This title has been a few years coming. During the big yearly sales I make a point to add titles that have been sitting in my wishlist for a while to my collection, and so I wound up with this in my library a few years ago. And while first impressions were absolutely amazing, I have to say as I put down my mouse, I am glad I got it at that steep discount. The bones are very pretty, pretty enough in fact to justify the game even with so little to it... at least until the very end.
Story: Unfortunately this is not a game you will play for story since it is a pretty simple one. Peter was just thrown from his car. He hit a tree and woke up in the road nearby. With nowhere else to go for help in the stormy night, his only choice was to stumble towards the nearby rundown mansion and hope there was someone there to help. To that end, he was lucky: passing out at their literal front door only to wake up in a bedroom and no idea how he got there. But at the same time, he was also not so lucky: THIS mansion made him more then unlucky. He woke up with more then a feeling that something was very very wrong.
It won't take long till this initial feeling is proven correct as you will basically wander a haunted house where notes from the past will offer glimpses into what happened here and you will listen to Peter putting the pieces together. There is some environmental story telling as well, but you don't really need to pay attention for that. This rather simple story will be spoon-fed to you as Peter talks to himself about every significant point and learned detail. Nor is this plot particularly unique as it's a pretty basic "your forgotten past has come back to bite you" kind of story, but I will let it offer its details to you itself. Just be aware that while this is NOT a game that will let you turn your brain off, it won't be the story that keeps you thinking. It's not going to even be even remotely special with how it ends.
6/10
Graphics: Unlike the story, what this game offers in the visual department is simply stunning. Every detail of this decrepit home was designed with the kind of love and attention most can only dream of seeing in games today. Every inch of this place just oozes of the kind of ill repair a house abandoned for decades would have with broken floors, cracking paint on the walls, and just the feel of a once loved now lost space in this world permeating everything the light touches. And that lighting is also something I can only sing the praises of, too.
In a word this place is gloomy as only a properly haunted mansion should be, playing into the general tension of the world and making you paranoid of every new room you open up BEFORE it throws it's actual scares your way. Nothing is right in this place, but it's wrong so subtly you really can't put your finger on it, making it that much less settling.
Nor did they spare this level on who you share this world with. Most of the time you are alone, but not always as family members who knew this place as home once still remain. Their encounters are sparce, but memorable as they certainly add a flavor of creepy (and with the occasional jump scare) into the mix. If anything I would say the only complain here is the main antagonist you will deal with through most of the game... a towering wraith of an old woman who clearly wants you dead. She doesn't feel half as "real" as the rest of this game, be it the absolutely brilliant work on the world itself or the surreal/otherworldly feel of everyone else you will meet before the game is over.
8/10
Sound: Much like the visuals, the sound work here is simply brilliant, but in this case it's more brilliant for how minimalist it is. These developers understood that sometimes, especially when trying to make something creepy, less can be more. To this end, you will not get a lot of music while playing, letting the house, the storm outside and your footsteps keep you company more often than not. And when you know you are not alone, this stillness itself can be a major element as you listen for any unusual creak or thump that might hint that danger is near... and when you hear that something out of place, the game is designed perfectly to let that something take center stage and leave you wondering if you really should be entering that next room. Simply put, this is absolutely superb.
Even the voice-work of those you share this space with, when it is used, is really well done. I have to make the caveat though since most of the time, you might hear a scream from someone nearby at most: there are very few characters in this game, and even less ever speak to Peter. It's just a shame Peter himself is the downside here, marring what could have been an amazing side of the audio.
The actor tries to sound scared and confused as often as not, but Peter's job in speaking is really not so much to be afraid as to give you a point to focus and to summarize whatever is going on. He becomes something of a wet blanket in the need to make sure the player doesn't miss the key detail just revealed, be it story or how some game mechanic is used.
Still more often then not the developers know full well how to use the soundscape with the visual to really sell a creepy as all hell environment. I can not complain.
8/10
Gameplay: Silver Chains sells itself as a horror walking simulation, and to a large degree, it is. You will take the roll of Peter, playing in a first person perspective as you wander the haunted mansion trying to figure out what happened, why you are here, and how you can get out alive. The control scheme you will be offered to do so is relatively simplistic as for the most part the game will ask you to walk, run, and interact with the world around you to solve it's puzzles and avoid the scant few enemies that will dog you through the game.... and this is where the game starts to show it's own cracks and not just the houses.
The mechanics themselves are fine for the most part, offering you a little variety as you play. You will be given an inventory for puzzles based on using objects, but do not expect to need to think much to do this. Almost every item you pick will not only have an obvious use you probably saw already, but Peter looking in the inventory screen will often tell you exactly what you have to do next with whatever you picked up. It's really pretty braindead in this respect.
But then the game will go the exact reverse direction at times and offer puzzles where the only way to find the solution is to pay close attention to your environment for much better hidden solutions... and even then sometimes these can require some abstract thinking to solve. And this would actually be a highlight (I love a good solid puzzle from time to time) if not for some rather exacting distances to interact with objects getting in the way. There are times you may well think you missed what the clue meant because you just didn't get your distance from whatever it was aiming you towards "just right." And this goes double for anything involving the "monocle" once you get it.
But still this for most of the game is just a minor annoyance, especially as the game is pretty generous with it's checkpoints... until the final boss of the game. Up until this point you were generally left up to your own devices to figure things out and enjoy the environment and the occasional jump scare. There are a few times "mother" (as the wraith mentioned in the graphic section of this review is called) will try to kill you, but hiding from her is pretty easy, making her more of a nuisance then an actual challenge. This all changes when you face off in the final conflict... all of it.
At this point you are stuck in a maze being chased by the entity with no real hiding places at all. At best you have corners you can duck into and hope your luck holds out that he doesn't turn around at random and corner you, cause if he does you have NO WAY OUT. Additionally, simply avoiding him isn't the goal anymore. You are collecting objects for a ritual to finish him off, once again hindered by that same "not quite clear" interaction distance as you find each one... some of which require you to uncover them and hope he doesn't come by while you wait for Peter to finish his action in a button hold. If he sees you, the chase begins till you try your luck at one of those side-pockets and hope the game decides he doesn't realize you tried to juke him and corner you accordingly... succeed and you can go back to try again. Fail, and you start the entire process over with everything you've done left to do again. There are no checkpoints anywhere in this real trial of patience that has way too many steps to be anything but a frustration.
It's a sad note that just takes away everything the artwork of the game did in one last sad final impression.
5/10
Bugs: Outside of the occasionally finnicky placement you had to be in to use some environmental things, I didn't see a single issue while playing. The game ran like a top.
Digital Rights Management: (come back here when PC gaming wiki is working)
Source: PC Gaming Wiki
Score: If I was to tell you Silver Chains was a total dud, I would be lying. It is a charming little horror game that takes it's atmosphere very seriously, making for a rather creepy experience. However, little is definately the word for it. I finished the game in two sittings, and wit absolutely no reason to play again once you're done, still asking for $25 is a steep price tag, and that's before you consider how much that final encounter will sour your experience... or how uninspired the ending afterwards is. This is a game that goes on steep sales often and with good reason. Wait till then if you are still interested.
4/10
System Requirements:
- Intel i5-3470 (3.2 Ghz) or AMD A8-7600 (3.1 Ghz)
- 5 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon R7 265
- Windows 7
- 15 GB 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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