EDIT 2: Szymanski has been hard at work trying to fix the bug that prevents you from picking up weapons, so far in my third playthrough I haven't been able to encounter the bug again, hopefully the last patch fixed it permanently for everyone; thanks to Szymanski and his team. EDIT: Second playthrough ran into a bug Mr. Ssimansky, not sure if it's tied to the final area or what, but whenever my weapon breaks I can't pick up weapons any longer unless I quit to the main menu and continue the game. This review was made after spending time playing the game offline and online; hence the playtime. Incredible game, didn’t thought Szymanski would cook as well as he did, but he ended up creating something truly special with this. You play as a gore lover in look for “Butcher’s Creek”, a place known for disappearances and rumours of blood and murder, as you progress, you’ll find yourself entangled deeper and deeper in what appears to be a torture cult of sorts that follows a, kill or be killed, type of logic. The game takes severe inspiration from “Manhunt” and “Condemned” everything from the sounds, music, and atmosphere is taken straight out from those games; but it being a Szymanski game, it also has a lot of his personality put into it. There’s humour to be found in some of the notes scattered around throughout the levels, with different psychopaths demanding in frustration horribly cruel demands from their peers, or some simply complaining about the misplacement of a key. Reading these notes is imperative to progress, given a lot of the progression of the game is tied to looking for specific objects in specific areas of the levels; the notes end up serving as a type of reward for your many encounters with enemies, not only contributing to the narrative, but also aiding the actual progression of the game. Thankfully these are succinctly well written, so even if you don’t like to read, you shouldn’t fret. The level design is also fantastic, it serves as a labyrinthian puzzle of interconnected pathways that naturally flows as you playthrough, think of something like what the Souls games do, but in a much smaller scale; a simple house with a -seemingly-, basic architectural layout, ends up becoming an elaborate set of hidden pathways filled with enemies, torture rooms, and traps that you can use against enemies. If there are some complaints or issues I’ve faced with the game, these had to do with the pathtracing of some of the enemies, in which they appear to walk away and return to an aggressive state in erratic ways at times, whilst in other cases they simply ran away from me as I approach them; I’m not sure if this is a bug or an intended behaviour; I say this because I saw a lot of people in the upcoming days of the game’s release, complaining about enemies staring at walls… not understanding that this is in fact a deliberate choice from the developer, it serves as a reference to a horror trope used in many films and also in many games: think of the ending in the “Blair Witch Project” (the original film) or the scene where a man bangs his head against the wall in “Dead Space”. The other issue, or complaint I have… that isn’t really a complain as much as something that surprised me, is that the game is very, very short. Szymanski mentioned it was around two to three hours; and I don’t doubt this is true on higher difficulty settings, but playing the game and reading all the notes on easier settings can make the runtime in about an hour or so. It’s not so much a complaint, but I was quite surprise about the length and lack of replayability or so. You can choose each level -named “scenes” after “Manhunt”-, whenever, but beyond this, there isn’t really any replayability to be had, unless you really like the gameplay loop. Even then I do feel as if the game is fairly priced, just because of how well made in its; Szymanski even made sure to add details and polish the game’s bugs and issues present in the demo -I no longer faced a bug that prevented me from using my camera and weapons forcing me to quit to the main menu and restart my session. I haven’t even talked about some of the game’s more intricate mechanics like how you collect snuff tapes that you can use to open secret doors with a lot of weapons and items for you, or how you can also use the same to give yourself bonus health; it’s an awesome system, a risk vs reward if you’d like. You collect tapes to get more health, but you have to use them to either open bonus doors, or even progress at times, if you use too many you lower your health a bit though, so it does serve as something to consider, even thought it never became a hassle -which I really like, it’s a consideration, not an annoyance. There’s also the fact that the game’s only way to get health is by taking pictures of dead bodies and blood that your enemies spill with each hit on the nearby walls; it’s an awesome touch that contributes to the horror of the game and the personality of your character. You’re not only murdering sadists, you play as a sadist yourself. Overall, I really, really like the game and was quite surprised by how well made it was, but at the same time I was taken aback by how short it was as well… I could go on about some moments that are extremely well made -like a level transition sequence that it’s utterly fantastic-, but I prefer to simply recommend the game. Mr. Szymanski, you’ve done it again.
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