Thoughts on the Steam thriller restaurant simulation “Doomsday Waiting”: If the truth is the doomsday, why not spend your whole life frying burgers together in a paradise?

In many suspense and thriller games, the truth is often left to be revealed at the end, but “While We Wait Here” chooses to let the truth leak out from the beginning, even if it is an unexplained scene, it is still a game released on Steam last year. Many horror games are well-received independent game works that leave a deep impression on many people – because by the end of the game, many people, like me, just want to keep frying burgers in the game.

“Doomsday Waiting” produced by the Italian team Bad Vices Games is a stand-alone simulation game with nostalgic 3D graphics. The story is set in a small restaurant on a desert road. The player plays the role of the shop owner while running the restaurant while listening to the customers. Complain.

Due to the scenes of frying burgers, making waffles or drinks in the initial promotion, as well as the scenes of chatting with customers at the bar, many people initially thought it was a simulation game with elements of “Coffee Talk”.

However, there is one lingering element of the propaganda that remains haunting:The end of the world is coming。

8. The news broadcast from the old TV in the 1990s, the strange color of the sky and the storm outside the restaurant, the gradually rising anxiety of the customers around him, and the fact that the male and female protagonists seem to be hiding some secrets from each other are left in the trial version. Many people are fresh and curious.

In fact, the main charm of “Doomsday Waiting” is indeed shown in the story presentation and simulated gameplay. After all, its essence is a narrative horror game.

The following content will introduce the background of “Waiting for Doomsday” without revealing too many details about the content and ending, as well as my initial experience of completing the game. If you don’t want to be shocked by any plot revelations, it is recommended to watch the following.

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The main stage of the game is a small road restaurant called “Lone Glass”, run by the owner Cliff and his wife Nora. At the beginning, their old regular “Hank” complained in front of the bar that his cow was stolen. Another rude “stranger” was muttering hysterically in his seat and yelling and roaring at other people from time to time.

Until another regular customer “Mandy” joins, the daily life of the restaurant seems to be on track, and the player has more things to do. In order to make meals, he needs to go into the back storage room from time to time to get ingredients, and strange illusions occur. .

The protagonist sees police forensics personnel cleaning up the murder scene in a restaurant. These personnel and the people in the restaurant seem to be in parallel time and space without interfering with each other. Then comes the end of the demo version, where the player walks outside the dining tube and discovers the scene of a doomsday storm.

In the official version, the story continues the doomsday vision of the previous demo version, and the perspective is pulled back to the protagonist who is washing his face in the toilet.

It is worth mentioning that this game will play the male protagonist Cliff or the heroine Nora based on the initial choice. It depends on the rudeness of a stranger at the beginning. The player decides to rebuke or face it calmly. In other words, the game can at least Play twice, with players playing as either Cliff or Nora.

The main plot of “The Doomsday Waiting” revolves around five groups of guests, namely the old farmer Hank, the young actress Mandy, Eddie who suspects alien invasion, and the young punk girls Alex and Liz. Sa, and William and Rachel, the couple who finally came into the restaurant to rest.

As the story progresses, each group of guests has their own knot in their minds during the conversation. Players will prepare and serve food while listening, and sometimes the scene will switch to the guest’s memories.

In response to the storylines described by different guests, “The Doomsday Waiting” will bring a completely different perspective away from the restaurant.

For example,Hank, an old man who is still obsessed with the past, describes his childhood memories of growing up, and finally evolved into aUnderground cave maze exploration horror game; orEddie, who had just escaped from life again and again, described the process of fighting against alien abduction and becameA funny shooting game with a vivid narrative, which is also worth savoring.

No matter how many guest stories the game brings, the core of the plot is still the restaurant owners Cliff and Nora, because the game seems to have clearly indicated the tragic development of the two people at the beginning of the trial version.

Before the conflict with the stranger in the restaurant, Cliff and Nora planned to close the restaurant and move to the countryside or a city apartment (optional). However, a sudden accident disrupted their beautiful prospects.whether it is the blood seeping out of Nora’s eyes or the hole punched through Cliff’s right eye, it is clear that the two protagonists are dead.。

In fact, all the guests know Cliff and Nora, or are related to the guests present. These stories will be unraveled as the plot progresses. Players need to choose whether to enlighten each other during the conversation. If so, If the dialogue positions are consistent, you will see the character’s ending screen at the end.

The reason why the game uses character switching and interspersed scenes is not so much a form of expression, but more a small development team using the convenience of cutscenes to present the chronological order of the characters’ stories. The reason for the misplacement is related to what happened to Cliff and the two of them.

In fact, the story of “Waiting for the End of the World” should be about “Limbo” after the death of the hero and heroine. Although you can play Cliff or Nora according to different choices, no matter which perspective, Cliff and Nora will prevent each other from leaving the restaurant at the beginning, emphasizing that once they leave, the “world” will collapse.

It was the stranger who was drunk in the restaurant that caused the two of them to fall into this nightmare cycle. It was the stranger who killed Cliff or Nora. Because the game shows two versions of the murder scene, it is impossible to say which one is true, or perhaps the memories of Cliff and Nora have already been confused by death.

When the game describes the story of Alex and Lisa, the TV station also broadcasts “The murder that occurred at the Lone Glass restaurant a few weeks ago”, showing that the murder of Cliff and Nora has long been a thing of the past, but why did the two girls Still being able to come to the restaurant seems to hint at the fact that the earth may really encounter a doomsday event, causing all souls to fall into the afterlife.

Guest Eddie constantly emphasized that there are aliens. At the end of the story, Cliff and Nora saw a fiery red scene in the sky. If it wasn’t hell, it might indeed be the end of the world.

Of course, the game has not fully explained what the real plot is, but because of the many blanks and hints, there is a lot of room for imagination. At least, it can bring people with different time and space backgrounds together in the same place, and they can only use their souls to Explain everything from a perspective.

BUT, leaving aside the complicated story,

Not long after the game starts, it shows what a restaurant owner should do, pouring wine, frying burgers for customers, and then cashiering and washing dirty dishes. Each action is simulated in 3D animation.

Unlike most restaurant simulation games, many cooking actions are often completed by instantaneous movement of objects. Each cooking action will be shown from a first-person perspective. However, in “Doomsday Waiting”, players can fry burgers or make waffles. , frying eggs and bacon, making milkshakes or pouring wine and coffee, all have corresponding animation actions.

Yes, if it is just to show that this is a horror game, the development team does not need to create a specially designed production menu tutorial for different dishes, but it is the process of making food in the game that is quite comfortable, so there is a discussion in the Steam discussion forum Many players hope that the official will add an endless mode just to run restaurants in the game.

After all, whether it is the protagonist Cliff or Nora, a restaurant owner really cannot bear the burden of other people’s lives. Players more or less realize through the plot that instead of knowing the cruel truth, they should listen to the other half and stay content. In restaurants, frying burgers for a lifetime is also an option.

For Cliff and Nora, no matter it is doomsday or hell, as long as they stay together for a lifetime, it is enough.

The trial version of the game before its release attracted the attention of many players. The mysterious background of the doomsday atmosphere and the suspenseful incident that happened to the store owner made the game receive extremely favorable reviews on Steam after its release.

The “Doomsday Waiting” game has been released on Steam. The development team does not plan to create an endless cooking mode, but it is recommended for interested players to try.