Review: FPS
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 17, 2012
Desolate 2's great opening scene sets the tone: Howard is strapped to a gurney in the middle of the jungle, and you feel just as vulnerable as he does. You almost itch while you read with Robert Brumm's vivid descriptions of insects crawling up his poor main character's legs.This second episode puts you in the driver's seat, thanks to a very clever switch to a first person narrative that makes the reader discover things step by step. There are also flashbacks with a third person point of view, so little by little you manage to piece the story together, like what happens in Tarantino's movies. I found Desolate 2's construction richer, while it kept the first episode's simple, gritty and realistic style.The switch from 3rd to 1st person narration is probably the biggest difference between the two episodes, and it didn't shock or disappoint me, far from it. I thought it was logical: Howard has moved from one isolation to another by moving from an island to a jungle, where he's actually even more isolated. Now he's helpless and alone in his head, talking to us and himself. It also explains the little pathetic jokes: he's just trying to keep sane (!).By the way, Howard really addresses the reader here and there. At one point he even calls what he's doing "foreshadowing", because he's offering a hint of what's to happen next. In a way, he's breaking the fourth wall by acknowledging this is a story. As in book 1, Desolate manages to scare us while having fun with the usual codes of the scary story.There's also something of Robinson Crusoe, as he's stranded on a desert island, learning how to cope, celebrating little victories like when he manages to open a coconut and drink its milk. The way the disease spreads quickly and inexorably, as well as the symptoms and the number of victims, had me thinking of the excellent movie "Contagion".That's the other difference with Desolate 2. We've moved to a different location, seen from a different point of view in narration, and now we're dealing with a post-apocalyptic story (my favourite genre, I should add). That's what I like with Robert Brumm's work, which I find very modern and adapted to our times: he doesn't just write a sequel, he reaches a new level, as with good video games. Movie sequels are often disappointing, whereas game sequels usually offer better graphics, sounds and gameplay. That's the way I felt while reading Desolate 2: like I had just downloaded the new game I had craved playing since finishing the first episode.So now I can't wait to see what Episode 3 is going to be like...