It's pretty decent so far, though while I recommend it I don't recommend buying it quite yet, but instead putting this on your watch list. If you like immersive horror extraction games then you could pick this up, but if you're hesitant about it due to the price point or have friends who are, then I'd wait until more content is added. The developer seems active in the forums responding to community feedback and suggestions as well as frequently updating the game which is nice. For now though, I'd say wait for more content to be added. At the very least a few new enemies. I'll update this review as the game's development progresses. There are many parallels between this and Lethal Company in that they're co-op horror extraction games in which you plunge into a procedurally generated enviornment, collect loot, while attempting to avoid the many threats that await you. You have equipment that can aid your exploration and survivability. This game does set itself apart by being notably horror and immersion focused. It's also less tedious in my opinion as you can hold infinite amounts of loot so you don't have to constantly ferry items back and forth, nor have the inability to hold less loot items because you choose to take equipment with you. Throughout the review I will be making comparisons to Lethal Company. Like it or not they are both in the same genre and are similar games. However, this game is very distinct, and to call it a clone is disingenuous. It's a different flavor of the same genre. That's a good thing! The places you go are very well detailed and have several different tilesets for the generation. Equipment currently is a bit lackluster, only featuring basic light sources (a glowstick, wind-up flashlight that makes noise, and a lantern) as well as medkits to heal yourself, adrenaline to self-revive or give you infinte stamina, a walkie-talkie for communication, stun-flashlight to stun enemies, and a pager to find elevators. Speaking of elevators, these are a way to extract back to the spawn point without having to backtrack which I think is an awesome feature and encourages exploring deep. Though I do wish there were more navigation tools. I'd like to have something to mark dead-ends like spray paint or stickers that I can place on walls that glow so I know where I've been because sometimes you can endlessly get lost, especially in the Escape Gamemode. The game has 3 gamemodes currently. The "standard" mode where you collect loot to pay back your debt quota seeing how far you can get before you fail. Nightmare mode which is the same thing but significantly harder with more enemies, and escape mode in which you plunge into the map looking for an elevator to escape, looting for equipment items rather than buying them outright. I think currently the debt-collection mode is the most fun as the escape mode just seems to end up in you constantly flailing around lost and I really also don't see how that gamemode would be suited for co-op play. I've played the game so far with just one friend. I'm not entirely sure how the game fairs in a larger group. There isn't enough equipment to have "roles" in your team. You and your friends most of the time will end up splitting up and hoping you can collect loot and not die. Due to the inability of mapping tools (such as the stickers/spray paint I mentioned before) I'm not sure how useful it is to be able to communicate with your team. That and the fact that there's only 5 enemies in the game currently though more will be added. In Lethal Company for example, communication is important if there's a coil-head or jester on the map. Here, well, if there's a Butcher on the map... it doesn't make a difference if that's communicated to your team or not. I don't see much reason to have good communication if you're choosing to use proximity chat / radios instead of Discord. I'm not entirely sure how better teamplay could be achieved in a game like this, though to be fair I don't think it necessarily needs to be, it would just be cool if it was. I'll continue to play it. I'm liking it way more than Lethal Company due to the high stakes, the ability to revive teammates, the atmosphere, immersion, and horror. This is one of the very few horror games that makes me feel dread and anxiety as I'm wandering around, wondering if I'll soon run into a monster, then feeling anxiousness as I turn around from a dead end only to hear the revving of a distant chainsaw slowly getting closer. The stakes and challenge are much higher too while still having fair counterplay against most enemies which I really like. It's also just feels like the user experience was in mind while playing because selling stuff is easy and quick, you can hold infinite loot, you can use elevators to return to spawn. It's focused on playing the game, not doing tedious loot running. If the developer sees this I do have a couple of suggestions. 1. Some kind of monitor on the train to see your teammates. This could be an expensive train upgrade or something. That way there's more uses for walkie-talkies as you could help teammates navigate around the map, find loot, avoid enemies, and escape. This would be a huge feature to many players wanting to play this game in co-op because right now if you go back to the train you kinda just sit there waiting for your teammates. I'd at the very least like to watch them on a monitor or try to help them out. 2. Make the screen of the pager glow when turned on. It's currently almost impossible to tell if it's on or not without remembering if you put it on. It sucks when I think it's on when it's not, or if I think it's off when an enemy is nearby but then it beeps, alerting them. I want some visual clue that it's turned on. 3. More varied, unique, and dangerous enemies. This would allow communication to be more important as well as heighten the sense of dread once you know certain enemies are out and about. It also would add to the randomness of each playthrough and make the enemies feel more unique. Currently, I don't really see the enemies as too functionally different from each other. They don't have any particular powers other than search for you and kill you. Sure the ventress hides in the vents and the shrieker screams if it detects you, but I'm thinking more along the lines of something that turns out the lights if nearby, something you have to make noise to scare away, basically monsters that are more interactive than what we have now. Think coil-heads or brackens from Lethal Company. They're interactive. What we have right now are essentially just thumpers that just try to chase you down and kill you. 4. More equipment. Namely tools to aid navigation such as spray paint or something to mark places we've explored. Also helps to build a team-dynamic. 5. More hiding places and the ability to enter things like lockers. Adds to the immersion and brings new gameplay elements. Would also be cool if you could see enemies opening lockers or checking under desks searching for you. 6. More tools to counter monsters. Whether this be more equipment or enviornmental resources. Noise-makers for example to lure enemies away are something I'd really love to see. A flashbang or flare to temporarily blind, deafen, or attract enemies would be interesting as well. It doesn't even have to be for EVERY enemy, some things could not affect some enemies while others are highly effective. A noise-maker wouldn't work on an enemy that can't hear for example. I also wouldn't mind seeing equipment that can't be purchased, but can instead be found in the world during the debt-collection mode to make exploration more rewarding.
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