Well, although I’d planned to play something else, I ended up browsing itch.io and stumbled across a short horror game from 2021 called “Kordonia” by dpstudios which was apparently made in just two days for a game jam.
I should probably include a FLICKER WARNING for both the game’s website and at least one part of the game before I go any further though.
Anyway, from the cool “CRT monitor static” animated background on the game’s website and the mention of a late 1990s setting, I was instantly intrigued. So, I decided to take a look at it. The game is technically free, although there is a prominent donation option too.
To my delight, this game actually ran on my computer’s Intel HD 2500 integrated graphics. Yes, the framerate was fairly choppy during faster-paced segments, but it still just about remained playable 🙂
So, let’s take a look at “Kordonia (v0.1)”. This review may contain SPOILERS.
Set in 1999, you play as someone who takes the train home only to find that the rainy streets of her home town are completely deserted. Of course, it doesn’t take her a long time to realise that there is something very wrong here….
Ok, I’ve got to ask, is the name of her home town related to a lack of both noise and flat ground?
One of the first things that I will say about this game is that, for something made in just two days, it’s impressive. Yes, there are a lot of rough edges and a lot of room for improvement, but the basic concept and atmosphere of the game is actually pretty decent. Not to mention that it actually contains proper gameplay and is, technically, a modern-style survival horror game too 🙂
As for the game’s horror elements, they consist of a mixture of suspense, infrequent jump scares, gory horror, disorientation, post-apocalyptic horror, cosmic horror and monster horror. But, whilst the more immediate frights wear off surprisingly quickly, the atmosphere and pacing of this game was a lot better than I’d expected.
It’s quiet… too quiet…
Whether it is the grainy PS1-style visuals, the constant pouring rain or even the way that the first half of the game is very evocative of the ominous opening segment of “Silent Hill 2” (2001), this was a more atmospheric game than I’d expected.
The game also includes the disorientation which is such a crucial part of the classic “Silent Hill” games too, with a confusing maze of deserted streets and rain/fog obscuring your view of the distance. With no map, you have to navigate by landmarks and any other in-game cues you can find (eg: trails of discarded paper, lines of blood spatters etc...). Even with these hints and a relatively small game world, expect to end up going round in circles or wondering where to go at least a few times.
It’s worth memorising the route, because you’ll have to re-trace it… whilst avoiding a monster.
Then, when all hell breaks loose, the game turns into a modern “Run away!” style survival horror game, with this awesome 1980s-style synth/chanting music in the background that really feels like something from an old late-night horror movie. I’m not sure what it is from, but it reminded me of a cross between someone like Perturbator, something from a Dario Argento film and this awesome guitar video I found on Youtube. Anyway, the goal is to get back to the train – alive and in one piece.
This “back and forth” structure reminded me a little of another indie game jam game I played recently called “The Devil” (2020) and, when done well, it’s a really clever way to double the length of a horror game when the designers have limited time or resources.
Plus, whilst the game doesn’t use classic 1990s-style fixed camera angles, the traditional third-person moveable camera can still be evocative of them at times and is significantly better than an “over the shoulder” camera too. Given the need to look out for danger in parts of this game, the camera style actually works reasonably well – allowing for faster pacing and feeling reasonably intuitive too.
Still, as hinted earlier, there are a lot of rough edges here. Some of these are merely cosmetic – such as how the character model in the game is completely different to the (better and cooler-looking) character model on the game’s website (as of late March 2022), but some are the sort of game design annoyances that could probably have been ironed out if the designers had a little more time to polish and test the game. Some of these would probably be relatively quick fixes as well (eg: small visual changes, an additional sound effect etc…).
For starters, there are the invisible walls. Although these are only a mild annoyance in the first half of the game, they can be a source of frustration when you are trying to run for your life in the second half. If the player only has mere seconds to make decisions, clear visual information is important. So, this game could probably be improved by clearly blocking off all inaccessible roads with cars or barriers. Some roads are blocked with barriers, but some seem completely open.
Even just a line of silhouetted barriers or some well-placed cars here would mean that I could focus on fleeing the monster, rather than just running on the spot until he catches up with me.
Likewise, although the game’s monster certainly makes a dramatic appearance and looks suitably fearsome, he quickly stops being scary after a while. A lot of this is probably due to the limitations of making a game in just two days.
Not only does the “game over” screen appear completely silently – even just a quiet scream or “jump” sound would have made failure seem a bit more startling/frightening – but I also noticed that I sometimes got a “game over” if the monster got within a few metres of you. It seems like it doesn’t even have to touch you. This results in situations that, on an intuitive level, can feel mildly unfair.
This “game over” screen is dramatic, but it appears silently and, sometimes, when the monster hasn’t even touched the main character.
The monster’s A.I. is also somewhat variable too. Sometimes, when you restart, he is close to you. Other times, he just randomly wanders the streets and can easily be avoided. There isn’t a consistent feeling of danger or of being hunted. The player’s running speed is also just slightly too fast or the monster is slightly too slow – reducing the suspense in these sequences. Yes, the player should always be faster than the monster- but the scariest horror games will keep the speed difference fairly low in order to keep the tension up.
Again, this is a “rough draft” of a game and the basic concept, atmosphere, pacing etc… is still really good. Not to mention that whilst this is technically an ultra-short game that can be completed in ten minutes if you know what you are doing, expect it to take a bit longer on a first playthrough due to the game’s maze-like design. Seriously, I actually had to look at a Youtube walkthrough at one point – just to work out where I was supposed to go.
All in all, even though it clearly has room for improvement, it is still impressive for something made in just two days. The locations, atmosphere and pacing of it are absolutely excellent, being evocative of both “Silent Hill 2” (2001), a modern “Run away!” survival horror game and a late-night 1980s horror movie 🙂
If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get three and a half.
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