Reviews - boredgunner

Incredible art design and atmosphere, powerful storytelling that tops the vast majority of games. It may not seem as scary as Amnesia: The Dark Descent or Penumbra at first, but just keep playing... on that same superficial level it is significantly more terrifying than any other game as a whole, yet it extends much deeper still. I previously considered Penumbra and Amnesia: The Dark Descent to be the best horror games ever made, but SOMA is an significant improvement in almost every way.

Full review: Gnd-tech.com

The effort is there, but the writing quality isn't. It's also full of graphics pop-in, contrived jump scares, and strange level design that appears non-linear but forcefully says otherwise.

Painfully bad, cheap Hollywood horror, equivalent to what you find on SyFy channel late at night. Devoid of creativity and originality, Outlast is worse than many Amnesia custom stories, which are often made by teenagers. It's full of scripted, predictable jump scares and enemy encounters, topped off by uninspiring level design and cringe-worthy writing and cliches.

But hey, it's still better than Dead Space. Nonetheless, save your pennies. If games like this become popular, then it will be the end of the already-endangered horror genre.

Absolutely amazing atmosphere... one of the most immersive, creepy games you'll ever find. The developers must be commended for creating such a unique, mesmerizing world.

Gameplay could use a few tweaks though; the very limited duration of the torch is odd, maybe a bit more searching for clues to emphasize a detective feel more, and I feel that some places could have been turned into some of the scariest places in video game history, had there been more of a threat to the player. Specifically, the basement in chapter 1, which is one of the most amazing locations in the game, could have been made to be one of the scariest places ever.

Still, the atmosphere is absolutely incredible. Get this game.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it delivers in terms of storytelling and atmosphere, with impressive use of symbolism and creative storytelling, as well as amazing audio effects and distinctive visual design to boost atmosphere. On the other hand, it isn't very scary or tense at all. Enemy presence has little impact, the player is rarely in any actual danger, and most enemy encounters are utterly unremarkable. It feels like enemies were only included because of an obligation, not because they wanted to deliver a horror game.

Gameplay was dumbed down considerably, with many mechanics being removed and nothing being put back into the game. There's much less object interaction, the game is several hours shorter than the predecessor, and it's a bit more linear.

Given the amount of delays this game had, I can see some people expecting more out of it and being disappointed. But, like I said, it's a mixed bag with both good and bad. The good does outweigh the bad, atmosphere and storytelling are what the game went for, and that's where it delivers. But it is a letdown as a horror game, and this cannot go unnoticed... or unpunished.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is yet another minimalistic, story experience on the resume of thechineseroom. They seem intent on making only these types of games, like Dear Esther. It's not a tense or scary horror game, and it's a letdown to the Amnesia franchise. It isn't truly an Amnesia game, it simply wears the badge. It could have been an excellent horror game, if thechineseroom wrote the story and basic script like they did, while Frictional Games did the actual gameplay.

See my full review here: Gnd-tech.com

Miasmata is an ambitious and unique game about survival. It hardly gives anything to the player, making this minimalistic but lengthy journey very desperate but very rewarding. Everyone should try it.

Cry of Fear certainly lives up to the hype, and is a very special mod. It feels like a game, being close to 20 hours long I'd say. It's like a first-person Silent Hill in terms of gameplay, and at times, similar atmosphere too.

It's a very interesting journey through the twisted, distorted mind of a mentally unstable, suicidal individual. I'm a fan of horror titles like this, having played through the Mistake series and Grey, but Cry of Fear is on a whole different level. Amazing mod, it deserves most of the praise.

Some things that need tweaking are the chase sequences, in which a chainsaw wielding berserk rapidly pursues you down narrow, tight corridors. The enemy is many times faster than you, and for some reason you can only sprint for a few steps before getting exhausted. They're unbalanced and just annoying as a result, and player stamina is worse than a dead person.

There's a bit of platforming in Cry of Fear, and most of it is terrible. A lot of this can be attributed to level design, such as jumping through a construction set that has tiny metal poles everywhere obstructing your path, or terrible timed platforming sections in a horribly designed level.

Another annoyance can be found on every gun; iron sights zoom in way too much, like using a scope.

A one-sided, puzzle based expansion for Penumbra. There is no real enemy contact, and it's totally unnecessary. As far as I know, this expansion was only released due to people not being satisfied with Black Plague's excellent, but semi-open ending.

A beautifully crafted and told story, devoid of gameplay mechanics and requires only attention and exploration.

The Penumbra series is one of the only horror series left in modern gaming - story driven, challenging, dark, and believe it or not, scary. People call Doom, F.E.A.R., Dead Space, and Resident Evil 4-5 horror games even though they're no more than just shooters. If you're looking for something more authentic and deep, then give Penumbra a try. Remember to play them at night.