So after playing a whole bunch of this game (didn't finish it yet, but I certainly am pretty deep into it), I can safely make a list of pros and cons, so here goes :
Pros :
- Amazing soundtrack, seriously, the music is flawless and can't be better fit with the situation.
- Pretty great graphics.
- Awesome interaction with the environment in terms of being realistic (hands on the ground when crouching, can see your body when looking down, hands on edge of door when peeking etc...)
- Start of the game was pretty damn tense and, I can't believe I'll say this but... Scary. Jumpscares were unpredictable and the way the game introduced the tension and the story was pretty great.
- Diversity in enemy types.
- Did I mention the soundtrack?
- Decent environmental horror.
- Overall pretty fun experience.
- Great gore and use of mentality.
- Great protagonist sound effects when frightened.
- Flawless ways to introduce a bad situation, something that you don't usually find in a horror game. For example, when you actually see the enemy is when a loud shrieking sound/music/scream goes through your headphones, not when the AI spots you, this is particularly risky, since it can be pretty damn glitchy when coding, but they managed to pull it off nicely.
Cons :
- Some jumpscares become predictable.
- The tension doesn't build up... at all. For me, the tension hit it's max 20-25 minutes into the game. I'll compare it to amnesia, where the tension starts when the game starts, then the environment kicks in, then glimpses (and still threats) of enemies come in, then the actual threats introduce themselves, then even bigger threats, then a huge plot twist, then... you get it, and all that with the plot going at a great pace, with some twists and turns to keep things juicy to the point that you go "oh snap that shouldn't have happened".
- Some parts show some laziness in developing. Seeing how this game is realistic (with the interactions, graphics, etc...), when being jumped by someone, the same thing happens when you're jumped by another person somewhere else. Yes, this is in fact exceptionally bad.
One part shows a not so insane guy jump at you trying to strangle you, you push his face back with your left arm which makes him back off for a few steps, then he jumps at you throwing you on the ground then walks over you and leaves.
In another area, this time, an insane guy (which, more to the point, should have different interactions with you) does the exact same thing : tries to strangle, you push his face with your left arm, he pushes you on the ground, walks over you then leaves.
- Not very appealing story, I just kept playing it for the fun of being chased/going stealth mode and such.
- CAN THE PLOT BE ANY DAMN SLOWER??
- Puzzle time? Then there's a monster in the middle of the area patrolling. Darkness time? There's a ghost. Everything is quiet? Quicktime event is coming in
- Some events just don't make any sense, here's an example rapped in a spoiler so you won't go all mad at me.
Every time you jump on a ledge while holding the camera, the character puts the camera away and uses both hands to climb the ledge. But then, something weird happens in a certain area, where you're jumping a ledge like any other, only to find out the character decides to keep it in his hand for it to go on the ground next to the ledge on impact. Why? Why would you do that when you could've done what you always did? But that's not the worst part, the ledge crumbles and the camera falls down to the floor below, then falls down inside a hole on that floor, only to create a useless objective that totally wasn't even supposed to be there.
- The environmental horror, which is really the only type of effective horror that ever existed, becomes too repetitive and doesn't build the tension as it should.
All in all, it's a pretty good horror game, but a greatly fun non-horror game. For me, it was a horror game for the first 30 minutes, then turned into a thriller/gory game that you play to have a small chill down your spine and to just have fun running away or stalking maniacs.
I would recommend it, but hey... amnesia is still my all time favorite.
Last edited by EJM; Sep 8, 2013 at 12:16 AM.