It wasn't that long ago we were in this position with the the first part of this title. I still do not know when or why I picked up the first part, but this one was on sale for a deep discount around the time I finished it so it was a no-brainer considering how much I enjoyed it. Now a little over a month later, we have finally reached the end of the story started back then. It's rare I get to a sequel this quickly, but if anything, I would probably recommend playing the two even closer then this. In fact, you should probably play these back-to-back.
In this game, you will take up the story just about at the moment we left off during season one, but not from the same position. For before Mr. Devitt took the plunge into his adventures, he had seen a psychiatrist who has since noticed his patient missing. Already concerned by this, Dr. Wakefield was then informed by a Dr. Kaufmann that his patient might just be involved with a very dangerous secret society and together they head out to try to save him before it's too late. Sadly there are few leads for them to follow, but before long, they find a connection to a man named Alexandre Du Pre. And with this desperate straw, they start down a path into the same madness.
If you have played the first game (and I highly recommend you do before you play this), you already expected this start, but it comes with a different perspective and handling of the tale. Where the first season focused on Devitt falling further and further into his own madness and ties to a cult, this one is focused more on learning about the cult itself. You will take Dr. Wakefield down into this darkness as you discover more and more of what they have done in their quest and the cost it has already taken on them, those in their path, and the even some worldly areas. This also necessitates a different tone in horror then the last time as well.
While I would call the first game a good slow-burn creep show that makes you wade through the tension with only your wits and what Devitt's limited knowledge offers, I can not say that here. Rather, this one will have you building your understanding as you play and resorting to flashes of the results jumping right at you with each twist and turn. It's great for completing the story, but it just doesn't have the same constant dread, choosing instead to punch you with something quick and horrific every now and again. I won't say it does a bad job, but season 1 certainly did it better.
As for game supporting this story, you will feel right at home if you played the original. This is a point & click horror title in which each of it's four chapters, while attached and dependent on each other to tell the story, play completely independent of each other, and you can expect a couple hours with each. There is no actual way to die in this game and most of the puzzles are clever, but not particularly hard, much like last time. But on occasion finding the puzzle can be, and not for the reason you would expect. This game's graphics, much like the previous, is highly pixelated to the point that if an Atari 2600 was capable of showing detail, you might be convinced it was emulating it (at least until you saw the font resolution, anyway). But this has actually been improved, as there was nothing necessary that I can honestly say you will not see right away. Rather, your own mind can be your enemy here. It is very likely some puzzles will work an entirely different way then you expect, so keep an open mind if you expect to finish the game.
And while the graphics haven't changed much, you will notice effects have improved a bit to support this low-resolution look, take advantage where it can, and cheat a little here and there for effect. As mentioned earlier this is a retro-style game with very chunky pixels to make up the images. And just like before, the developer knew how to take advantage of this to use it in favor of the bleak mood the game keeps through most of it. And the music remains as perfect as ever, to boot. So what holds it back from being truly creepy? Well, ironically it's the story telling. The original game really doesn't tell you much, leaving the unknown to creep you out, but those missing details are explained this time around. Again, this works great to complete the story, but it is just not as creepy when you know.
Bugs: Unlike the first season, there were absolutely no major bugs here. The game ran perfectly from start to finish. The only complaint I can give is if you are running this game at a high enough resolution, you can occasionally see spaces between pixels in the world the game presents you. These are rare, at least at 1080p, but when a rolling fog has a spot one actual pixel between parts, it does stand out. However, I expect results will vary here.
Overall: Much like the first season, I have to recommend this game to anyone who wants to see cosmic horror done right. True, it doesn't pull the fear factor as well as it's predecessor, but it still weaves the tale itself masterfully. The only caveat here is with you as the gamer: first to play the original game first, and second to not be looking for something action packed. I'm not sure you will miss anything playing this first, but it's designed to follow up so it would be like opening a book halfway through with nothing more then a cliffnotes recap to catch you up before you being. Yeah, you get it, but you know you are missing the full effect.
And of course, this being a point and click game. If you are expecting any kind of real action in the gameplay, you are once again barking up the very wrong tree.
Score:
System Requirements:
- Pentium 4 or greater (must support SSE2)
- 1 GB RAM
- Anything that supports Direct X 9
- Windows XP
- 300 MB hard drive space
- Ryzen 7 (2700) 3.2 Ghz
- 16 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce 1660 (6GB VRAM)
- Windows 10 (64 Bit)
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