Review: “Being Trapped Is Hell” (WAD For “Doom II”/”Final Doom”/GZDoom)

Well, although I’m still playing “Urban Chaos” (1999) – it’s a longer and more difficult game than I thought – I wanted to make sure that at least one quick “Doom II”/”Final Doom” WAD review shows up here this month.

And, after clicking the “random file” button a few times on the /Idgames Archive a few times, I stumbled across a WAD from 2020 called “Being Trapped Is Hell” by Travis “TravyB” Belke.

As usual, I used version 4.8.2 of the GZDoom source port whilst playing this WAD, but the accompanying text document points out that it will work with versions at least as old as 3.7.1 and possibly other source ports which support the “UDMF” format, whatever that is.

Anyway, let’s take a look at “Being Trapped Is Hell”:

This is a medium-length single level WAD with some subtle custom textures (a roof panel springs to mind here) which was inspired by the lockdowns in 2020.

It was meant to “emulate the feeling I’m sure a lot of people experience being trapped indoors for days (or months) on end.” Ok, as an introvert, I had a different – and far less hellish – emotional experience of 2020 than this, but the WAD certainly focuses a lot on claustrophobic corridors.

I’m pretty sure that this ceiling is a new texture. It’s subtle, but I always like these sort of pyramid-like tiles 🙂

Even the few open spaces which have been added for variety often have lots of pillars and/or crushers in them, possibly to emulate the tense feeling of social distancing in public places back then, or possibly just to increase the difficulty by making it harder for the player to circle-strafe. In one area, they also provide some valuable cover from four Arch-viles too.

For example, you have to dodge a circle of crushers whilst fighting the monsters in this arena.

For the most part, this is a moderately challenging and fairly linear level with some cool set-pieces. It’s one of those levels where, if you’re an experienced player, hits the sweet spot between being challenging enough to be fun and also being easy enough that you can sometimes just turn your brain off and relax. At least on “Hurt Me Plenty” – the standard medium difficulty that most players tend to ignore for some weird reason.

If you’ve played “Final Doom”, then you’ll find this WAD to be a good balance between challenge and mindless fun.

It’s a solid, well-designed level with a heavy emphasis on claustrophobic corridors, mildly inventive arena battles, fun set-pieces and stuff like that. The lighting design is pretty cool, with the game suddenly turning off the lights during one set piece for added drama.

And, whilst it contains five Arch-viles, you can even the score by fighting four of them whilst they are stuck in fixed turrets. Or you’ll fight a couple, then think “Wait! There are four of them? I can save ammo by staying behind cover”… only to later press a button that releases the turret doors. It’s the sort of fiendish level design that is always fun to see in “Doom II”/”Final Doom” WADs 🙂

As for length, this is a medium-length level which took me about half an hour to complete. I briefly got “stuck” trying to find a way out of a pillar-filled arena, but – for the most part – the level is a slightly more linear thing that just sort of “flows” effortlessly.

All in all, this is a solid and fun level. There isn’t really that much more to say about it. The 2020 influence is fairly clear in the level design and, again, it’s also the sort of level that hits the sweet spot between being challenging and mindless to play as well.

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get at least a four.

Today’s Art (30th October 2023)

If I remember rightly, I suddenly had the inspiration to make a surreal digitally-edited painting (probably partially inspired by “Postal:  Brain Damaged“) which was an attempt at visually expressing the weird atmosphere of my memories of spring 2020.

As usual, this painting is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.

“2020 Wonderland” by C.A. Brown

Review: “Rosario1” (Map For “Duke Nukem 3D”/”EDuke32”)

Well, although I’m still playing “Bioshock Infinite” (2013) at the time of writing, I happened to watch the first couple of minutes of some footage (warning – small flickering lights) of a “Duke Nukem 3D” map by elandy called “Rosario1″ (2020).

It could have been the combination of concrete, coasts and palm trees, or even intense nostalgia for playing “Duke Nukem 3D” during several wonderful parts of my past, but I just had to play this. Seriously, it has been literal years since I reviewed anything “Duke 3D”-related here. I think that the last one was the “Alien Armageddon” mod, which I played in summer 2019 (even if the review didn’t appear here until the following year).

This map requires the “eDuke32” source port to work. Download the source port, copy “DUKE3D.grp” from your copy of the game into the source port’s folder, then copy “Rosario1.map” into the folder – start up eDuke32 “New Game > User Map” and then find it on the list of levels. This map also requires the “Atomic Edition”/”Plutonium Pak” (1996) version or later, since it uses some of the monsters/weapons from it – although I doubt many people still use the original three-episode version of the game these days.

I was using a slightly older version of the source port and noticed some visual glitches, including “hall of mirrors” glitches and/or intense flickering in some areas. However, the Youtube footage doesn’t seem to include these glitches – so it might not be an issue with newer versions of the source port. And, like with the video I linked to, I should probably also add a FLICKER WARNING for the small lights that can be found near switches in the later parts of the level.

Anyway, let’s take a look at “Rosario1”. This review may contain puzzle SPOILERS:

And, yes, you can actually read the retro-futuristic tablet computer on the ground too.

An alien spacecraft has landed in Argentina and Duke Nukem has been sent in to deal with it. Washing up on a beach, he finds a crate with a pistol in it and some orders. He has to find some explosives to blow up a gate, three keycards and then three “remote control devices” in order to gain access to the sewers and enter the alien ship..

One of the first things that I will say about this map is that it is a really cool-looking and creative level, albeit one with some moments of frustration. It’s also the sort of lengthy and challenging level that experienced “Duke 3D” players will absolutely relish too (seriously, I’d almost forgotten how brutal this game can be…). It has style and a reasonable amount of substance too 🙂

For reference, this is one of the easy earlier parts of the level. I was too busy fighting during the later parts to take screenshots…

Most of the level takes place in a large open city, which is split off into several areas. Some of the buildings can be entered and some can even be climbed on. This is a level which will require you to explore carefully, but will often include subtle visual hints about where to go too. Even so, this is an old-school 1990s-style level which requires you to think for yourself and search carefully. This is really cool… most of the time.

As hinted earlier, I noticed a few brief moments of frustration and/or confusion. At least one or two of these may have been due to the older version of eDuke32 I was using. I couldn’t get the door or the air vent to the bathrooms to open, and eventually had to resort to using the “noclip” cheat to get the blue keycard inside. There was also a rooftop staircase which seemed to have an invisible wall in the middle of it (although it was easy enough to just jump across the gap beside it).

Likewise, there actually seem to be four “remote control devices” (one on a balcony, one on a rooftop terrace, one on the upper floor of a bar and one in an abandoned shop) – rather than three – which need to be activated before the control panel for the gate will open. I’m not sure if this was just the order I found them in or what, but – if you get stuck here – look for four of them. Plus, there are actually two blue keycards in the level but they have to be used separately in different places (eg: on the safe and the gate).

Still, these brief moments of frustration aside, this is a really cool level which requires and rewards careful exploration. And, again, some of the environmental puzzles are really clever too – involving climbing on top of things, walking across wires etc…

Seriously, you have to do a tightrope walk in order to get to this area, it’s really cool 🙂

The level is also fairly challenging too. Whilst you’ll never entirely run out of ammo, I had at least a few moments where I had to use the pistol because it was the only thing I had ammo for. The level will also throw small hordes of monsters at you occasionally – including a brilliant set piece where lots of flying enemies suddenly appear beside the roof you are on.

Even walking too close to the alien spaceship will deal radiation/fire damage. Not to mention the Battle-lord and four laser turrets on it too..

Whilst I was a bit out of practice with the game when I started the level, it’s like riding a bicycle. Within no time, I was circle-strafing and fighting just about competently again. Still, I’d recommend this level for experienced players only.

Plus, I just LOVE the visual style of this level too 🙂 Although there are a few custom textures, the level mostly uses the original textures. And it does so much with the Build Engine 🙂 Seriously, everything from the angular concrete walls beside the sea, to the various bars/balconies, to the art gallery and the shops you can find all look seriously cool.

I really don’t know what it is, but there’s something inherently cool about the combination of palm trees and angular concrete walls 🙂

It’s the sort of level that feels wonderfully 1990s, but is also the sort of thing that players in 1996 could only dream of playing. Seriously, this is a stylish and creative level 🙂 It’s also a fairly long level too, which took me at least an hour to complete (although the footage on Youtube shows someone completing it in about half an hour).

All in all, despite some moments of frustration, I still really enjoyed this level 🙂 If you want a cool-looking level that will also give you a challenge – both in terms of exploration and combat – then this one is well worth checking out.

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get at least a four.

Review: “Murder House” (Computer Game)

Despite literally writing lots of articles about horror games over the past two years or so, I somehow only got round to playing a Puppet Combo game for the first time in early November last year. Benedetto Cocuzza has been making PS1-style horror games for the past decade or so… and I’ve somehow missed them.

Still, to my delight, DRM-free editions of a few of his games appeared on GOG in late October/early November last year. I eventually decided to buy a discounted copy of “Murder House” (2020), which had been reduced to about eight quid at the time.

It looked like a classic-style “fixed camera and tank controls” survival horror game inspired by low-budget 1980s slasher movies. Plus, I later learned that it had actually been banned in Japan – the home of classic survival horror games – presumably on account of being too horrifying. How could I resist?

Despite the game’s GOG page heavily recommending that you use a controller, the game is thankfully playable with keyboard/mouse controls too – and it even lets you customise the controls too. Personally, I’d recommend re-binding the inventory button to “Q” to allow you to open and close it quickly during frantic moments.

So, let’s take a look at “Murder House”. This review may contain SPOILERS. The game itself contains some mild FLASHING LIGHTS (such as how the flashlight sometimes flickers when you turn it on) and a constant ” video static” effect.

Woo hoo! This game even has 1980s-style VHS /horror novel cover artwork too 🙂

The optional “prologue” level begins in America in 1985, when a young boy called Justin gets his photo taken with the Easter Bunny at a shopping centre. However, he falls asleep in one of the photo booths and wakes up to find the centre completely deserted.

Whilst trying to search for a way out, he finds the Easter Bunny again…. walking towards him with a murderous look in his eyes and a sharp sickle in his hand! Justin escapes and then, depending on how well you play, eventually manages to find a friendly caretaker. However, it isn’t long before things end badly for poor Justin….

Very badly, if this segment from the main game is anything to go by…..

We then flash forward to 1988 and the events of the main game. Sometime after the notorious Easter Ripper has been caught and executed, a local news team have travelled to his old house in order to film a segment about him.

The estate agent hasn’t show up, so it is up to poor put-upon intern Emma to sneak into the house and unlock it. Filming begins, with lots of arguments amongst the crew and a few cynical ploys from the director to make the news segment “more dramatic” too.

Including silly Halloween costumes! 

Eventually, the exhausted crew ask Emma to go and get some pizza for them but, when she goes to the van, it has been smashed up! There is a scary note on the windscreen! Is the Easter Ripper really dead?…

If you’ve watched literally any horror movie, you probably already know the answer to this question….

One of the first things that I will say about this game is that there were parts when I genuinely felt like I was a teenager again, playing the original “Silent Hill” (1999) for the very first time on a tiny CRT television late at night during the early-mid 2000s.

This is a seriously scary retro-style survival horror game, with some modern “run and hide”-style elements, which feels like a brilliant tribute to classic survival horror games, classic Hollywood slasher movies and older Dario Argento horror movies too. Needless to say, I loved it 🙂

In terms of the game’s horror elements, they consist of a mixture of suspense, gory horror, torture-based horror, slasher horror, creepy places, claustrophobic horror, paranormal horror, scary music and a small number of jump scares.

This dry description really doesn’t do the game justice though. With the exception of the slow-burn opening segment of the main game, it is often an almost constant feeling of dread, broken up by sudden moments of frantic panic. If you’ve played the modern survival horror game “Remothered: Tormented Fathers” (2018), you’ll be on familiar ground here.

Even the greenhouse outside the creepy “murder house” reminded me a little bit of that game too. Seriously, the graphics might look “retro”, but this game is terrifying!

As well as having to constantly avoid a scary serial killer who can open doors, can drag you out of hiding places and can slay you with just three swings of his sickle, the game also has a brilliantly creepy atmosphere too.

Whether it is the intense “retro horror” synthesiser music that plays whenever the killer appears or the claustrophobic house you are trapped inside or even the array of surprisingly realistic-looking CRT filters you can use, this game genuinely feels like playing an old survival horror game for the very first time again.

The gameplay is a really interesting mixture of old survival horror games too. Although I unfortunately haven’t played “Clock Tower” (1995), it seems to have been a heavy influence on the “avoid the killer” gameplay. The game’s camera also acts like the one from “Silent Hill” (1999) – ditto the flashlight, slow-burn introduction and piano puzzle too.

The door animations, combat, health meter and limited saving system are inspired by “Resident Evil” (1996). The killer looks like a scarier version of the theme park mascot from “Silent Hill 3” (2003). The game also has a “Silent Hill 4” (2004)-style real time inventory menu too.

Not only is there a real-time inventory menu – which doesn’t pause the game – but there is limited saving too! Seriously, this game is what you get if you put a lot of older horror games into a blender…

The 1990s were known for innovation in videogames, and “Murder House” (2020) pays tribute to this by adding a limited “sprint bar” mechanic – in the style of an old VCR tracking control. The in-game reason is that Emma has injured her leg and can only run for a short time, but it is mostly there to add extra suspense to the game’s frantic chase sequences (and encourage you to find a hiding place quickly!). Plus, the game also includes an optional first-person perspective mode too.

It also has the contrived puzzles you’d expect from an old-school survival horror game, but – although I eventually had to resort to a walkthrough – the relatively small game area helps a bit, and there are also clues for the puzzles as well. It also has just enough saving items not to feel unfair (if you really search, you can find about four of them) but they are also scarce enough to add a lot of extra suspense to the game.

You also get weapons – one is slightly hidden (ditto extra ammo for it too...) – but, outside of the final boss battle, they barely even slow down the killer. Still, the weapons can make the game feel a bit less scary once you find them. Especially since the game appears to… possibly… have auto-aim too.

To quote Futurama: “Who needs courage, when you have… a gun?“

The game also has personality and a brilliantly cynical sense of humour too 🙂

Not only are some of the arguments amongst the film crew genuinely funny, but there’s also a really cool set-piece inspired by Dario Argento’s “Suspiria” (1977), the Easter-themed villain is both hilarious and deeply terrifying at the same time, not to mention that there’s also a brilliantly funny playable sequence for players who hang around until after the credits.

It’s only a short set-piece, but this segment is one of the closest things I’ve found to a playable version of Dario Argento’s legendary horror movie “Suspiria” 🙂

As for length, this is a relatively short game. It took me about 2-4 hours to complete, albeit with some walkthrough use. If you actually know what you’re doing and have the nerve to play the whole thing in a single sitting, then it’ll probably take you less time than this.

I’ve seen Youtube videos where people have finished the whole thing in just an hour and a half. Still, this game is very much a case of “quality over quantity” and the average-sized old house where most of the game takes place in certainly adds a tense claustrophobic atmosphere to it too.

All in all, this is a brilliant modern survival horror game, which genuinely feels like something that could have appeared during the 1990s. If you’re a fan of classic survival horror, old slasher movies and/or Dario Argento movies, then this game is well-worth playing. It’s probably one of the scariest “fixed camera” horror games I’ve ever played!

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a five. Play it… if you dare!

 

Review: “Doom 64” (PC Port)

Although I had planned to review a “Doom II” WAD, I ended up finding something that interested me even more – a classic official “Doom” game which I hadn’t played before 🙂

Yes, I had a Nintendo 64 when I was younger (albeit slightly after the console’s heyday) – but “Doom 64” (1997) wasn’t one of the few games I had for it. Likewise, quite a few years ago, I tried playing a WAD – either from the creator of “Brutal Doom” and/or inspired by it – that aimed to re-create this game too. Still, I didn’t ever expect to play the actual game.

However, when checking GOG during the summer sale in June, I was astonished to find that a DRM-free edition of the official PC port of this game from 2020 was not only on the front page of the site, but had been reduced to just 99p as well 🙂

I should probably apologise for the slightly lifeless screenshots in this review though – the game does not like Windows 10’s built-in screenshot tools when running in fullscreen mode. So, I had to take screenshots when there wasn’t much going on, since it’d give me time to sort out the inevitable glitches (by switching to windowed mode and de-activating Xbox Game Bar). The actual game is a lot more fast-paced and action-packed than these screenshots make it look. Sorry about this.

Interestingly though, the port itself – since it uses Nightdive Studios’ “Kex Engine”, rather than a modern Doom source port – seems to require Windows 10. Not an issue for me now, but I imagine that this would have utterly infuriated me back when I was using an old Windows XP PC during most of the 2010s…..

Anyway, let’s take a look at “Doom 64”. The game itself contains a PHOTOSENSITIVTY WARNING (due to occasional rapidly-flickering lights).

Again, I never expected to actually play THIS 🙂

As for the story, it’s a classic “Doom” game. There are demons and you have to fight them. Yes, I think it’s technically more complex than that – something involving the Doomguy being asked to return to hell in order to battle a new boss monster – but who plays “Doom” games for the story?

One of the first things that I will say about this game is that it is excellent 🙂 It is something that will be both very familiar and very unfamiliar to classic “Doom” fans. Unlike many console versions of “Doom” (1993) or “Doom II” (1994) from the 1990s, this isn’t just a simple port of the original game. It is its own game – with new levels, new graphics, a new weapon, new monsters, better lighting etc…

Seriously, this WAD… Sorry, this actual full official game…. has some really cool graphics. Yes, they’re “old” sprite-based graphics, but this makes the game look WAY more timeless than mid-late 1990s 3D graphics would…

And, yes, it really does feel like a different game in a lot of ways. Seriously, the best way I can describe “Doom 64” is that it is like what would happen if “Doom II” was put in a blender with both “HeXen” (1995) and “Quake” (1996)… and maybe a tiny sprinkling of the Build Engine too.

It has the kind of gloomy industrial horror genre atmosphere that you’d expect from the original “Quake”, but with the kind of dark fantasy and puzzle elements you’d expect from “HeXen”. Again, it really does feel like it’s own game.

Seriously, this early-game room is pure “Quake” (1996). The later parts of the game reminded me a lot more of “HeXen” (1995) though.

Still, for the most part, the gameplay is what you’d expect: fast-paced, challenging 1990s-style first-person shooter goodness. Like with the other classic 1990s “Doom” games, the Doomguy can’t jump and vertical aiming is also handled automatically too.

The game is designed around this so, even if you’re used to modern source ports, you’ll probably forget these limitations are even there after a while.

Again, the whole game is designed around these limitations well enough that you won’t even notice the lack of jumping or vertical aiming after a while.

Talking of limitations, one of the interesting things about “Doom 64” is its level design. The new levels, whilst occasionally inspired by the classic levels, often seemed slightly smaller than I’d expected. This was probably due to the limits of the Nintendo 64. And, surprisingly, it is actually a good thing here.

The designers actually worked with these limitations rather than against them. Instead of adding more size to the levels, they added more complexity. These are dense intricate levels where you sometimes have to search carefully for switches and even solve actual puzzles too. Again, the game feels a bit like “HeXen” (1995) in terms of puzzles – albeit mildly more forgiving thanks to the smaller levels. Plus, the game occasionally breaks up a run of complicated puzzle/maze levels with a more mindlessly enjoyable arena-like level too.

Whilst I got “stuck” a few times – and even had to check a walkthrough twice – this added complexity really helps to make the levels feel more substantial than you might expect. It also makes the game feel a bit more like a classic “Build Engine” game from the 1990s than you might expect too. Plus, on the normal difficulty setting (“Bring It On“), the game has a reasonably decent difficulty curve too – gradually becoming more of a challenge than you might initially expect 🙂

Seriously, you’ll blaze through the first few levels relatively quickly and start to worry that you should have chosen a higher difficulty setting. However, don’t let the game lull you into a false sense of security…

Literally my only major criticism of “console limitations” here is the game’s map screen. It looks a lot more “zoomed in” than you might expect if you play modern source ports on the PC. I couldn’t find a “zoom out” button – meaning that it isn’t as useful as you might think. Still, in a cool touch, not only does the PC port of this game have the “Duke Nukem 3D” (1996) style option of switching between a textured and wire-frame map screen, but – like in that game – you can also occasionally find CCTV monitors that show you other parts of the level.

Interestingly, this modern PC port also includes a six-level expansion called “The Lost Levels”. These levels are definitely fun but – literally one puzzle aside – they are very similar in design to the type of “traditional” levels you’d expect to find in something like “Final Doom” (1996) or a modern “Doom II” WAD. Again, they are really fun – but don’t expect the kind of “compact, but complex” levels you’ll find in the main game.

Another good thing about this PC port is the inclusion of a traditional “save anywhere” saving system 🙂 Just like a proper PC game 🙂 And, given that the game also seems to include a vestigial password system, I dread to think what it must have been like for Nintendo 64 players back in the ’90s, who had to write down and enter lots of lengthy codes just to load a game. Too funny!

That password is sixteen characters long! Sixteen!… Ha! I am SO glad that I’m playing this on PC and can save my game normally 🙂

Still, in a slightly annoying modern touch, this port includes “achievements”. Seriously, old games didn’t need little text boxes to give the player a sense of achievement – they did this via challenging difficulty instead!

You felt a sense of achievement by beating a tough level, rather than the game telling you that you that you’ve “achieved” some random thing that you were going to do anyway.

An achievement… in classic “Doom”?!?!?! Sacrilege! Back in my day…

But, one of the good things about the GOG version is that although the main menu includes a “Bethesda.net” option… you can just leave it alone. No need for log-ins or anything in this DRM-free edition 🙂

The game’s new graphics are better than I expected as well. Initially, I missed the cartoonishness of the original “Doom” games, but the amazing multi-coloured lighting (evocative of horror movies like “Suspiria” (1977) at times) quickly grew on me. Not to mention that all of the new monster sprites definitely look a bit more fearsome and add to the “ominous” atmosphere of the game too.

Plus, as mentioned earlier – there are two new monsters – a translucent blue “nightmare” version of the imps and a new final boss. This new boss makes the Cyberdemon look weak and harmless by comparison!

Yes, I took this screenshot after getting killed by the new final boss. It happens… a lot… when you encounter THIS monster!

Still, the game includes a weird mix of monsters – with many “Doom II” monsters showing up, but no Chaingun Zombies, Spider Mastermind, Revenants or Arch-viles However, the final boss’s attacks are like a mixture of souped-up Revenant missiles and toned-down Arch-vile fire – so I’ll let it slide…

Plus, whilst the game also includes a new weapon – the unmaker – it is definitely a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the sprite work for the weapon is amazingly cool-looking. On the other, and I didn’t know this when I played the game, it can apparently be upgraded into something seriously useful if you find the secret levels.

However, in its basic form, it is hilariously underwhelming – yes, it’s like a slightly more powerful slow-firing hitscan version of the plasma cannon – but the animation for it is literally just a pathetic-looking little laser beam, rather than the sort of thunderous or explosive thing you’d expect from a cool-looking weapons like this.

This is a demonic weapon forged in the parts of hell that everyone knows from their favourite heavy metal album covers. It looks ferocious… but when you fire it in its basic form, it just shoots one thin red laser beam with a “pew pew” sound effect. Underwhelming, but also kind of hilarious too.

The weapon animations and presentation is a bit of mixed bag too – but it’s mostly good. One stand-out classic weapon is the chaingun, which is so much better in this game! Yes, it’s as powerful as usual but it sounds louder and the screen literally judders with recoil when you fire it. It feels more powerful than in the other classic games. However, the super shotgun lacks the wonderfully kinetic reload animation it had in “Doom II” though.

As for sound design and music, the game is definitely creepier. Not only does everything sound a bit more ominous and/or dramatic, but the awesome heavy metal-inspired MIDI music from the classic PC games has been replaced with the kind of eerie ambient soundtrack which is very evocative of the mid-1990s Playstation 1 port of “Doom” (1993), mostly because it was created by the same musician – Aubrey Hodges.

In terms of length, this is a full-length 1990s first-person shooter game. In addition to the six new levels, the original game has at least 25 levels (I missed some secret levels though). Given the “save anywhere” saving system on the PC port, this is the sort of game that is equally well-suited to casually playing for ten minutes or binge-playing for a couple of hours. As such, despite its length, I ended up blazing my way through it in just a few days.

All in all, this game is excellent 🙂 It will be familiar to classic “Doom” fans, but it also contains enough new stuff to really feel like its own thing at the same time. I’m still amazed that this game is available on PC and, if you like the classic “Doom” games, you’ll probably really love this one too. Yes, it has a slightly different atmosphere and more emphasis on puzzles, but it was an even better game than I expected it to be 🙂

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a five.

Review: “The Open House” (Computer Game)

Well, I found myself grappling with horror game burnout whilst looking for a horror game to play. A previous search of itch.io for horror games had yielded one game with no stated system requirements (…which turned out to be unplayable on my PC’s early-mid 2010s integrated graphics. I maybe got 0.5 FPS with it) and one other game which my anti-virus really didn’t like and pre-emptively “quarantined”. My mood could best be described as one of cynical despair.

Still, for some reason, some unexplainable impulse, I decided to take another look at itch.io… and I stumbled across a game by corpsepile called “The Open House” (2020). This game is technically free, albeit with a prominent option for donations. It can either be downloaded or even played on the site as a browser game.

Anyway, “The Open House” stood out amongst the reams of other horror games with it’s cheerful bright thumbnail… almost seeming like it was accidentally placed in the wrong category. Given the 1990s-style screenshots on the site and the fact that it looked more like something from the dark comedy genre than the horror genre, I decided to take a quick look at it…for a laugh. Oh, how naïve I was. I’d almost forgotten that games can be this scary…

So, let’s take a look at “The Open House”. I’ll keep them to a minimum, but this review may contain SPOILERS. This game is at it’s best if you don’t know what to expect. So, if you want the completely spoiler-free version, it’s a genuinely innovative (and very scary!) horror game. If you have the courage, then play it!

The game is presented as an alpha version of some 1990s-style house-viewing software created for an American real estate company called Northtree. You, poor player, have been tasked with testing it out and looking at a 3D scan of a perfectly normal suburban house.

See! Perfectly normal! Nothing scary here! Just a normal CGI house from the mid-late 1990s…

One of the first things that I will say about this game is that it was almost completely unlike any other horror game I’ve played or even heard of. Yes, I detected subtle hints of “P.T.” (2014) and “Layers Of Fear”  (2016) in some parts, but this game is very much its own – deeply, deeply terrifying – thing.

Seriously, there were times when I was looking at the screen through my fingers and/or only listening with one headphone (held an inch or two away from my ear) in adrenaline-ridden anticipation of a jump scare that never quite appeared in the way I expected it to. It is a genius game. Ok, a twisted, evil nightmarish kind of genius, but still…

As for the game’s horror elements, they consist of a mixture of psychological horror, atmosphere, suspense, gory horror, cosmic horror, bizarre surreal horror, technological horror, corporate horror, jump scares, liminal spaces, criminal horror and creepy characters. But this description seems very dry and bland compared to the actual experience of playing this game.

It’s a game that takes its exquisite time to build a slow-burning sense of unease that peaks in a feeling of intense fear-adrenaline that just stays there for literal minutes upon minutes. It is also the sort of thing that genuinely feels like it is cursed in some way. Like something you really shouldn’t be playing…

And, yes, there is generic corporate music playing in the background too. For reference, one of the tools you can find hanging up in this garage has blood on it…

It is a masterpiece of horror. You’ll slowly get the creeping sense that one horrific thing is going to happen – and it sort of does – but not quite in the way you expect and then it’ll catch you by surprise with something completely from left-field.

Likewise, even the game’s occasional jump scares are often handled much more subtly and/or intelligently than you might expect.

For example, one of the first major ones doesn’t leap out at you or play a scary noise. In fact, you can miss it completely if you’re not careful. You’ll just be carefully searching the laundry room and… see something that is just there. I won’t ruin the surprise any more, but it is about ten times creepier than a “traditional” jump scare.

And, yes, whilst there are more overt moments of horror, the designer of this game definitely understood the value of subtlety too. A lot of it comes from the fact that the house is presented as something which has been scanned before you “arrived”. So, like with weird glitches and stuff on sites like Google Maps, there’s a sense that you’re looking at frozen images from the past. Ghosts of what has happened before you arrived.

Whilst this might be reassuring at first, it is also used to build an almost detective genre-like feeling of unease and dread in the player. And, of course, there’s also a feeling in the back of your mind that the game will spring something more… active… on you, a gnawing dread that builds and builds until the game… finally… does.

I said, look behind yo…. Oops! Wrong thing! This isn’t “P.T” (2014), it’s “The Open House” (2020). But now I understand exactly what those lucky people who actually got to play “P.T” back in 2014 must have felt….

In terms of the gameplay, this game is really creative. It’s a mixture between a “Myst” (1993) style first-person “point and click” game and a more modern “walking simulator” horror game. And, yes, there is actually some gameplay here – the beginning of the game is something of a “scavenger hunt” segment where – when you find something that makes the mouse cursor glitch out – you have to click on it. There’s a board in one of the upstairs rooms which tells you how many of these things you have left to find.

Each one is an ominous clue, and some are more well-hidden than others (and, yes, I had to check a walkthrough on Youtube briefly), but your attention will instantly be drawn to at least two of them when you see them. And these things are all designed to hint at something even more horrific too. It’s a truly excellent way of building suspense and tension. Still, even though this isn’t a massively gameplay-heavy game, it’s scary and creative enough for this not to really matter.

And, in a neat touch, the game even includes… today’s date… in some segments. Or it would do if I hadn’t prepared this review way back in mid-May…

As for the graphics and sound design, this game really excels. Not only does the corny “relaxing” music in the early parts of the game perfectly counterpoint – and somehow enhance – the feelings of dread you’ll be experiencing, but the mixture of visual styles throughout the game really fits into the “1990s internet”/”found footage” aesthetic of parts of the game. It’s difficult to describe, but it’s one of those games – like “The Cat Lady” (2012) – which just looks like something you probably “shouldn’t be playing”. Something… dangerous.

In terms of length, this is a short game. Although I had to use a walkthrough to find one of the clues, it took me maybe 20-30 minutes to complete this game. But those were 20-30 minutes of almost constant  scariness. It’s a “quality over quantity” type of horror game.

All in all, this game is an innovative masterpiece of horror. It’s also a game that is much, much scarier than it initially seems. Even if you’re feeling jaded by the genre, this one can still catch you by surprise because it is unlike anything else that you have probably seen. Again, though, be warned – it is very scary!

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a solid five.

Review: “The Devil” (Freeware Computer Game)

Well, although I’d planned to review a different horror game, I ended up stumbling across an amazing freeware “classic-style” survival horror game called “The Devil” (2020). And, given how much of a fan of this type of game I am, I just had to play it 🙂 In fact, I even ended up updating an old article about “Silent Hill”-inspired games because this game deserved to be on there.

This game was made during a “Haunted PS1” game jam and it’s well worth reading the website since the keyboard control layout is slightly counter-intuitive. Still, the controls have the benefit of being ambidextrous – with two sets of alternate controls on the keyboard. This game also uses proper old-fashioned “tank controls” too 🙂 Still, if you’re new to this, you’ll have ample time to familiarise yourself with the movement controls at the beginning of the game.

Being something that was made for a game jam, the game doesn’t have the verification or whatever that some operating systems like to see. I got a warning message when I first ran it on Windows 10 but, after scanning it with an anti-virus program (it’s worth doing this yourself, don’t just take my word for it), it was fine and I clicked through the warning. Apparently some versions of MacOS will outright refuse to play the Mac version of the game without using workarounds.

Anyway, let’s take a look at “The Devil”. This review may contain SPOILERS for both this game and the 2002 remake of “Resident Evil”. The game itself contains a fast-moving “VHS static”-like filter and some rather slow FLASHING LIGHTS.

Set in a mysterious future, you play as an unnamed “lifter” – a mechanic/caretaker – who works in a large concrete tower populated by members of a religious order who worship a being called “The Source”.

The tower can seemingly move of its own accord… and it has got lost in a swamp. Not only that, one of the people from the tower has also got lost in the swamp too. And you have been asked to go and find him….

Hmmm… I’ve watched horror movies before. If they “didn’t come back” then will I ?

One of the first things that I will say about this game is WOW! Not only does this game look like a survival horror game from the late 1990s, but it feels like playing one in the very best way. It has that fabled “innovation” and “creativity” which was more common in those days. Even though it is clearly influenced by “Silent Hill” (1999) and, to a lesser extent, the 2002 remake of “Resident Evil” too – it feels like a genuinely new and creative interpretation of the genre.

But, let’s talk about the excellent horror elements first 🙂 Although “The Devil” contains some really well-handled cosmic horror, psychological horror, gothic horror, religious/occult horror, eerie sound effects and creepy places, the main form of horror here is suspense. And what suspense it is! There’s a really excellent progression from an ominous feeling of dread to intense frantic “run for your life!” terror throughout the game. And it really is a game of two halves in this regard.

The first half of the game is very reminiscent of the extended opening segments of the first two “Silent Hill” games. You have to make a long descent down the tower, finding a way through its maze-like catwalks, stairways and passages whilst the camera swoops around in a deliberately disorientating fashion. The tower has dead ends and passages that can easily be missed. If you search everywhere carefully, you can find useful stuff.

Yes, the game helps you out by using an amazing “Silent Hill”-esque camera angle when you find the weapon. But, unless you search a side-room, then you can miss it completely.

You’ll also get to meet the inhabitants of the tower and can even talk to them in a JRPG-esque fashion. But, as you get closer to the bottom of this maze-like tower, you’ll start to notice that something is a bit “off” with the people there.

The further down you go, the more creepy and weird their dialogue will be. Yet, they also leave you alone and don’t try to harm you. All of this happens over enough time that you’ll really start to get the nervous sense that something bad is going to happen.

Surprisingly, this crowd of people chanting “The Devil will not take us!” are from the middle parts of the tower. The people on the lower levels are actually creepier than this…

After you have left the tower and explored the swamp, the style of suspense changes completely when you return to the tower. If you’ve ever played the 2002 remake of “Resident Evil”, you’ll remember how fallen zombies will turn into faster, scarier and more dangerous “Crimson Head” zombies after a while. How, when you saw one of them, your instinct was to RUN! The only solace, of course, being that there were only usually one or two Crimson Heads on screen at any given time….

Now, imagine a whole tower of them. Fast-moving crowds of dangerous zombies who won’t give up the chase until you’ve found a door or a ladder. Because everyone you met on the way down the tower is now out for your blood. Yes, you’ve got a weapon (unless you forgot to pick it up) but you can only move slowly whilst holding it. Your weapon can also jam – and you can only un-jam it if you know where the repair bench is.

If you explored properly during the first half of the game, you’ll have found the “almost, but not quite, hidden” corridor that leads you to this repair bench. If you haven’t, well, you’re up a certain creek without a paddle….

Each zombie can be downed with just two shots, but that won’t help you if ten of them have swarmed you and started slashing at you. Especially if you’ve only got four bullets left. No, your best defence is to run. Run fast and keep running!

Seriously, make one mistake in some parts of this game and you’ll be swarmed by a horde of angry zombies. More than you can fight. There are no gaps in the crowd to flee through. It’s certain doom…

It’s a really clever concept and it makes the game feel like more than the sum of its inspirations. All of this is helped by the game’s mysterious story, part science fiction and part fantasy, and just the general atmosphere and visual design of the game too.

The best way I can describe the game’s setting is that it looks like what the Tricorn Centre would have looked like if it has been designed by M. C. Escher. It’s this amazing Brutalist concrete edifice, filled with a network of staircases, narrow passages and stuff like that.

Woo hoo! 1960s-style architecture and 1990s-style graphics 🙂

Combined with the PS1-style graphics, this evokes the desolate atmosphere of the first four “Silent Hill” games absolutely perfectly, whilst also being something intriguingly different at the same time. Again, it really does feel like playing a new and innovative late 1990s survival horror game 🙂

The fixed camera angles are really amazing too – not only do some of them feel like they could have come straight from “Silent Hill” (1999), but the game also does other innovative things like – during about two or three parts – using an angle that imitates the “over the shoulder” cameras that became popular during the mid-2000s.

Literally my only criticism of the camera was one “long-distance” angle which made it difficult to see which direction the main character was pointing during a frantic chase sequence. Still, virtually all of the time, I cannot praise the camera in this game highly enough.

Yes, it’s an “over the shoulder” camera… but it is only temporary, and it is used in areas that are actually suitable for this type of camera. Not to mention that most of the game includes a wide variety of more creative and interesting camera angles than this bland mid-2000s relic of an angle….

I should probably talk about the difficulty though – this game can be absolutely brutal here. So much so that the designers not only included very simple cheat codes, but actually tell you them on the website.

However, I’d advise against cheating. The later parts of this game are challenging in a fun way. If you grew up during the 1990s, you’ll recognise the “keep trying until you make it” difficulty of these segments. How, like an old platform game of the time, you’ll end up learning by rote and gradually getting better and better with each try. You’ll formulate strategies and you’ll get so good at some parts that you can do them in your sleep. If this kind of progression seems satisfying to you, then don’t cheat.

Still, in a concession to fairness, the game actually includes a couple of auto-save points after you return to the tower. These aren’t marked, and you’ll only know about them after you’ve croaked it. But, perhaps echoing the limited saving systems of old, they are spread out quite a bit. And, if you don’t know where the healing pool is, you can miss the second one. Even if you find it, you’ve still got to complete about half of the tower in a single run to get the ending. The really difficult half of the tower. Again, this is a game for people who enjoy this sort of challenge.

The second auto-save point is in this amazing Brutalist room 🙂 Not only that, the healing fountain also serves as the only time in the game where you can refill your health meter too. Ok, theoretically, you could return here.. but, well, the hordes of zombies kind of make the final quarter of the game a frantic one-way dash for safety.

As for length, this is technically a short game – but it feels longer than it is, in a good way. The way that you will traverse the tower twice adds length to the game – but the change in both direction and gameplay make it feel fresh both times around. Likewise, the difficulty level means that the amount of time you spend with the game will depend on your skill and level of determination. It took me about 2-3 hours to complete, but I imagine that it could take anywhere between 1-6 hours depending on all sorts of factors.

The game’s sound design and music is really good too. As well as lots of wonderfully creepy sound effects that add atmosphere to the game, the music has that kind of eerie “1980s synth” and/or vaporwave kind of sound to it, but in the style of an old PS1 game. It adds a lot to the game.

All in all, this freeware game is amazing 🙂 Not only does it do something a little bit different with the genre, but it’s something that fans of the original “Silent Hill” will still really enjoy. If you want a classic-style survival horror game that is both ominous and frantic. If you enjoy a challenge or just like well-designed and innovative games, then this one is worth playing.

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a five.

Review: “Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows Of New York” (Computer Game)

Well, I thought that I’d finally take a look at a “visual novel” horror game that has been on my “to play” list for a while. I am, of course, talking about “Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows Of New York” (2020).

Since I really enjoyed “Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries Of New York” (2019), I’d been curious about this stand-alone expansion to it. And, when a DRM-free edition of was reduced to about a fiver during a sale on GOG last November, I bought a copy.

Yet, for some reason, it just ended up languishing on my desktop unplayed for months, until I finally got round to playing it in late February. Maybe I was saving it for a special occasion? Maybe I was more in the mood for gameplay-focused games? Maybe I’d read that it was a short game and wanted to play something longer? Whatever the reason, I’m genuinely surprised it took me this long to play it – because it absolutely rocks 🙂

Even though this game is best enjoyed after playing “Coteries”, it still just about tells its own self-contained story and can probably be enjoyed on its own.

This review may also contain SPOILERS, and the game contains FLASHING/FLICKERING images (although I don’t know if they’re intense enough to be an issue or not).

Anyway, let’s take a look at “Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows Of New York”:

And, wow! Even the main menu made an impression on me 🙂 This is a really awesome painting 🙂

You play as Julia Sowinski, an investigative reporter for a failing magazine called Lodestar. In her spare time, she likes to hang out in a burger restaurant at night and watch all of the strange things that happen there.

Still, in June 2019 she has just finished sixteen months of work on a hard-hitting story about a dubious tech company called Double Spiral. However, to her shock, her editor refuses to publish it and gives ominous hints about powerful people influencing his decision. Worst of all, he tells her that she is fired – and she works out that he has revealed some of her sources.

An elementary deduction! Seriously, this brief “detective” detail foreshadows the game’s “film noir” style story brilliantly.

After an argument, Julia takes the subway home but is accosted by a strange woman and mysteriously falls unconscious. When she regains consciousness, she is standing near a dead body… with a pistol in her hand.

The mysterious woman talks to her for a while and asks her to make a decision. If you make the right one, Julia learns that vampires have been watching her for months and have set all of this up as a type of test. She has passed and can become one of them. With no other real option, she accepts.

Moral ambiguity? In a “VTM” game? How shocking!

We then flash forward to March 2020. Julia is a member of the “Lasombre” vampire clan, but finds herself a bit of an outsider in the world of vampiric politics. She is a “liaison” to the Camarilla, the most powerful vampire faction in the city, and they mostly make her do menial jobs like meeting every new vampire that arrives in the city and helping out their security officer, Qadir.

However, after a powerful member of a rival faction – Boss Callihan – is found dead in suspicious circumstances, the Camarilla need someone impartial to investigate the case. And Julia gets lumbered with the job….

And, yes, this is old-school Raymond Chandler and/or Agatha Christie type detective work, rather than more modern “CSI” type stuff…

One of the first things that I will say about this game is that it is one of the coolest games I’ve played recently 🙂 It almost seems like the sort of game that was made for me. The amazing artwork, the cynical dialogue and the way that the story seems like a cross between an old (non-superhero!) DC Vertigo comic, a good urban fantasy novel and the film noir genre too. This is an atmospheric, intelligent and well-written horror game that I really enjoyed 🙂

As for the game’s horror elements, they consist of a mixture of psychological horror, dark subject matter, a subtle mood of “impending doom”, gothic horror, moral ambiguity character-based horror and some occasional gory moments. Whilst this game isn’t exactly terrifying – and there were certainly moments when I questioned whether it was even a “horror game” – it has a noticeably dark and unsettling mood that really adds a lot to the atmosphere of the game. The VTM series has often been a bit more subtle with its horror elements, and whilst I didn’t feel as depressed or unsettled as I’ve felt after playing other games from the series, this was probably mostly because I was using this game as a “feel good” distraction from doomscrolling through the news.

And, to be fair, the game certainly has some weirdly optimistic and/or bittersweet moments to it too.

Still, one reason why this game was less unsettling than I expected was the excellent writing and characters 🙂

Unlike the more uncertain or inexperienced protagonists of other VTM games, Julia is the kind of cool 1990s-style “rebel” character who I found impossible not to like 🙂 She has a brilliantly cynical sense of humour, makes angst-ridden comments about feeling like an “outsider”, lights up wherever the hell she likes, has long introspective trains of thought, wears dark clothes etc…

“Even if its all boring and normal to me, it’s exotic and engrossing to her. Guess I have that going for me“. Seriously, some of the lines in this game are brilliant. Game developers, more intelligent introvert protagonists please!

Yes, she’s a slightly stylised character – but she has enough backstory, personality, strengths, flaws and emotions to actually feel like a realistic person at the same time. Seriously, I cannot praise the character design in this game highly enough.

Many of the other characters you meet are also stylised enough to be interesting, yet complicated enough to actually feel vaguely realistic too. If you’ve played “VTM: Coteries”, you’ll see a lot of familiar faces here – but there are at least a small number of new characters too. Such as Julia’s girlfriend Dakota, who is more of a complex character than she initially seems.

I also just love the writing style of this game too. It reminded me a bit of an old “non-superhero” DC Vertigo comic from the late 1980s-early 2000s, think Warren Ellis’ “Transmetropolitan” or maybe one of the more gothic parts of Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” comics, but with more of an “urban fantasy” flavour and a slightly more modern tone.

Yes, it can be a bit ironic, referential and “intellectual” at times – but in a good way, like one of Winston Rowntree’s “Subnormality” webcomics. This is an intelligent, complex game which covers all sorts of themes from the nature of identity, to religion, to how corporate the internet has become etc…

Plus, this brilliantly cynical line from Qadir about how pointless fads and trends are. This game may have a VERY “March 2020” setting, but it’s also a surprisingly timeless game too.

And, like with “Coteries”, I also found it refreshing how this game could be both modern and mildly-moderately edgy at the same time. It really feels like something from an alternative universe where modern culture kept at least some of the irreverence, cynicism and hedonism of the 1990s 🙂

Plus, the game also addresses more modern history in a surprisingly clever way too. Given how the main part of the game takes place in March 2020, I both was and wasn’t expecting this. At first, I thought that this game had – like “Coteries” – been made months before the pandemic. There are no references to it whatsoever during the first half of the game then, like in real life, it suddenly becomes a much more important background element of the story. The game really captures the surreal nature of March 2020, when it still all felt weird, albeit in an understated way. It could be because I mostly play older games, but it was still surprising to see something so recent appear in a game – and for it to be so well-written too.

Seriously, just like in real life, it shows up in the game as an unexpected plot twist. And – though it’s more of a background detail – this game really captures the overall “mood” of March 2020 surprisingly well.

Although this game is as much about its atmosphere, writing and characters as it is about the story, the story is still pretty decent. Whilst there are some branching side-paths, the main story is a fairly conventional hardboiled detective story with lots of urban fantasy/horror elements to it. Without spoiling too much, there’s enough complexity and ambiguity in the story to really make it feel like an old “film noir” movie or an old Raymond Chandler novel, albeit with some hints of Agatha Christie too.

As for the gameplay, it is a visual novel. A modern version of an old-school text adventure game. You read dialogue/descriptions and make choices every now and then. Interestingly, the game also tracks your choices and gives you “personality traits” based on them – which seem to be what determines the ending. I was expecting a more conventional detective genre ending, where I got to choose who I wanted to accuse of the crime… but the ending played out in a way that seemed to fit with the version of Julia that I’d been playing. I thought it was the “good ending” but, looking online, it’s apparently the “bad ending”.

And, yes, there’s the classic Agatha Christie “I have gathered you all together…” type thing too.

Visually speaking, this game is really good 🙂 Yes, it re-uses some background and character art from “Coteries”, but it includes lots of new artwork too – and it all looks really cool 🙂

It also has more of a gothic aesthetic to it – in an edgy 1990s/2000s kind of way – too. This game really does feel like the sort of interesting graphic novel you might have found in a bookshop during the late 2000s. All of this artwork is also paired with some reasonably good sound design, which does the job well enough to add immersion without really “standing out” either.

Seriously, this is a cool-looking game in a brilliantly 1990s/2000s kind of way 🙂

As for length, this is a short 2-3 hour game. There’s an extended introduction, you talk to four main suspects (and some other characters) and then there’s the ending. Yes, there are a few optional side paths, not to mention that you have a lot of choices to make throughout the story too. From what I’ve read, this game does have at least two endings, but they seem to be determined by your character’s personality traits more than anything else. Still, this game probably has some mild level of replay value.

All in all, I really loved this game 🙂 Yes, it might not be everyone’s cup of tea – but if you want a well-written edgy film noir/urban fantasy horror game with cool characters, excellent artwork and a lot of atmosphere, then this one is well worth playing 🙂

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a five.

Review: “Cloudpunk” (Computer Game)

Well, I thought that I’d take a day off from horror games to review an interesting cyberpunk sci-fi game called “Cloudpunk” (2020) that ended up completely distracting me from playing “Painkiller” (2004) for about three evenings. Although I’d heard of “Cloudpunk” when it was released a couple of years ago, I’d almost forgotten about it until a DRM-Free edition of it appeared on GOG back in February.

Since it had been briefly reduced to a little under seven quid and, like a much older game called “Crime Cities” (2000), it seemed like a playable version of the awesome flying car segments from one of the best films ever made – “Blade Runner” (1982) – buying a copy was an absolute no-brainer. Seriously, it has been way too long since I last played a game that was in the cyberpunk genre 🙂

Plus, despite my computer’s Intel HD 2500 integrated graphics being below the “minimum system requirements”, I was delighted to find that the game had the option to use a 640 x 480 resolution 🙂 And, with several other graphical settings turned down a lot, the game ran at a playable speed (not exactly “a buttery 60FPS”, but still playable. If I had to guess, maybe 10-30FPS) and still looked reasonably decent too. Given some of the economic themes in the game, it’s reassuringly consistent that the developers didn’t just restrict it to people with the latest and most expensive tech 🙂

Anyway, let’s take a look at “Cloudpunk” 🙂 This review may contain SPOILERS.

Set in the distant future, the game takes place in the ultra-tall cyberpunk mega-city of Nivalis. You play as Rania, a woman from the Eastern Peninsula who had to flee to Nivalis in order to escape debt collectors.

She ends up working for “Cloudpunk” a semi-legal delivery service that is famed for not asking questions. She is assigned an absolute rust-bucket of a “HOVA” – a flying car – and greeted by a friendly old man over the intercom.

Woo hoo! Flying cars, pouring rain, old-school staticky video-call screens and glowing lights! It was only a few minutes into the game, and I’d already fallen in love with it…

The old man – “Control” – informs her that she’s replacing a driver who recently died in a major pile-up. He hopes that she will make it through her first night shift. And, it will certainly be a long and eventful night…..

Albeit one that doesn’t include zombies though. Whatever. I still really loved this game.

One of the first things that I will say about this game is WOW! Yes, the main attraction here is the story, characters, atmosphere and visuals than the… ok, I guess… gameplay – but it still seriously impressed me.

This was one of those games where I’d sometimes just stop for a minute to soak in the ambiance, or find myself having random philosophical thoughts whilst playing it. It’s something that really has to be experienced.

Seriously, THIS! You actually get to wander around and explore this place too 🙂

And I really can’t praise the atmosphere and style of the game highly enough 🙂 Although it’s an original game, it’s one of the closest things I’ve experienced to an interactive version of the movie “Blade Runner” (1982).

Everything from the beautiful constellations of neon signs, to the constant rain, to the soundscape of whining motors and loudspeaker announcements, to the industrial bulkiness of everything, to the synth music, to the towering buildings shrouded in hazy clouds to even just the “It never gets old” experience of hitting the accelerator whilst your car ascends. The game is its own thing, but it also has the texture and “feel” of the more atmospheric parts of “Blade Runner” 🙂

A new life awaits YOU on the off-world… Oops! This is “Cloudpunk” (2020), not “Blade Runner” (1982). It’s an easy mistake to make though… And this is very much a compliment 🙂

You can also get out of your car and explore streets that cling to the sides of buildings like barnacles. With a post-release update, the game actually lets you alternate between first and third person perspective (using the mousewheel when you are on foot and “V” when you are in a vehicle ). And being able to see these streets from a first-person perspective is amazing 🙂 You really do feel like a character from something like “Blade Runner”.

The first-person perspective driving is a fun novelty, especially given how cyberpunk the car interior looks, but I found it to be too impractical for actual gameplay. Still, it’s cool.

Yes, I had the sudden and mysterious urge to listen to Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years” when I switched to first-person perspective in the car. Yes, it’s kind of impractical for actual in-game driving (compared to the default third-person perspective), but it’s cool nonetheless.

This game has style and atmosphere, which is good enough that the “This is so cool!” astonishment didn’t even begin to wear off for me until about six hours into the game. And this is even more impressive when you consider that this is a relatively low-budget game that actually uses voxels –  basically 3D pixel art – for all of its graphics.

Yes, it looks more like LEGO than the more realistic-looking voxel models used in the 1997 “Blade Runner” adventure game, but this just makes the artistic achievement of this game seem even more impressive. Art design ALWAYS beats “graphics” any day 🙂

Again, this is literally LEGO-like 3D pixel art being displayed at 640 x 480 on low settings…. and it STILL looks better than some “AAA” game trailers that I’ve seen…

All of these cool visuals are also backed up by a really well-written story too 🙂 Surprisingly, despite looking like “Blade Runner” (1982), the general mood and style of the game’s story reminded me a lot more of a cyberpunk adventure game from 2015 called “Technobabylon“. Containing a mixture of comedic and serious moments, this game tells an intelligent and cynical dystopian sci-fi story.

And a cyberpunk one too 🙂

Although there is… sort of… a main plot – taking inspiration from games like “System Shock” (1994) and “Deus Ex” (2000) – the game’s story is much more about the characters, world and side-plots than anything else. You get a lot of delivery missions and virtually all of them include lots of well-written conversations, either over the radio or with other characters. It is a game that is more about giving you a “slice of life” in this complex futuristic cyberpunk city than anything else.

Seriously, whilst the amount of world-building in this game doesn’t quite reach “role-playing game” levels, it’s fairly close and – by the end – you’ll probably be fairly immersed in the setting. As well as a wealth of background details (from NPC dialogue, background announcements, item descriptions etc…), there are also a few fun – but subtle – sci-fi references scattered throughout the world too. For example, if you’re a fan of the classic sci-fi sitcom “Red Dwarf”, a mission involving a company staffed by androids (whose human CEO went on a business trip a… very… long time ago) and another one involving a very… rhythmic… artificial heart will certainly make you grin.

The main characters are really good too. Rania comes across as a realistic person, who gradually becomes more weary, cynical and morally-ambiguous as she acclimatises to living in Nivalis. She’s also accompanied by the A.I. from her pet robotic dog called Camus, who serves as both her conscience and as comedic relief (a little bit like a certain robot from “Dreamfall: Chapters: The Final Cut” (2017) ). Likewise, “Control” is an intriguing – and mildly mysterious character too. All of the main characters get a reasonable amount of character development as the story progresses too. Their voice-acting is really good too.

Seriously, Rania’s character development in this game also affects the overall mood of the game. As she becomes wearier and more cynical, you’ll gradually start to feel the same way too….

The side-characters can often be a bit on the stylised/cartoonish side of things though. Whilst some of the more unlikable characters are perhaps a bit too “cartoonishly evil”, some of the side-characters are really well-written.

One of the best is probably a robotic detective called Huxley, who talks exclusively in a “film noir voice-over” way. This is hilarious at first, but he’s also well-written enough to become more of a sympathetic character as the game progresses. The voice-acting for side-characters can be a bit variable though.

A film noir detective in a neon-lit cyberpunk city? What a novel concept… Seriously though, this game actually manages to “make it its own” in a really good way 🙂

Thematically, this is mostly a game about economic inequality. The “punk” in the title isn’t just there for show. Although it is sometimes portrayed in a bit of a cartoonish way, the “rich/poor” gap in the city is a major part of what makes Nivalis such a realistically dystopian place.

And, yes, it’s good to see a cyberpunk game that actually has some old-school “punk” to it too 🙂

All of this stuff is also paired with more traditional cyberpunk themes – such as computer hackers, corporate police, sentient androids etc… and all of this stuff is also handled really well too 🙂

You’ll notice that I haven’t talked much about the gameplay yet. It’s…ok and functional… I guess. Whilst this game is thankfully more than just a “walking simulator”, it isn’t that much more. A lot of the gameplay just involves driving from point A to point B. Yes, you have to repair and re-fuel your vehicle occasionally, and there are a few upgrades you can buy with in-game currency too (which can only be earned via gameplay 🙂 As it should be 🙂 ).

Yes, you actually have to get in-game currency by playing the game. What a novel concept! Likewise, although this game does apparently have a DLC called “City Of Ghosts”, it actually seems to be a proper “expansion pack” DLC with extra missions, story, characters etc… rather than a lazy cash-grab. What a shocking display of honesty and fairness!

Still, a lot of the game is spent driving from waypoint to waypoint in a vehicle that handles like a brick. Yes, it’s a cool flying car in a beautiful cyberpunk city – but, by the seventh hour of it, I was really starting to feel the weary grinding monotony of Rania’s delivery job. There are occasional timed objectives, but these often carry relatively little in the way of penalties for failure. This is more of a “chill out” kind of game.

Occasionally, you also have to make moral decisions and there are also a couple of moments where you have to solve very basic item puzzles (eg: find this to repair that). Still, to the game’s credit, navigation is a little bit of an interesting challenge in this game. Most of your delivery objectives are on streets – and this often means finding a parking space and then working out how to get there on foot. Although this was mildly frustrating once or twice, I got used to it and it adds at least a small amount of extra depth to the gameplay.

Not to mention that, when everywhere looks like this, “aimlessly wandering around” is almost more of a feature than a flaw 🙂

In terms of length, this game is seven to eight hours long. Because of the “mission” structure and relatively linear story, it has a fairly well-defined length. It feels like a longer game though – often in a good way but, at about the 6-7 hour mark, it briefly felt “too long” in a bad way… before the more interesting final act of the story began. Still, there’s nothing stopping you from randomly exploring the city at almost any time. Not to mention that, after I completed the main story, I found something of a side-quest (involving finding twenty punched cards) that adds a bit of extra gameplay. Still, for a lower-budget indie game, it is a surprisingly substantial one.

All in all, I really loved this game 🙂 Yes, the gameplay won’t exactly win any awards – but this is more than made up for by the story, setting and atmosphere of this game 🙂 Again, accelerating and ascending in a flying car never gets old 🙂 Not to mention that wandering neon-lit cyberpunk streets in the pouring rain is something that always amazes me 🙂 Yes, it probably isn’t for everyone – but if you want a good sci-fi story which actually pays attention to the “punk” elements of the cyberpunk genre, then this one is worth playing 🙂

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a six for atmosphere/story and a three for gameplay. This averages out to four and a half.

Today’s Art (26th December 2021)

Today’s digitally-edited painting is a “film noir”-style painting that is based on this photo I took of Westbrook shops one night in early December last year.

As usual, this painting is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.

“Westbrook – Nocturne 2020” by C. A. Brown