Valley is a first-person action-adventure game from Blue Isle Studios, released on Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 24, 2016, with OS X and Linux added that October and a Switch version in March 2019. It is a game about movement in an abandoned military research site in a remote valley, and it earns a score most games of its size never approach because it does one thing with total commitment: it makes running feel like flying.
The L.E.A.F. Suit
You explore a WWII-era abandoned installation hidden in the wilderness, and early on you find a suit that changes everything. It lets you run at speeds no human could, jump distances no human could, and, as the game goes on, do more. The valley is built for it: long slopes, ramps, cliffs and rails that turn traversal into a sport. The first time you crest a hill at full speed and see the whole valley open below you is the game’s argument, and it is persuasive.
Life and Death
The suit’s other power is the game’s idea. It can drain life from living things and give it back. Trees and animals can be killed and revived, and the valley itself is the resource. When you die, the suit revives you, but at the cost of the life around you, and a careless player will leave the forest dead. That mechanic ties the story to the world in a way few games manage, and it makes the valley feel like something you are responsible for.
The Story
The abandoned site tells its story through logs and recordings, and the mystery of what the research was and what it found is well paced. It is a small story, told by a small team, and it does not overreach.
The Feel
Everything comes back to the movement. Blue Isle tuned the running, jumping and later the grappling to feel effortless, and the level design constantly rewards speed. It is a game that understands that the pleasure of a first-person view is the sense of your own body moving through space, and it builds everything around that pleasure.
Where It Falls Short
It is short, and its combat, against the corrupted creatures that guard the deeper parts of the site, is the weakest part of the design. The visuals are pretty without being remarkable. The story’s revelations are competent rather than surprising. And the game’s ambition is narrow by design, which means a player who wants more than movement and mood will find the valley empty.
The Verdict
Valley is a small, joyful game that knows exactly what it is. This paper scores it higher than the wider critical consensus did, and we will own that. It is one of the best-feeling games of its year, and feel is most of what a game like this has to offer.
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