drivers carry his boxes through the studio backstage. Even the static environments have personality, especially a series of background billboards through which Prohibition-era tenants struggle to make the water look interesting.

Later, the platform gives way to some stealth action, with mixed success. This seriously slows down the pace, completely abandoning that fluid musical platform in favor of forcing you to hide in closets from heavy patrols. Still, the introduction of a barrel disguise – as if you were a touchy-feely Solid Snake – reintroduces the comedy aspect, and there’s even a hint of dynamic audio smarts, as going into stealth mode reduces the jaunty swing soundtrack. to a simple and slinky piano melody.

There’s no release date yet for Silent Sadie, although I can recommend this Next Fest demo now. Even though the platforming part itself isn’t all that innovative, the strength of its presentation and the charm of its affectionate 1920s pastiche do much to give it a unique and enjoyable character.