And we finally have reached a point where in order to show off something new for Extra Life over the weekend, I had to roll the dice over my backlog. It has been a while, but the dice were kind and offered an handful of titles that looked pretty good for the most part. And when this one came up, I was intrigued. After all, I do still have to play the main games, so a little window into what's to ultimately come sounded pretty good. Well the window was certainly small... but through it I can see some real potential.
Story: This is not a game you are going to play for story as there is none. What you are playing is effectively the prototype demo that was used to try to sell the game as a project to be published. As such, no real story had been written for it so much as a theme.
Not that there is absolutely nothing written here, just nothing to be taken inside the game itself. Releasing this to the public, Saibot Studios has added developer notes to be found, which are effectively footnotes to what they were thinking and the various stages of development the game was at at different points in time. Interesting to be sure, but absolutely not a plot of any kind.
N/A
Graphics: Launching almost 10 years ago, what is here in this game is actually much earlier as it predates the Doorways trilogy of games. With that in mind, what you are about splits into two distinct environments:
The first is a hellish landscape of floating islands and rocks over ruined castles and fiery moats that could have been stars of Dante's tale. It looks absolutely fantastic, if very empty. There are no enemies here and you never see so much as your own hand to represent you. The world itself is all you will see in all it's detailed glory. Add to this flashes of an old asylum operating room and this is seriously how you do environmental design right!
And then we get to the second half, and it is a lot less inspired. It's clear they were designing mechanics instead of an actual level with it, so any atmosphere is replaced by cement blocks and stark lighting. It has an effective coldness to it, but really there isn't much to look at here. Still at this point they actually add monster to the mix. On occasion you will see an orc with an axe stomping around: usually causing what looks like cracks in the cement to ooze around him but I think is supposed to be tendrils of darkness. Suffice it to say this part just doesn't have the same appeal as the first.
Overall, however, it looks solid as an early prototype of what a developer might be working on at worst, and a really good art test of where they want to go at best. It's just very dipolar about it.
6/10
Sound: Due to the limited nature of this prototype, you are not going to get a lot out of the soundscape. There is almost no music in the game, just a bit of a monotone ominous note type ordeal that will follow you the entire time.... with little exception. Sound effects will also be limited mostly to your own footsteps in stone and your breathing when you jump... mostly.
In both cases, I have to put a caveat as the game doesn't so much do jump scares as scene shifts, and when it does, that's when both get the chance to shine. Chains clink around you, creepy music from a music box comes from somewhere you can't pin down, and the screams of the damned are everywhere. This is the ONLY time you will get a hint at the horror this game would ultimately become... and the parts that excite me to try the main series.
7/10
Gameplay: Despite the stylings of horror this game keeps near and dear to it's heart, the game itself is very much about pulling and jumps and, depending on where you are, timing them to avoid obstacles. In fact this is literally all you will do in the first half of the game as you navigate the obstacles put before you by the devs from a first person point of view. There is some of this in the second half as well, but here they remove the obstacles in favor of the monster you will have to figure out how to avoid for a few of them.
In the end though, it is a VERY basic game loop which you will have to complete before you can finish the game, and it has to be done in one sitting. Once you enter the Abyss, there is no quitting and there is no saving until you finish (shy of forcing Windows to turn the game off). However, the devs were forgiving and are very generous with checkpoints as you play (and I found out). You will never run out of lives, but you will rarely have to repeat an obstacle you finished and many times you will find checkpoints where the game offers breathers in the middle of one. As a result this is a challenging little slice of game that will test you and may even test your patience, but it is basic and as long as you can learn to time things and observe the room you are in, you should be able to complete it in the single sitting you are supposed to without issue. It's just not gonna offer you much as far as gameplay goes beyond simply showing off potential concepts they were considering for the big title.
5/10
Bugs: While the game is a "prototype" that is more about the levels you are shown, not the quality of the code. This game ran absolutely flawless. The only issue I have with it at all is that if you want to quit before you finish, you have two choices: quit at the main menu before you start or switch out of the screen and close the window manually. The game has no exist once you start until you pass through the last passage back to that main menu room.
Digital Rights Management: The only DRM on this game is Steam itself.
Source: PC Gaming Wiki
Score: While there is certainly a game here to be played, that's about all I can really say for this outing... it's a game. It can be finished. It can be challenging, but there just is very little meat on these bones. Now considering it is literally a prototype to show off what they COULD do when they made the main game, it's clear it wasn't meant to be seen as a game on it's own. It's here to either give fans a look into how the game came to be or to show newcomers the atmosphere they will be walking into should they take the plunge into the main game.
Effectively for newcomers, you could think of this as an interactive trailer, and on that end, I would tell you to give it a shot if you like horror titles but have never played the Doorway games... just don't expect it to give anything juicy away. It's only here to potentially wet your appetite. And if you have played, look at it like a light interactive documentary. You may get more out of it then I did as you are now looking into in essence what it took to make the horror games you enjoyed where as I am playing this from the outside looking in still.
6/10
System Requirements:
- Dual Core CPU running at 2.0 Ghz or faster (Pentium D or better)
- 1 GB RAM
- NVidea 6800 or ATi 1950
- Windows XP
- 150 MB Hard Drive space
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (5700X) 3.4 Ghz
- 32 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (8 GB VRAM)
- Windows 11 (64 Bit)
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