I missed the golden period of PS1 horror video games. The unique Resident Evils handed me by. I by no means performed Silent Hill and Parasite Eve and Dino Disaster have been by no means on my radar, I used to be too busy with my Nintendo 64. It is solely been not too long ago that I’ve embraced the style, taking part in by way of remakes from sequence like Lifeless House and Resident Evil, alongside Biohazard and Village.
I’ve discovered a brand new love and appreciation for the style, so when Blumhouse made their announcement at Summer season Recreation Fest, I used to be excited. Throughout the latest Play Days occasion in LA, I acquired to take a look at the primary title from the writer, Worry the Highlight, and it ticks quite a lot of packing containers.
The Blumhouse Approach
Blumhouse’s mannequin inside the film business is to provide administrators the cash they should make their movie, with full artistic management — one thing which, when replicated for the video video games business is ideal. We have seen not too long ago that individuals yearn for smaller indie titles, with the likes of Balatro, Animal Effectively and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes all inside Metacritic’s ten finest video games of the yr up to now. With budgets ballooning, and c-suite execs vying for extra management inside growth, the Blumhouse information is nice.
Worry the Highlight’s story is equally as fascinating. Initially launched on Steam final yr, it was pulled in October, to be able to make enhancements and add “some new gameplay”. It is reported that money from Blumhouse allowed Cozy Recreation Friends to take a step again and make these modifications.
After taking part in roughly 20 minutes of the sport, it seems like a stable funding.
Fearing The Highlight
Once I first noticed the trailer for Worry The Highlight, I form of anticipated a survival horror sport, however it’s not. It is an journey sport with some survival facets. It tells the story of Amy and Vivian, who break into their college, steal an ouija board and carry out a séance which works horribly fallacious. The ritual and what instantly adopted introduced some moments that, for the faint of coronary heart, will definitely trigger a scare or two, and it undoubtedly constructed up a stage of intrigue.
Following the séance, I used to be let lose within the college corridors to try to determine what occurred, fixing puzzles and spending some platform-esque ability checks, all whereas, because the title would recommend, avoiding the highlight, which is the core method through which your character will get broken. Most of my demo time was predominantly centered across the sport pre-ritual, so I did not get to see lots of the scares Worry the Highlight had in retailer, nonetheless, I’m assured that the sport’s early promise will ship on that.
Worry the Highlight does quite a lot of issues properly, however it does nothing higher than its aesthetic. CRT strains, which will be turned as much as match its late-90s really feel, adorn the display screen, and completely designed polygonal characters take the… highlight. It was clearly designed to evoke the sensation of a 90s teen horror/drama flick, and it is executed to close perfection.
The sport trying because it does is not the one method that it creates this environment although. The character animations are unbelievable and actually assist to promote the scenario, at one level, I used to be holding a candle strolling in the direction of a plaque, and unprompted, my character moved mentioned candle to light up the writing. It is little touches like this that make the sport really feel actual. That is cleverly constructed upon additional by Cozy Recreation Friends. For instance, Vivian’s teenage angst is typified by the truth that her well being meter is a pair of lungs which may solely be healed by bronchial asthma inhalers hidden across the college.
Mechanically, there’s nothing particular about Worry the Highlight. It is a pretty normal story-based journey sport. Nonetheless, the place it seems set to actually shine is thru its atmospheric storytelling. When you’re a horror or journey sport fan and this wasn’t in your radar, it is one to regulate. I did not know what to anticipate earlier than taking part in it, however got here away feeling prefer it was one of the nice surprises of the present.
You may try all of our protection from this yr’s Summer season Recreation Fest proper right here.
