Year Walk - Review (iOS and PC/Mac game)

'Year Walk' is a game set to divide opinion due to its slow pace and quiet, ambient atmosphere. The game revolves around an ancient Swedish ritual called Årsgång that required its partakers, called yearwalkers, to undergo a series of challenges that would allegedly result in visions of the future. These visions however may come at a grave cost as there is no guarantee the year walker will survive this ancient practice. As a lover of folklore the premise of the game was far too good to pass up and now, with the winter month fully descended upon us, I felt now was the best time to try it out. I wasn’t to be disappointed.

Developer: Simogo 
Genre: Puzzle, interactive fiction 
Release date: 21st February 2013 (iOS) 6th March 2014 (PC), 3rd April 2014 (Mac)
Platforms: iOS, PC and Mac
ESRB: Unrated (Horror imagery)

‘Year Walk’ is very much one of those ‘interactive fiction’ type games where it feels as though you’re playing through some kind of novella rather than an actual game and its strongest features are by far its chilling atmosphere, obscure storyline and sublime aptitude at weaving together horror, fantasy and folklore. You play as a mysterious person who has chosen to partake in the ‘year walking’ ritual in an attempt to predict your future and this starts out with saying alone in the dark, whilst fasting, during New Year’s Eve. When the clock strikes into the New Year you leave your solitary confinement and walk around the forest that surrounds the cabin, meeting strange and frightening creatures that offer up challenges in the way of puzzles for you to solve. 

 
What I particularly liked about the game was how it drew you in with just enough mystery to peak your interest but then made it quite difficult for me to find out what was going on. Initially the game is quite frustrating as it feels as though you’re just walking around in circles and getting nowhere. Everywhere I turned I found myself locked out of somewhere with no obvious way of getting in and it took a while for me to realize that I really needed to pay attention to the smallest of details in order to navigate not only the twisting and turning woodland but the game itself. A pen and some paper turns out to be absolutely essential for this game as jotting down everything from landmarks, patterns, symbols and even your path through the forest as its very easy to get turned around and find yourself lost, despite the presence of certain key landmarks. What really struck me however was the actual appearance of the game as there’s just something about its very simplistic artistic style that reminded me of a hand crafted Christmas card where everything is rather whimsical and ethereal. Spindly, silver skinned trees stand boldly against a velvety backdrop, the snow crunches beneath your feet as you are inexplicably drawn deeper and deeper into the dark, mysterious world. ‘Year Walk’ has such a fantasy feel about it that it feels as though you are exploring a gentle winters scene in some pure and innocent fairytale but the creepy imagery and frightening jump scares drop you back into reality with a bump. The constant clashing of splendor and viciousness keeps you on your toes and is very effective at maintaining the emotion that comes with an ever changing, ever evolving reality where nothing is as it seems. 

This is one of those games that sticks in your mind long after you’ve finished playing it, haunting you as though there’s something else in the snow blanketed world that needs to be revisited. Its haunting storyline, horrific scares and utterly immersive atmosphere all amount to an extremely unique experience that, for the modest price tag, is worth diving into. I should mention at this point that you may sink rather than swim in this grim tale as it’s a puzzle game with a whole new level of difficulty. In fact, I found some moments of the game utterly unbearable not because of its poor quality but of how frustrating and obscure I found the puzzles to be and there was plenty of time spent struggling on through things I found could have been made a little clearer. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a challenge and I admit that games have become significantly easier in recent years but when you spend a good ten minutes on one puzzle a little resentment does start to build. It’s not until I was fully absorbed in the ‘puzzle game’ mind frame where I started to take note of every tiny detail and utilizing my ‘companion app’ guide to learn more about the folklore that I really started to make headway. 
 

The companion app is an unusual addition but, after initially dismissing it as an added extra for those who enjoy reading in games, I realised it had a noticeable effect on the game itself. At first it appears as though the companion app is simply detailing the ritual of year walking in full detail, providing additional information on the symbols and characters you come across, but towards the end you find that you may enter a passcode into the journal. It’s not until you have ‘completed’ the game and come back to that journal that you find the game is far from over as the full story is revealed to you through additional gameplay and scenes. 

Something I found slightly problematic about Year Walk was the controls as it was originally made for touchscreens. Several puzzles require you to move your mouse in the same way you would a finger which, for me, felt really strange and I was glad there were no reaction based puzzles as this would have been pretty hard to re-enact with a mouse. Whilst the controls are nicely interactive for touchscreens, for instance using your thumb print to activate certain stones, there were times when the game was unclear about what kind of user input was required, leaving me to paw helplessly at the screen until something worked. Translated onto a PC what this tended to result in were plenty of puzzles that you didn’t know how to even begin tackling them due to the zero amount of guidance from the game.

‘Year Walk’ is sadly a very short game that, provided you knew all the answers to the puzzles already, would take a pretty meager 30 minutes to complete. The only thing that really extends the length of the game is the difficulty of the puzzles and I would have loved additional gameplay and more storyline as the game is such a unique experience it seems a pity not to extend it with additional content. That said, the pacing of the game is fantastic and nothing is rushed and, whilst the slow nature of the game may annoy some, I enjoyed the softly softly approach to exposing the mysteries that this game held. The emphasis on audio appealed to me, from the audio based puzzles to the enchanting music but this may necessarily prove to be problematic for those with hearing difficulties. The game has no spoken dialogue, everything is text based, but the requirement to hear for the audio based puzzle may stop many people from progressing in the game and it’s a shame there’s no alternative. Minor niggles aside, ‘Year Walk’ is all in all a pleasantly surprising game that is very sleek and very intelligent in its design and the way in which everything plays out and slots together. I adored this means of learning about Swedish folklore and I enjoyed the complexity of the story that, when you get around to completing it the first time, only gets better and better. I can imagine this game is not for everybody due to its slow pace, emphasis on atmosphere and frequently frustrating moments but for me it was a delight to play and I highly recommend it.

The Good:

• Very stylish game
• A constant uneasy atmosphere that something's wrong
• Beautifully artistic
• Genuinely creepy with plenty of scares
• Inclusion of the companion app is a nice touch
• A unique way of learning about folklore
• Intelligent, well pieced together, good pacing
• A story that keeps you guessing, even after it ends
• The kind of game that stays with you after you've finished it

The Bad:

• Audio puzzles
• Zero guidance when solving puzzles results in a lot of guesswork 
• The controls for solving puzzles are frustrating 
• Rather short in length 
• Slow pace may annoy some

The Score: 9/10

Final thoughts: “I’m so glad I finally got around to playing this in time for Christmas, it’s an absolutely stunning game with so much creativity and thought poured into it. It was such a twist to find out its horror elements but the creepy imagery worked really well with the dreamy nature of the game.”

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Haunting Ground - Review (PlayStation 2 game)

A young girl finds herself trapped inside a castle with no memory of how she got there. The twisted and monstrous inhabitants of the castle chase and attack Fiona as she tries to find the way out, solving puzzles and hiding all along the way. Joined only by a white German Shepard called Hewie the two must team up and escape Belli Castle in what turns out to be a very well written, surprisingly artistic survival horror game where puzzle solving and hiding is prioritized over violence.

Developer: Capcom

Genre: Survival Horror

Release date: May 10th 2005 (Japan & PAL: April 2005)

Platforms: PlayStation 2

ESRB: M - Mature

So, the story of ‘Haunting Ground’ follows a young woman called Fiona who is taking a trip with her parents when all of a sudden they have a mysterious car crash. Fiona wakes up in a castle with no memory of how she got there or what happened to her parents and, as the story goes on, Fiona must uncover why she is at this castle and how it is connected to her. Whilst the castle is home to several inhabitants it’s safe to say that they most definitely have ulterior motives than what they may be saying as to why she is there. As Fiona searches for answers she eventually comes across a white German Shepard called Hewie who is being abused by another tenant of the castle and, after rescuing him, Hewie teams up with Fiona in order to repay her for her kindness and to escape the castle with her. Hewie is really the key to surviving the ‘Haunting Ground’ as not only is he an offensive character where he may bite and defend Fiona against the enemies but he’s essential to solving many of the puzzles in the game. 

Fiona herself is completely helpless and is able to do very little other than some fairly weak kicking that does very little to deter enemies, she’s unable to knock them down and generally she cannot damage them in the slightest. Since Fiona is helpless you must rely on other tactics in order to survive your stay in Belli castle and what this results in is a great deal of hide and seek as the creatures of the castle, known as pursuers, will doggedly hunt Fiona down and attempt to kill her. Due to this you must guide Fiona to hide constantly whether that’s under a table or inside of a closet the castle is littered with hiding spots that you need to take advantage of. Sometimes it’s better to simply run away whilst Hewie distracts your opponents but either way the pursuers cannot be killed so tackling them head on is extremely ineffective. Truly, the most that can happen is that they get knocked down and, even then, they’ll just get straight back up again so you’re better off running and hiding. 

The game contains chase scenes and these happen quite frequently, every few minutes or so but within this narrow time slot where you and Hewie are left alone you’ll be required to solve puzzles in order to advance deeper into the castle before they show up again. The puzzles are extremely varied and sometimes rather deadly, an example of this is that at one point Hewie was required to stand on a switch whilst Fiona navigated through an open gate, having to avoid a section of floor that would kill her should she stand on it, before deactivating a lever on the other side of the gate to let Hewie through. A completely different puzzle required you to clear a huge swarm of butterflies out of the way of a door by luring them with flowers whilst another involved pushing blocks around into a certain configuration. The constantly original puzzles means that you’re constantly being challenged to think through things in new ways so there’s very little room to become bored, tired or disillusioned with the castle as everything is interesting and new whether that’s the puzzles or the rooms that you venture through. The locations themselves, I should mention, are brilliantly designed with so many interesting places that you’ll be led through whether that’s a room of mirrors, vast libraries, overgrown gardens or the ever creepy merry-go-round room. This is a game that makes you want to explore more yet punishes you for venturing out of your hiding spot with constant harassment from some very disturbing enemies. Luckily, the game does feature boss battles and you’ll be given the opportunity to kill a pursuer, there are four of them, once and for all. 

Graphically the game is fairly interesting and very well detailed for its time. Something I particularly like is what happens to the screen when Fiona descends into a full scale anxiety attack. Fiona is actually unable to stay close to the pursuers, even if they are not attacking her, as if she does she will start to panic. The more Fiona panics the more obscured your vision will become as the screen turns black and white with a grainy effect that reduces how much you can see. Once Fiona hits the peak of panic she will start running of her own accord leaving you to guide her safely until she calms down as, if she happens to fall, she will be left totally vulnerable to a pursuer, and that’s never a good thing. Fiona doesn’t actually have any sort of life bar or hitpoints and you’re left to rely on how Fiona appears to be fairing than any concrete bar or numbers and whilst this feature is now more readily available in many games this was, at the time, quite an unusual element. As Fiona takes more damage you have to look out for things like her movement slowing and whether she’s clutching her side or slumping over. The game is pretty realistic in terms of how many damage Fiona will take from different offensive weapons or attacks so, for instance, if Fiona is attacked with a sharp shard of glass she will immediately be in a state of critical damage. It’s things like this which really add to the overall immersion of the game and which support that feeling of helplessness and weakness because, after all, you’re just a scared, trapped girl with no weapons, super powers or training. Fiona is no Lara Croft and so, whilst it may be annoying to some that she’s so fragile, that’s exactly how she should be. 

Fiona’s fragility means that Hewie is so much more valuable to you and what is done incredibly well is the bond that is formed between girl and dog and you do see their relationship strengthen as the game goes on. In times when Hewie may sometimes be roaming another part of the castle and not by your side there’s a tendency to feel significantly more afraid as your one and only defence is no longer there and, in this sense, Hewie does not feel like a gimmick or a burden on the player. Even though Hewie can die due to his limited hitpoints he’s a fairly hardy character and is so useful in terms of gameplay that you will fight tooth and nail to keep him alive as you would yourself. During periods of down-time the interactions you can have with him help establish a stronger relationship as you can give different commands to him. Fiona is able to praise, scold and instruct Hewie to search for hidden items in the ground and whilst scolding may sound a little harsh what it actually serves to do is to strengthen the relationship between Fiona and Hewie as, when Hewie’s being disobedient, scolding him sets him on the right path again and means he is less likely to disobey again. If Hewie is handled correctly then towards the end of the game there will be no instances in which he will disobey Fiona, so strong the bond that has formed between them. 

It should be mentioned that this game does have altenative endings, four in fact, and these range from the extremely ‘bad’ ending which is an entirely separate conclusion to three others which are slightly tweaked versions of one another. There’s a fair bit of re-playability factor in these alternative endings but what is also very nice to have is the amount of unlockable content in the game whether that’s costumes, additional cutscenes, art gallerys and awards for achievements such as beating the game within a certain amount of time. With all this in mind, and the fairly solid length of between 10 to 15 hours, it’s safe to say you get a fair bit of bang for your buck with this early 2000s game. The game is very well written with high quality voice acting, creepy and well detailed environments and a non-offensive musical score that didn’t really wow me but which provided a perfectly suitable backdrop to a very good game. Whilst some may criticize its similarity to the ‘Clock Tower’ series that doesn’t mar the fact that the ‘Haunting Ground’ delivers an enjoyable, albeit rather stressful, experience.

The Good: 

• Plenty of disturbing imagery keeps the horror alive
• Controlling both Hewie and Fiona is a nice, additional dimension
• The way in which you treat Hewie having an effect on the endings of the game is very interesting
• Lots of unlockable features and alternative endings adds in essential additional content
•  Character design is superb
• Intelligently build locations that are varied and interesting
• Challenging puzzles that are never too alike
• Perfect atmosphere 
• Well written, rather adult, storyline that keeps you guessing

The Bad: 

• The AI could be better in places
• The audio isn't particularly stunning 
• Fiona's helplessness can border on annoying at times

The Score: 8/10

Final thoughts: "This is horror done right with plenty of helplessness and survival elements. Whilst the game has some pretty intense and disturbing sexual imagery in the game that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it only adds to the repulsive situation that Fiona is trying to escape from.

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The Cat Lady - Halloween Special Review (PC game)

Susan is no longer with us; she’s gone to the world and, even before her suicide, she’s been gone a long time from society’s apathetic eye. But even after taking copious amount of sleeping pills Susan is still unable to escape her miserable existence as she awakens in a field, unsure of whether this is life, death, or somewhere in between you take control of her life and guide her staggering footsteps through the world, searching for a way out; of where, neither you nor Susan truly knows. Whereas death is supposed to be the end of a story for Susan Ashworth, it’s the beginning.
Developer: Harvester Games
Genre: Adventure/Horror/Point and Click
Release date: December 1st 2012
Platforms: Microsoft Windows
ESRB: M - Mature

‘The Cat Lady’ follows Susan’s journey back to life after she meets an old woman who wants to strike a deal with Susan to allow her the peace she longs for. Susan is instructed to seek out and destroy several monsters that lurk in the world of the living on behalf of the old woman. Despite Susan’s misgivings she finds herself powerless to resist and, after a brutal and bloody way of sealing the deal, finds herself transported back to ‘life’ but with a catch; she’s now temporarily immortal. For many, this would be a wondrous gift but for an exhausted, suicidal woman it’s an ironic curse that points and laughs in Susan’s face as she treks on with her journey and seeks to complete her task just so she can rest her weary soul and finally be allowed to die. 

It’s a cryptic, surreal and often disturbing journey that encourages you to lose yourself in the darkness of depression before guiding you out of it again. This is a game where the monsters are not aliens with guns or gloomy figures lurking down the other end of a corridor, this is a game where you are the monster in the dark as Susan is flung between anger, doubt, regret, fear and anxiety as she longing for death yet craves revenge. The creatures you encounter are reflective of the demons of Susan’s soul that, as anybody who has suffered from depression will tell you, are not easily vanquished. There will be a blood, and not just a little bit, the game is unashamedly macabre and Susan is forced to undergo several brutal deaths only to be cruelly resurrected again. The imagery of the game is morbid as well and at least every single chapter has a way in which the player may allow, or actively encourage, Susan to kill herself. There’s plenty of black humour in the game as well which I found appealing as, though this game touches on very serious subjects, it’s easy to become jaded to the horrific nature of things when you’ve lived with them for so long. Whilst the game has some extreme scenes of gore these tend to be offset by slower, storyline focused cutscenes so it’s not just a blood-fest, it’s a very well written and intelligently explored blood-fest. If anything, I would describe this as a game that is beautifully horrific. 

Whilst the narrative is by far its strongest point the puzzles are actually fairly good, though not extremely difficult, if anything they are there to provide you with a means to an end rather than as something to frustrate you and slow your progression. Since the game is mostly about atmosphere and storyline I didn’t mind that the puzzles were a little easy but, saying that, they were no walk in the park either and I had several moments of backtracking and getting confused as to what I had to do next. Importantly, the puzzles didn’t feel repetitive and the constant switching of environments helped in this aspect as nothing ever felt like a chore to proceed and it was all very much necessary and interesting. Some puzzles feature some obscure clues about how to complete them that are not just restricted to visual ones, there’s a fair few aural cues which are great for the atmosphere of the game. Generally, I found the audio very good even though the voice acting came across as a little stiff now and then and there’s a very irritating sort of static noise that’s quite loud and intrusive yet entirely intentional. I would have preferred that to have been either non-existent or with the option of turning it off as it was distracting and often made the characters hard to hear. The musical score is brilliant and I have no complaints there and, whilst I said the voice acting could be a little wooden at times, it occasionally did suit the atmosphere and I get the feeling that the developers wanted everything to be very drab and unemotional. Unfortunately at times this style did not suit the on-screen events. 

The beautiful horror of this game is wrapped up in its storyline but enhanced by the unique art style that is a cross between animated newspaper cuttings and old Polaroid photographs giving the entire game a gloomy yet striking appearance. Just like Susan’s life, everything feels a little pasted together but despite this the animations are smooth, the facial expressions are detailed and everything just flows so perfectly. Visually, the game feels very much like a 1990s game which for a point and click puzzle game is just the perfect era for me, especially with it being a horror game as it reminds me strongly of much beloved games such as ‘I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream’, ‘Sanitarium’ and ‘Phantasmagoria’. Amusingly, the game also feels quite 1990s due to the very low resolution that it plays in but this doesn’t bother me so much. There are a couple more problems with ‘The Cat Lady’ though that does tend to spoil the experience a little; the controls for instance are fairly unresponsive, especially during dialogue when you’re trying to skip lines you’ve already read. Susan also does walk incredibly slowly and at one point I was quite sure I had time to go make a cup of coffee in the time she walked from one side of the screen to the other. When you’re lost and backtracking to find things, this is extremely irritating though it may just be my own impatience. Simply, a ‘double clicking to skip to the next screen you clicked on’ feature may be good as I recall several point and clicks doing this in the past. 

Complaints aside, I was utterly entranced by this game and it’s by far one of my favourite point and click adventure games, even with the huge spattering of horror and gore that’s been slapped all over the place. It’s a brilliant example of mature themes that have been done right in a way which is thoughtful, sensitive and intelligently where it doesn’t shy away from controversial issues yet doesn’t make a mockery of them either. If themes such as suicide, mental illness, depression and death offend you then this is not a game you’re going to get on well with as it is utterly unashamed in its approach to the reality of how some people want to die and will go to any length to do so. Whilst the gore side of things can be sometimes a little over the top I found it shocking yet, oddly, refreshing as there have been plenty of these sorts of games that never go too far and tend to pull back before things go too far. ‘The Cat Lady’ never pulls back, it’s in it to win it and I love that about it. The story is fantastic, full of emotion, suspense and drama that will keep you on the edge of your seat and second guessing yourself the entire way through. Susan herself is a brilliant character with genuine character development as you see her go from shy, meek and weary to a woman with a purpose, confidence and strength and quite simply it’s a pleasure to guide her through these changes. If there’s one game you play this Halloweeen, make it ‘The Cat Lady’, you won’t regret it.

The Good: 

• Strong character development
• Interesting, captivating storyline that keeps you guessing
• Mature themes done right
• Striking yet low-key appearance is very appealing
• Decent inventory/dialogue puzzles that challenge but don't frustrate
• Very surreal and disturbing atmosphere

The Bad:

• Some audio issues such as hit and miss voice acting/distracting static
• Some may find the use of gore over the top
• Controls can sometimes be unresponsive, Susan walks too slowly

The Score: 9/10 

Final thoughts: "This has definitely become one of my most beloved point and click games, everything about it feels a bit 90s adventure game which I love and frankly it's been too long since I played something this surreal and this creepy."

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Among the Sleep - Review (PlayStation 4, Windows/Linux/OS X game)

There are always things we’re going to be afraid of, that much is certain, but it’s the things we are most uncertain of that tend to terrify or aggravate us the most. As children we lacked the understanding that we have now and trying to cope in a world where we’re unable to reason away the existence of monsters or understand the steps to take when you find yourself alone. This helplessness and vulnerability is the very core of what makes survival horror games so terrifying and usually this vulnerability is due to a lack of weapons, an abundance of darkness and a big splash of threat that is often unseen. In ‘Among The Sleep’, you’re dropped right back into the footy pyjamas of a toddler soon after his 2nd birthday party where he received a bite of cake and a slightly odd looking, talking teddy bear. You awake in the middle of the night to a strange commotion in your bedroom and, after you’ve been flung from your crib, you venture out into the dark corridors to find your mother for some much needed comfort. Unfortunately, she’s nowhere to be found. 

Developer: Krillbite Studio
Release date: May 29th 2014
Genre: Survival horror
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4,
ESRB: Rating pending (likely to be a 16+/Teen rating)

Playing as a toddler is in itself a novel experience but what is particularly appreciable is the way in which tasks we would find simple as an adult become an instant challenge for a toddler such as the opening of doors. Although the mechanics can be a little clunky there’s a sort of realism to this as by dragging around say, a chair, you’re not only struggling to walk on two feet but you have to move a heavy object whilst you’re at it. In 'Among the Sleep' you have the ability to switch between walking, running and crawling and quite appropriately the crawling is a much faster way of getting around though, down there, you cannot interact with anything. This presents a problem in that you are significantly more vulnerable when you’re unable to see where you’re headed, interact with things or use your ‘flashlight’ which is actually a light emitted from hugging your teddy bear, awwh. ‘Among the Sleep’ has a fair few puzzles that are more about getting to your destination than solving anything too complex and the game itself is running off a ‘find three items’ objective that are obtained by going through very different areas. You start out in your house, naturally, and then move through increasingly more surreal areas that are wonderfully varied and consistently offer you new and interesting places to explore.

The places you tend to explore are, unsurprisingly, dark. By dark I mean, 'can barely see your hand in front of your face', kind of dark, so that teddy bear hugging I mentioned earlier is an extremely useful feature. As you can only hug your bear when you’re standing upright what tends to occur is a trade-off between being able to see where it is you’re going and getting there quickly enough. This is a surprisingly stressful situation to be placed in constantly as once you’re left alone in the darkness your over-active child’s imagination comes to life and things appear far much terrifying than they usually would do. Whilst the game isn’t necessarily full on horror there’s enough of an atmosphere that will drive you onwards and ensure you never want to linger too long for fear of what’s lurking in the shadows. The game tends to put you through phases of thinking there’s something there, to believing it’s just your imagination, to making you definitely think there’s something there and this rollercoaster of fear and paranoia will make you constantly question everything around you. 

What I’ve yet to mention is how fantastic the game actually looks and almost everything is interactive whether that’s a piece of fruit in the kitchen or a soft toy in your bedroom; everything can be picked up, carried and put wherever the hell you want it to go. All chairs can be dragged around whether you need to move them or not, drawers and cupboards can be opened and generally there’s a huge amount of detail. Even in places you’re not really supposed to explore you’ll still find a very respectable level of furnishings whilst the textures and detail have not been skimped on adding to a rather realistic, if slightly cartoony, feel. The game’s appearance also significantly contributes to the atmosphere of the game and little things like well-timed thunderclaps, partially lit corridors and the ability to hide under furniture at any given time with no prompting results in you questioning yourself about whether you need to be hiding or not. You’ll often second guess yourself in this game and there are some stupidly terrifying moments such as turning a corner and seeing a dark figure looming over you, just around the corner and out of sight, you turn to stumble away and then realise it’s, well, just a coat on a coat rack. You rarely get those experiences playing as an adult as you would almost immediately see its lack of a face but, as a toddler, all you get is the bottom of a coat and a pair of shoes and this whole new perspective puts you at a disadvantage even for seasoned survival horror gamers.

Don’t let me convince you that this game is all about running from your own shadow however as, trust me, there’s something out there to get you and though I won’t spoil it for you it’s definitely something that makes its presence known. Try as you might you cannot deny the tell-tale rattling of a door handle as you watch something unseen opening a previously looked door from the other side. Neither can you ignore turning around to see that, somehow, something you thought was inanimate has moved and now it’s standing right behind you, staring at you, still unmoving and leaving you very little choice but to slide around it, desperately hoping it doesn’t decide to wake up and do anything else whilst your back is turned. 

Overall

‘Among the Sleep’ is certainly a memorable game and a very unique experience that is well worth a look at, even if you don’t usually play horror games. Whilst the storyline tends to take a backseat during the main chunk of the game it is generally explained through the opening and closing cutscenes with some general illusions to what’s going on as you play. The game is by no means dull however and though it is in no way comparable to gore fests such as 'Amnesia' and 'Outlast' it’s deserving of its place as a horror game due to the undeniably spooky ambiance and the constant fear that something’s about to jump out at you. There are mechanical issues with the game, particularly when climbing on objects, but these can be generally excused as the rest of the game is very attractive with a strong, vibrant pallet and lashings of attention to detail. Occasionally I encountered some frustrating moments of not knowing where to go but generally the game is just about the right level of difficulty and it was probably just me struggling to put 2+2 together though, at times, the puzzles were somewhat lame. The game is unfavourably short at around 3 hours long and I would have definitely preferred a longer game with more build up and some more scares but, overall, the upcoming DLC should settle down the need to spend longer in this oversized world.

The Good: 

• Brilliant storyline, thought provoking ending
• Very atmospheric with a constant eerieness
• Interactive world and puzzle elements are a nice addition
• Looks very clean cut with bold, vibrant graphics
• Sounds fantastic with brilliant voice acting and high quality ambient sounds
• Original concept that was risky for developers but worked out great
• Few scare tactics used, instead more of an investigation into fear
• Playing as a toddler offered up some very interesting and new situations

The Bad: 

• Could have had 'more going on' in it
• Climbing mechanics need to be worked on
• Should have been longer with more build up
• The teddy bear is more creepy than comforting

The Score: 8/10

Final thoughts: "The ending is extremely poignant and made me glad I continued all the way through. I loved the concept of playing as a toddler and am extremely glad somebody took the initiative to put this into a game, now I want to watch everybody I know play it."

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Five Nights At Freddy's - Quick Review (PC and Android game)

If there’s one thing that’s going to effectively terrify me it’s those things that are supposed to be innocent, but aren’t. You know what I’m talking about; clowns, dummies, children’s toys, giant humanoid animal costumes, the horror genre has been drawing on the things from our childhoods and turning them into our greatest nightmares long before the arrival of ‘Child's Play’ or ‘Killer Clowns from Outer Space’ so it’s no great surprise to see them in horror games as well. ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ is set during the hours of midnight and 6am as you, the new night watchman at Freddy's pizza place, must attempt to survive with limited defences against some horrifyingly deadly mascots. This is a game where your own paranoia and attempt at protecting yourself will push you closer to sealing your own twisted fate as each and every nervous twitch lowers your resources and, ultimately, your chances of survival.

Developer: Scott Cawthon
Genre: Survival Horror, Point and Click
Release date: August 8th 2014 (August 27th for Android)
Platforms: PC and Android
ESRB: M - Mature

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ works its way deep into my own insecurities and draws out of me a fear I didn’t even know I had until this game. The enemies you’ll encounter are anamatronic animals that sing and dance for children during the day, annnnd attempt to stuff the new night guard into a suit filled with cross beams and metal bits during the night. Needless to say, this action would kill you so it’s your new priority to survive five nights as the new security guard because presumably he really, really needs the money and values his life less than this. It sounds crazy but who am I to judge, finding work is difficult these days and the fact that you’d have to physically nail me to the chair to get me to stay there is no bearing on what this guy would do, apparently.  As an added extra you can define the AI of each individual enemy for two additional nights where, upon completing all five nights, you'll notice a night six is suddenly available. The reward for completing the seventh night is not just bragging rights at your own stubborn survival but in valuable storyline explanations where you finally learn the dark secrets behind the deadly mascots.

In order to survive five nights at this disturbing pizza place you must carefully manage your power supply whilst monitoring a bunch of CCTV cameras to watch where those dastardly murdering critters are going. They only move when you’re not watching them, reminiscent of the Weeping Angles from ‘Doctor Who’ which can only spell trouble, so by ignoring the cameras they’ll just walk on over to where you’re sitting and tear your face off. The building’s power percentage is tracked in a corner and every time you use a camera, flicker the light just outside either of the two doors to your security room or close the doors to protect yourself it’ll drop how much power is left, significantly so. There’s quite a few cameras and unfortunately a couple of them only have audio feeds so you can only listen to the ominous grinding of their motors as they shuffle down a corridor, worse still, there are plenty of blind spots. Cruelly, those blind spots are mostly right outside the two doors that lead to your little security room so you won’t know they’re in there until they’re either grinning at you around the doorframe or if you manage to hear their, fairly stealthy, movements. 

 
Whilst a lot of survival horror games utilize a player’s fear of being helpless, ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ cranks it up another notch by adding in the complete inability to move. So basically you’re stuck in a tiny room, unable to move and quite possibly nailed to that chair I mentioned now that I think about it, maybe the owners had to resort to brute force with their staff, who knows. Your only line of defence is closing the doors and even then, there are two of them on opposite sides from one another and they use up a lot of power so you can only close them very briefly. You have to survive from midnight to 6am in the morning which takes just less than 10 minutes of your life but at least three years off your life due to the stress it causes. Every night is harder than the last and whilst you’ll quickly adjust to the manner in which you must organize yourself the difficulty intensifies dramatically for the final two nights. The AI of the creatures can vary and they’re fairly unpredictable but generally they’re a lot faster and a lot more intelligent as you progress through the nights. Initially they’ll stay still backstage for the start of the night but, come Night 5, they’ll have mysteriously vanished from their usual spot as soon as your shift starts leaving you to switch between cameras manically, trying to pin point their location. 

What makes this game so effective at terrifying the living daylights out of you is how well it plays on your paranoia and nervous twitch reaction to check a camera or check the doorway, reducing your power in the progress. Whilst you need to constantly check where everyone has shuffled off to it’s difficult to reign this in and not flicker constantly, dooming yourself in the progress, and the feeling that it’s your own increasing OCD checking of everything that’s narrowing your chances of survival is very unsettling. What's particularly likeable about this game is it’s an extremely simple yet imaginative concept that breaks away from the current trend of ‘Slenderman’ or ‘Amnesia’ trend of snooping about houses, collecting up notes and newspaper clippings that many horror games are copying. Overall I found this game to be an imaginative addition to the survival horror genre and whilst the overall style and concept is extremely simple it's still a creepy venture into a nightmarish world of grinning, killer mascots and a gruesome story that you're gradually rewarded with.

The Good: 

• Simple, original and very effective concept
• You become your own worst enemy as you double check, triple check everything
• Decent jump scares keep you on your toes
• Disturbing character design
• Very atmospheric, feelings of isolation and helplessness predominant
• Looks and sounds great with very good voice acting
• Final two 'bonus levels' add in an element of freeplay
• Quite a brutal difficulty curve but the challenge is welcomed

The Bad:

• Although Night 2/3 offers up whole new gameplay feature, more variation would still be good.
• Tends to degenerate into careful time management which some may find boring.
  

The Score: 8/10

Final thoughts: “Some more variation in gameplay would have gone a long way, but this had me constantly jumping out of my skin as the AI are so unpredictable and it’s got such a disturbing atmosphere.”

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Murdered: Soul Suspect - Quick Review (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC game)

Exploring the shadowy afterlife of a recently murdered detective is something quite unforgettable but not for all the right reasons. Murdered: Soul Suspect is a mystery adventure game where, after witnessing his own brutal murder, Ronan O’Connor finds himself locked in the ghostly afterlife with some newly acquired supernatural abilities and a mystery to solve. 

Developer: Airtight games
Genre: Action-adventure/mystery
Release:AQ date: June 6th 2014 (JP: July 17th 2014, NA: June 3rd 2014)
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows
ESRB: M - Mature

As you prowl the dark, damp streets of a beautifully detailed town called Salem you’ll attempt to bring O’Connor’s mysterious, masked killer to justice. It’s a tentatively emotional game with a strong, powerful storyline and some very interesting gameplay elements in the way of Connor’s unique, unearthly abilities. Walking through walls, possessing the living and reading their minds all become a natural part of your investigation yet it doesn't take long to discover that these ghost abilities are a lot more scripted and limited than orginally portrayed.
 

Unfortunately this feeling of limitation is persistent as you explore a game which feels painfully unfinished and, overall, just a little neglected. Whilst the environments are striking and extremely detailed they’re let down by how often they’re reused during separate side missions. Whilst the game tends to come across as an open world romp it quickly becomes apparent that there's a lot less to explore and, even if you did, there's not much to find anyway. The game features a fair few side missions but these quickly run out about midway through the game leaving you with nothing else to do but doggedly pursue the main storyline as you try and ignore characters repeating phrases like, ‘Sorry, can’t help you’ when you attempt to talk to them. 

During the missions themselves the writing tends to be quite poor with a lot of inconsistencies and some rather poor characterizations, for example one woman, with no mental health concerns, promptly committed suicide simply due to the suspicion her boyfriend was cheating on her. O'Connor tends to be generally quite thick and, even when things are obvious, he still murmurs to himself in utter confusion about what's going on. The search for clues too is agonizingly boring as things loll about in plain sight and, when trying to piece together evidence by selecting one of several options on screen there's very little challenge as any wrongly selected pieces of evidence just grey out. You can complete every mission through trial and elimination and, in cases where speaking with witnesses, there's no option to slyly question them and usually asking them plain outright is enough to solve the case. There’s this general sensation that the developers never quite got around to implementing as many side mysteries or free roaming aspects of the game as they’d have liked to and, for the missions which are present, they're all rather low quality in and of themselves. 

The enemies that you encounter start off as rather threatening and a little spooky but as soon as you realize how generic and easy to avoid they are then any lingering fear is quickly snuffed out. Whilst you can directly confront them there's alternatively a plethora of hiding spots called soul residue that, by slipping inside them, renders you completely invisible to any demons mooching about. Now, there's nothing wrong with hiding spots but these are excessive in number and, besides, there's no way to be discovered once you're nestled inside one anyway. The lack of variation in enemy encounters and the enemies themselves renders them little more than an annoyance than something challenging or eerie but, by this point, you begin to wonder if there’s anything worth fighting for anyway.

The painfully short length of the game doesn’t help matters as the entire campaign will take up a very modest 10 hours of your time with the potential to be even shorter if you’re not up for exploring everything. With only one difficulty level, one which feels incredibly easy, there’s not much room for re-playability either so in this sense some players may find it unfulfilling as there’s not much room for improvement. The complete lack of challenge and the fact that you cannot ramp it up a notch is rather damming but there is some thought put into how players can get more hours of the game. In a rather distinctive ‘L.A Noire’ fashion you can earn percentages and badges at the end of every mission based on how many clues and pieces of evidence that you find, in this sense if you find that you missed some evidence and only achieved 80% on a mission you may attempt to retry it though, truthfully, there seems little point in doing so. The gameplay is extremely repetitive and mostly ends up being a hunt for clues in various, similarly designed buildings before watching cutscenes. 

Murdered: Soul Suspect has a brilliant storyline that never reveals too much at once and which is, right up until the end, gripping. The voice acting is superb and the graphics are bleak but atmospherically so. Unfortunately, that’s all it really has going for it as the characters are lacking in personality and the game, whilst boasting style, lacks substance. Even O’Connor, the one person who should at least have something going on, has very little personality and not particularly likeable due to his rather stereotypical persona. It’s a shame because this game has a brilliant premise and could have been so much more but it seems as though it’s unfinished with gaping holes littering every aspect whether that’s a lack of dialogue with NPCs or a lack of variation in side mysteries. If the game as longer with much more content then it would have been a fantastic edition to the much unexplored territory of mystery detective games. L.A Noire this is not and, currently, it’s far too overpriced for what is essentially a 5 – 10 hour game of scripted repetition.

The Good:

• Voice acting is top quality
• Lovely, detailed environments
• Powers acquired gradually
• Great premise of solving your own murder 
• Gripping storylin, a little disturbing

The Bad:

• Very scripted feel
• Lack of content 
• Repetative missions 
• Easily defeated, generic enemies 
• Quite buggy (as of July 2014) 
• Extremely short
• Side missions poorly written
• O'Connor painfully thick
• Characters lack personality

The Score: 4/10

Final thoughts: “Soul Suspect appears to be lacking some soul, I’m very disappointed as this could have been something really quite special.”

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The Last Door - Chapter 4 Walkthrough

The Last Door, Chapter 4, Ancient Shadows is a point and click horror game from The Game Kitchen, an indie company who brought this game to life through donations and kickstarter, and what a game it is. Ancient Shadows follows on from Chapter 3, the Four Witnesses, after the drama-tic (hah) events of the last chapter we find Devitt travelling to visit his old friend Alexandre in his home in the countryside. What could go wrong.

Before we begin, if you're interested you can also check out my full review of The Last Door here. 
Or... 

If you've come too far then you can find your way back to the walkthroughs for Chapter 3 here, Chapter 2 here, or Chapter 1 here.

Now that that's out the way, let's get on with the final segment of The Last Door, Season 1.

Chapter 4, Ancient Shadows

Hints without spoilers:

I don't know how to develop the envelope: There are instructions in the room on what order to do things, you'll also need a red bulb and cannot do it in darkness or white light. You'll need a way of tinting the pre-existing one, not fixing the shards on the floor.

I don't know how to work out the clock puzzles: Read the notes around the house that relate to the clock and make sure to work out the time difference between the upstairs and downstairs clock. The upstairs one needs to read the time mentioned in the notes but only the grandfather clock can be changed.

I have a blue crystal thing, now what: Look around the house, inside and out, until you notice something different in somewhere you've been before. Follow the signs from there.

What do I do with the telescope: Have a good look through it and check in your inventory to see what the view may resemble then, looking through the telescope again, click the areas that are highlighted in the item you have.

What are the strange symbols for: The three important ones unlock a puzzle in the same room you're in, look around the room then match up the symbols with the positioning of the locks.

Full walkthrough for Chapter 4

Prologue:

Click on Devitt.
Click on the table.
Click on Devitt again.
Click through the dialogue and scenes.

Chapter 4:

Click through the conversations and go through all of the dialogue options.
When you regain control of Devitt, walk all the way left to the next screen.
Walk all the way left again before entering the house.
This is the foyer, go upstairs to begin with and enter the first room.
Talk to Alexandre and exhaust all dialogue options.
Leave the room and walk to the right into the next part of the corridor.
Open the chest and pick up a hook.
Go back downstairs and into the foyer.
Exit the room via the back archway to enter the parlor.
Cross the parlor and exit via the door on the far left.
Pick up the oil lamp on the table.
Walk to the far left of the room and read the note.
Go through the door on the far right to exit out into the back garden.
Pick up the rope beside the well.
Use the hook with the rope to get a grappling hook.
Use the grappling hook with the well to receive a brass bird.
Examine the grave then head to the gate at the back, unlock it and head through.
Walk to the far right and note the door to the greenhouse with the bar across it.
Remove the bar then open the door and head inside.
Walk to the far right until you see the statues, a bottle of Vitriol is between them. Pick it up.
Leave the greenhouse and head back into the house then upstairs again.
Walk down the corridor to the right, into the next part where the chest is, then enter the room on at the far end.
In the study examine the note and invoice on the table.
Examine the fireplace then pick up the black envelope from inside it.
Leave the room and enter the final door on the back wall.
This is a photographer's developing room, pick up the Cyanide on the back table and read the note on the floor.
Examine the light hanging from the ceiling then pick it up to receive a lightbulb.
Leave and go back downstairs then out the front door.
Walk to where the greenhouse is then look to the back where you'll see the exit to the forest.
Leave through these gates into the forest.
Walk along to the right until coming across a deer.
Use the lightbulb with the deer to get a red tinted lightbulb.
Go back to the house then the photographer's room.
Use the red tinted lightbulb in the hanging light.
Put the envelope in the sink, pour the Vitriol on it then the Cyanide, finally use the tap to rinse it off.
Click through the scene then leave the room and go into Alexandre's room.
Talk to him then pick up what he drops to receive a a clock hand.
Put the bird in the clock near Alexandre before examining the clock face.
Leave the room and go back downstairs to the foyer.
Use the clock hand in the grandfather clock.
Turn the hands of the grandfather clock until they read 3:00 (hold down mouse button)
Once the clock reads 3:00 click the switch beside the clock face.
Go back upstairs to Alexandre's room.
Pick up the blue object on the floor to receive the bird again.
Examine it then open it to get a key.
Go downstairs and out into the back garden.
Use the key with the trapdoor to the cellar.
Enter the cellar and move a little to the left to examine a set of drawers.
Open the drawers and take out the shovel.
Exit the cellar and use the shovel with the grave outside.
Use the Vitriol with the lock.
Pick up the blue object to receive a canvas.
Exit out of the screen then examine the canvas.
Walk back, via the front garden, to Alexandre's room.
Read the note on the wheelchair,
Exit out onto the balcony and pick up the object in the statue's hands to pick up a cristal.
Walk all the way back to the cellar only this time walk through to the far left.
In the laboratory, read the note then walk to the right until you see an opening in the wall.
Head inside into a makeshift observatory.
Use the telescope then use the canvas to note the positioning of the constallations. 
You need to click the stars that match up with the ones highlighted in the canvas.
Check out the image below if you're having trouble.

After the puzzle, put the cristal in the telescope then look through it again.
Note the symbols that match up with the three stars you just selected.
Open the cabinet in the room and enter the three symbols making sure the Altair symbol is at the bottom. (Far right is a U shape, bottom one is a sort of trident and the far left one is a vertical line with two wavy lines through it)
Examine then pick up a syringe from the desk.
Go down into the pit and use the syringe with Alexandre.
Sit in the chair.
Give the syringe to Alexandre.
Click through the dialogue and scenes.
Walk continually to the right.

End of Chapter 4.

And there we have it... the end of The Last Door and consequentially this walkthrough. Luckily, it's only the end of Season 1 as Season 2 is currently being developed; provided they get enough backers for it to be released of course! I hope you enjoyed the game and the ultimate cliffhanger it's left us all on again, if you also enjoyed this walkthrough don't forget to comment and +1 and so on and so forth :) I hope to see you all here next time when Season 2 makes its debut! Happy gaming!

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