Pneumata is a psychological survival horror game developed by ‘Deadbolt Interactive’ and published by ‘Perp Games‘. Pneumata is said to be coming out the 23rd of February 2024 on the Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PS5 and PC. X35 Earthwalker has experienced many horror games and their sub genres. Judgement of these are included. Pneumata is going for a little hybrid here. Let’s take a look.
Pneumata is set in a place called clover Hill. Things aren’t fine around here… otherwise this wouldn’t be a horror game. The residents are either missing or straight up dying. Chopped into pieces. Yeah, blood is being spilled in clover Hill. Players are the detective who must figure out what’s going on here and solve the situation. On top of that, the detective has problems with his memory. You just “recover your fragmented memories”. Listen to this, “Something happened on that island that your mind is protecting you from. Your memories fractured and fleeting, but nonetheless one thing is true: “Someone, or something killed Jamie””.
Things get even worse in Pneumata. There’s darkness here and we aren’t talking about the murders. There’s horrors moving about in the shadows. The combination of murders plus the horrors in the shadows plus the missing and fragmented memories will make players questions what’s real and what’s not. This should be the psychological survival horror hybrid. Word on the streets is that there’s even alternate worlds too. This should make everything even more complex.
We checked out some Pneumata gameplay and it’s what we expected. Our main ingredient looks like the survival horror aspects. Players will need to scavenge for supplies and weapons. Even with those weapons you can’t fight everything. Your best weapon might be to hide or even run… like the coward you are. The biggest questions is off course the difficulty and how scarce the resources are. It’s different and cool that the apartment building is the main field here. It also has hidden areas and pathways so keep eyes open, if you can. Detective work is actually here in the form of crime scenes, finding clues and piecing things together. Pneumata wants the gamers too survive long enough to solve the mystery.
Overall Pneumata looks like a good game so far. We hear and like that we hear that the AI will be diverse; and that some of them are unpredictable. We hope they successfully pull that off. Unpredictable enemies will make things scarier and force players to use their heads more and think fast. We hear that enemies can even use the environment itself to mess with you through distractions. The goods are here but must be arranged and delivered right. Last of all the enemies need to actually be scary and intimidating. They need to be a problem. Too many horror games are too easy, not scary enough, lack force or wimpy enemies. The developers ‘Deadbolt Interactive’ have done a very good job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an ear open for this game. Now Pneumata may have a blood filled apartment building but it burns down in the presence of… the ‘Earth Walk!’
The Callisto Protocol vs Dead Space remake. Both are excellent games without question. X35 Earthwalker has conquered all three Dead Space games including the Hard core modes and extra challenges. People have their own takes on this subject and it’s interesting to see. Sadly, most of the views and opinions from others, especially youtubers have been dumb and illogical. Straight up false at times. Both games are made by some of the same developers, mainly Glen Schofield who is the co-creator of Dead Space; so both have a similar style and both get the job done. That’s for sure. X35 Earthwalker is the smartest and wisest gamer of all time, so his explanations and views actually mean something. [Quick notice: We will include videos that are reviews or opinions of Callisto Protocol that are actually good. Intelligent ones.] Let’s take a look.
The first issue we will address. We saw from a reviewer online in written form state that The Callisto Protocol “wants to be Dead Space so badly”. This is actually a retarded take. Maybe The Callisto Protocol is soo similar to Dead Space because the co creator of Dead Space himself are behind this game. The Callisto Protocol is suppose to be like their new direction. Their next big thing. If anyone has the right to make a game similar to Dead Space, it’s the dude who co-created Dead Space. This first take is just proof of the illogical takes and views that we mentioned earlier. Some counted the fact that The Callisto Protocol was not that new compared to Dead Space, as a negative. That’s not good reviewing, nor is it fair. The Callisto Protocol was design to be similar to Dead Space. Even the names of the main characters are related. Isaac Clarke and Jacob Lee. Isaac and Jacob. Fine we will spell it out for you. Historically recorded in the Bible there was Abraham, whose son is Isaac. Isaac’s son is Jacob. Jacob comes after Isaac just like how The Callisto Protocol comes after Dead Space. Yep, it’s all intentional.
Next point and here’s a big one. The combat. Muppets like angry joe and his lackies complained about it and saying it’s what ruined the game. We have covered this on the X35 Earthwalker podcast. Literally read what ‘girlstalkingsmack’ said in their review, “The fighting system is fundamentally incapable of dealing with more than one enemy. Even in one-on-one combat, The Callisto Protocol is prone to absolutely merciless battles that can seemingly inflict insta-death on you at will.” This is completely false and maybe they should never play a video game ever again if they are that bad at the game. X35 himself is playing Hardcore mode and has successfully fought three enemies at the same time and only got hit once. We have witnessed others fight two at once successfully as well. If the mechanics are easy and all you have to do is hold left and right to dodge, like angry joe said, then how is the combat merciless? It should also be easy. We have watched others like markiplier, coryxkenshin, fusionzgamer, PG and more stated that they liked the combat.
So people have praised Dead Space’s combat but hate The Callisto Protocol. Here’s the problem. The Callisto Protocol’s combat is the same as Dead Space. If you ignore the melee dodge system then both games combat is literally the same. You see an enemy, you can shoot of it’s limbs or blast it apart. Once dead you stomp on the enemy to get goodies. Both are the same. So in The Callisto Protocol you can forget the melee dodge and instead take the hit just like you would in Dead Space. There’s no actual dodge in original Dead Space. There’s an action roll in Dead Space 3 though. If a necromorph gets close to you and lunges, you are getting hit. Rare for it to miss. The Callisto Protocol is the same except you can dodge in case something gets close. So you can’t say Dead Space remake has better combat than The Callisto Protocol when they are the same. It’s The Callisto Protocol has just as good combat or better as it’s the same plus more. You have more tools to deal with the situation. So yes, we say that The Callisto Protocol has better combat. You have more options.
Next. Combat options. In Dead Space your combat options are shoot, throw something at your enemies using the kinesis or stasis the enemy and then hit them to death or stomp. There’s more options in The Callisto Protocol. People have stated that The Callisto Protocol’s combat is shallow and just “dodge, dodge, hit, hit until the enemy is dead” (like Elden Ring). Wrong again. The Callisto Protocol actually has much deeper combat. People like angry joe just don’t know how to play the game. If you block the last hit of an enemies combo string you can counter with a low counter strike that knocks enemies to the ground. If you time your attacks you can sometimes get a three or four hit combo. You can get the heavy strike to knock an enemy or sometimes multiple enemies down and backwards. If you remove an enemies leg, they crawl and then can be one melee hit killed. If you get rid of an arm, the enemy can no longer do multiple hits. They can only swing once. You can use the GRP to throw enemies of the edge and they instantly die or drown. If you upgrade the GRP’s throw strength you can pick up an enemy and throw them into something hard to instantly kill them. After you do a melee combo you have the option most of the time to quickly shoot the enemy which staggers them and allows you to continue with another combo. Keep doing that and your enemy NEVER gets a turn to fight back. So angry joe and the many others are idiots who don’t know how to play the game and told lies about it. The Callisto Protocol has way more options. The Callisto Protocol wins this category as well.
Let’s compare the GRP and Kinesis. Both are powerful and useful. Kinesis is unlimited and you can grab regular objects or sharp objects to knock enemies down or straight up impale. You can beat entire areas of the game in Dead Space with just kinesis alone. Kinesis is strong and feels good to use but it’s also very easy. You have unlimited attempts to grab and throw things. Enemies can never get close. Carry whole items with you wherever you go with no consequences. The GRP in The Callisto Protocol has more limits but is more powerful. The GRP has charges and so isn’t unlimited. You cannot just grab and throw objects infinitely. You have to be more strategic and think more about how to use it. So more room for skill. So wait? How is the GRP more powerful than kinesis then since it’s not unlimited? Well the GRP can grab entire enemies. Something the kinesis doesn’t do. You can literally grab and restrain a whole enemy and throw them. This can lead to combos with environmental hazards even more so than you would in Dead Space. For example if Isaac was to fight Jacob, Jacob can easily win through GRP alone. He can just grab Isaac and throw him into a fan or bomb or spikes etc. Remember that the grabbed enemy can’t move or do anything. So the grabbed person is literally disabled like what Leon ferris did to Jacob in that cutscene. Jacob could grab Isaac and stab in in the throat. Now this isn’t a VS gaming blog post. Obviously the Kinesis is more favoured due to it being unlimited energy basically. So it’s a matter of ‘weaker but unlimited’ vs ‘stronger but limited’. Factor in that the GRP when fully upgraded becomes a brutal weapon. Just throwing an enemy against the wall can instantly kill it. It has more charges and self recharges. So you don’t need the batteries really. It will recharge by itself. We pick the GRP over the kinesis. You can rely on the GRP to crowd control and make space… not dead. See what we did there?
Next is how next gen they are. The Callisto Protocol made it their mission to be the new standard for survival horror. The next gen survival horror game. Almost everyone seems to agree that The Callisto Protocol is top tier graphics and visuals, including details. Some even said it is the best looking game of 2022. The graphics are next gen especially when played on Xbox Series X. The sounds are ridiculous levels of good. Others have agreed. X35 had headphones on and could hear enemies moving around in the ventilation systems accurately. The graphics in The Callisto Protocol is better than Dead Space remake. Sounds as well. Listen to the sound of the GRP. Something next gen about The Callisto Protocol is the death animations. Enemies that kill you have a chance to trigger a death animation. These animations are brutal. Get put in a headlock and then beat in the head to death, even after you are clearly dead, it is still beating you. This shows the brutality here. Dead space only has those animated kills if the enemy already triggered a grab sequence. Also the player can get animated kills on some enemies in the Callisto Protocol depending on where you are located like if there’s a wall nearby. If there is a wall nearby and you are fighting a humanoid enemy Jacob might push shove it into the wall and then part and bust its legs with the baton and then finish it off. If not near a wall he might do the overhead clean sink the baton into head and pull out or give them the clean two tap. We saw a super rare kill that we have never seen before where you move around the enemy quick and kill it with the shiv. We actually don’t know what triggers that kill sadly. It was cool.
Next which game is more scary? Have to say The Callisto Protocol. With Dead space you know what to expect. Every room you go in, you expect a necromorph to jump out. You see an intact necromorph body on the floor, you shoot it as players assume it’s getting back up to attack you. When a room locks down in quarantine, you know what time it is. X35 Earthwalker doesn’t get scared by Dead Space. We can be surprised but that’s it. The Callisto Protocol does things differently. There’s no quarantine sequence. You have enemy corpses that’s like fused into a wall. The blind enemies. Some are just corpses while others can be woken up and attack you. There’s even frozen, literally ice frozen bodies. Some are literally ice and brittle while others are living enemies who can pop out and attack you. In The Callisto Protocol you will multiple times hear enemies moving around you but out of sight and actually not come after you. Making you think you have to get ready for a fight but actually no, you are safe. Messing with your head. So at times you don’t know what’s going to happen. When that head enemy that lives in a hive like cone pops out and grabs you, it can scare you and catch you completely off guard or drag you into the centre of a room to get jumped by other enemies. Some say that foes is used too much. We disagree. There’s literally only one place in the game where you can’t avoid getting grabbed and it’s in a side path for extra goodies. All the others, if you are vigilant and aware enough you can spot, shoot and prevent. Plus you get so powerful in Dead Space that it isn’t scary. Run into a room and blow up everything with ease.
Which brings us to the next point. Which is more ‘Survival horror?’ That’s easily The Callisto Protocol. No one can argue with that. Here’s why. True Survival horror is about survival. You are suppose to be weak or weak-ish. Fighting may be a last resort as it could be too risky to fight. Managing resources is a big deal. You don’t have an abundance. Look at old resident evil games. Some enemies you skipped by running past. Others you shot a bullet to stun, so you can avoid. Also stealth is a factor in some. In Dead Space there isn’t any survival really. You soon become master chief or a powerful action hero. Seriously in all Dead Space games including Dead Space remake, we don’t fear the necromorph… the necromorph fears us! We walk around everywhere cocky because anything that shows up we know we can use and abuse. Literally enemies get molested by us. If we get hit, it doesn’t matter. Our armour is so strong and tough that… WE EAT THOSE! WE have seen players get swarmed, take many hits but live as they have instant heal as long as a medkit is n the inventory. Heal and tank to live. Can’t do that in The Callisto Protocol. We have so much ammo for our extremely powerful weapons that we can fire like a cheap American movie, spraying everywhere. There’s no survival really. By the way Dead space has the superior weapons without question. While in The Callisto Protocol, you have to sneak in some areas, assassinate some foes. You try to fight like in Dead Space you will run out of ammo guaranteed. Health items is limited. Some blind enemies you can skip. Rely on environmental hazards more, which means you need to use your head more. There’s far more survival in The Callisto Protocol than there is in Dead Space and we’d argue, there’s more horror in The Callisto Protocol as well. So yes, The Callisto Protocol is the better survival horror game.
Resource management. Let’s be real. There isn’t really any resource management in Dead Space, unless you are really bad at the game. At the start of the game you have to be aware of your supplies. Once you get started though… oooooooooo boy! It’s a different story. You will have so much ammo and the money those necromorphs drop, you can buy lots from the shops and since the upgrades for rigs and weapons are a different currency, aka the nodes, you don’t have to decide whether to get supplies or upgrade. In the Callisto Protocol is can get similar if you play in medium security difficulty or lower. In Maximum security difficulty you run out of ammo fast. The game has melee far more in mind. Other players have stated that you don’t have enough ammo for every foe. The Callisto credits are far inferior to the money from Dead Space, especially in quantity. The amount the enemies drop after killing them is laughable. It’s so little that you can’t afford supplies like how you can in Dead Space. Also upgrades and supplies share the same currency. So if you are aiming for the big upgrades, you kind of have to ignore the supplies. X35 Earthwalker has never… not once… bought a medkit or ammo as he was focused on the upgrades. What’s worse is the storage. Dead Space has a storage system at thee shop. You can store tons of ammo and stuff in there. Storage in Callisto Protocol… THERE IS NONE! Literally. Which makes sense as you aren’t an employee but an inmate. Everything you hold is all you have. You have very limited space. You truly have to manage what you have. We had to drop a medic for a rare item or drop ammo for something valuable etc. Not an issue in Dead Space. Another reason why Dead Space is the easier game. Callisto Protocol has harder resource management and requires more management as you certainly cannot carry everything. Start of game, super limited space.
Lastly story. Dead Space wins. Dead Space originally was built as a complete story game. No develop really knows if their game is going to be successful enough to get a sequel. What happened to ship? Aliens?! What’s a marker? Bring marker to planet and deal with it, the end. This was a whole story start to finish with no idea if there was going to be a continuation based on the design. The Callisto Protocol is a shorter game and ends in a way that’s clearly expecting a sequel or follow up DLC. The Callisto Protocol is clearly the start to something. We learn about the ‘Circle’ who the warden is a part off. Wearing masks saying “the greater good” and “the saviour”. You learn that these guys are bigger than what’s going on in black iron prison. This secret society is centuries old, you even find their secret rooms throughout the game if you have average level awareness. The warden reveals that humanities destiny is further than Callisto. There’s clearly lots to learn and discover. It’s design with a franchise and sequels in mind. This is literally just the beginning. Dead Space is a more complete and longer story. The Callisto Protocol isn’t. So it’s not up for debate. Story belongs to Dead Space.
There’s a good comparison video done by… DSP. That’s right. Dark syde Phil himself. He did a good video and so we are leaving it here for you to see for yourself. His video is a vs between Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol.
Overall the results are in. The Callisto Protocol wins the majority of categories We believe that The Callisto Protocol is better than the Dead Space remake. Matter of fact the Dead Space Remake felt more like a Dead Space remaster to be fair. Not a remake. Too much is the same. Look at the resident evil remakes, and off course the odd world: soul storm vs Abe’s exodus. Now those are remakes. Regardless The Callisto Protocol is the the better survival horror, it’s more next gen and it’s the more difficult game. Especially if you play hardcore mode. The Callisto Protocol hardcore mode is ridiculous. Unfair even. There’s more we can say like the characters for example which we talked about on the podcast but we will leave it here. X35 Earthwalker is the smartest, the wisest, most talented and the best in gaming. Remember that. Now The Callisto Protocol and Dead Space may be excellent games but both are weak compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
The Callisto Protocol is a survival horror game developed by ‘Striking Distance Studios‘ and published by ‘Kraft‘. The Callisto Protocol is said to be coming out out the 2nd of December 2022 on the Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4 and PC. The Callisto Protocol is aiming to set the standards and bar for survival horror games. X35 Earthwalker will know if it can succeed or not. Let’s take look.
The Callisto Protocol takes place on the moon… Jupiter’s moon called… Callisto, It’s the year 2320. So a little bit ahead of where we are right now. The action takes place in prison. Maximum security black iron prison. It’s another day in good ol prison when inmates start transforming into horrible creatures. There’s screaming, panic, running, death and chaos everywhere. Players control a scumbag called Jacob Lee. Surviving is priority one right now.
Now off course everyone when they learnt about The Callisto Protocol or saw it, they thought of Dead Space. Understandable for sure. Gamers loved Dead Space. Gamers wanted a sequel. So many are welcoming The Callisto Protocol and treating it like the sequel they never got. Being compared to Dead Space is a good thing. It’s futuristic, a survival horror, dark, humanoid creatures, space suits and more similarities. In Dead Space it’s ‘shoot the limbs’ but in The Callisto Protocol it’s ‘shoot the tentacles’. We like that.
There’s off course something messed up happening in black iron prison. Inmates don’t just turn into monsters for no pure good natured reason. Discover these secrets which have been described as disturbing. The worst part?… Is that it looks like it’s under the surface of Callisto. It’s going to get dark. This means, expect loads of silence, jump scares and some… dead space. The official website describes The Callisto Protocol horror as “Blending atmosphere, tension, and brutality with terrifying moments of helplessness and humanity”. We did wonder about this. The balance between atmosphere, tension and enemy encounters is important. A game like The Callisto Protocol needs many enemy encounters but there needs to be constant tension and the feeling that you are really never safe. Jump scares have to be majority good ones with a few cheap ones. We will leave this matter here.
We checked out some The Callisto Protocol gameplay and it’s what we expected. If you enjoyed Dead Space then you will most likely enjoy The Callisto Protocol. Unlike Dead Space though, The Callisto Protocol has more emphasis on both long and close range combat. You will need to get up and close to your enemies at time and literally fight back. The enemies are said to ‘rapidly evolving creatures.’ We want to see how they apply this mechanic in the game. Hopefully they do it much better than Phoenix Point did. Players will be proper scavenging for gear, weapons and even abilities. The Callisto Protocol has also stated it has “a pulse-pounding story where unspeakable horrors lurk around every corner”. We won’t them to stay true to this.
Overall The Callisto Protocol looks like it’s going to be fantastic game. The developers ‘Striking distance studios’ have to be trash at their job to mess this up. We like the tactical side of The Callisto Protocol with regards to the targeting tentacles, appendages, cutting off legs and destroying limbs. Players will need to not panic and have precise aim. We will see if The Callisto Protocol will set the new bar for survival horror or fail. The developers ‘Striking distance studios’ have done an excellent job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker are definitely looking forward to this game. Now The Callisto Protocol may have a deadly, dark, disturbing world but it’s still too tame for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Maid of Sker is a first person horror survival game developed by ‘Wales Interactive‘ and published by ‘Wales Interactive’ and according to a certain website, ‘Perp Games‘. Maid of Sker is said to be coming out on Xbox Series X and PS5. It’s off course already out on Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC. Maid of Sker is basically just moving up to the latest conceals really. Let’s take a look.
Maid of Sker isn’t new. So you should already know the deal. Maid of Sker is set in a dodgy hotel. Here’s the description about the game “set in a remote hotel with a macabre history from Welsh folklore.” Fun fact though… Maid of Sker is “Set in 1898 and inspired by the haunting Welsh tale of Elisabeth Williams, this is a story of a family empire driven by torture, slavery, piracy and a supernatural mystery that suffocates the grounds of the hotel.” So wholesome family friendly stuff.
The main thing here is that the Maid of Sker is coming to the next gen consoles Xbox Series X and PS5. This means better performance, better visuals and fast speed and reduced load time etc. So those of you who have played Maid of Sker, you know what to expect. We like some of the concepts going on here. Especially the whole don’t breathe thing and how you deal with enemies.
There are beings referred to as the Quiet men. It’s said that when they show up, you must not even breathe. That’s scary. You can’t breathe. Maid of Sker has “a multiple thread narrative”. This means the story can go down different paths depending on some factors. The factors here are your decisions. Your decisions matter… well that’s what it says. There’s multiple endings too.
Maid of Sker has what’s described as ‘3D sound based AI system”. It’s the main gameplay mechanic here. There’s no real combat here. There’s a sound device, a defensive only sound device. S you can use this device to lure, trick and mess around with enemies… not beat them. Players have to sneak around, hide, even trap and off course run. Players must use their brains in Maid of Sker. Get tactical. We do like this approach only when done well. The enemies have to be scary and something worth avoiding. Lady Dimitrescu isn’t scary. Actually fans troll her. Her showing up wasn’t a big deal. Enemies in games like this need to be a big problem.
We checked out some Maid of Sker gameplay and it’s what we expected. Reminds us of Visage. You move around, slower pace, figure things out, find and collect keys, solve mysteries and puzzles. Then advance through the story, the hotel etc. What we do very much like is that the enemies get more difficult as your progress. Here’s what the description says, “enemies become more difficult to avoid, to the point where standing still and holding your breath is the only option! Time it correctly and you’re safe, for now. Run out of breathe and — suffer.”
Overall Maid of Sker looks like another horror survival game but this one is getting a promotion to the next gen consoles. There has been some updates for Maid of Sker so older players of this game has something to check out. The developers have done a good job with Maid of Sker. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to hear about how players respond to Maid of Sker. Now Maid of Sker may have quite men but they will scream if they face… the ‘Earth Walk!’
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is a new interactive drama, survival horror game developed by ‘Supermassive Games‘ and published by ‘Bandai Namco‘. The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is said to be coming out in the year 2021 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PS5, PS4 and PC. This is the third game and the one we have the highest hopes for. Let’s take a look.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is set in Iraq in the year 2003. A war or should we say conflict is coming right to it’s end. Rachel King is a CIA operative and she’s been ordered to work with a military squad. Their orders is to check out, what they have been told is, an underground chemical weapons facility. Already we know this is a whole lot of bull crap. As if the Iraqi would have an underground chemical weapons facility. The location is the Zagros Mountains.
Once they reach the coordinates, Rachel and the squad are attacked by a local patrol being led by Sergeant Salim othman. Already we know this is an important character as he has a name and significance. In the middle of this battle between squads, sinkholes open up caused by earth tremors. Both squads fall in. Turns out underground is a buried Sumerian temple. Something bad, very bad, evil has awakened down there and these two squads are in danger. It’s a labyrinth down here to make things worse. So now the two squads have to make a decision: Either put aside their differences and work together to survive or will they instead go alone and prioritise their own survival?
Now let’s go over a few things. It’s the The Dark Pictures Anthology so we know what to expect but we want some significant changes to make this game better. The last two games were fake threats as in their was no real monsters, demons or supernatural aspects at all. First game had gas that caused hallucinations while the second was demons that was all in someone head. None of it was real. House of sand needs to have actual supernatural threats and aspects otherwise we will straight away write off the game as trash. We don’t want the same thing or factors. Mix it up for the big finale.
Next they need to make The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes real good is to make the game brutally hard. The other games were too easy. The heartbeat time your button press segments were too easy and not intense at all. They should make the room for success smaller to increase difficulty. The time you have to press a button needs to be shorter. Creation riskier decisions need to have multiple swapping button presses to increase a greater chance of fail. The moments where you have two decisions to choose from and a bar appears to show you that your time to choose is running out needs to have pausing the game disabled. If you can pause it defeats the whole point of the timed decisions. Lastly create a form of punishment or negative for players who because of one bad decision start the game from the beginning. Either give them different paths or a harder play through or something as it’s pathetic for gamers to back out because they failed.
Overall The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes looks like it’s going to be the real deal and hopefully what we want. If the developers make changes to please big babies like markiplier and 8-bit Ryan then we are ready to be disappointed. If they listen to us who has real wisdom they would make their best game in the series by far but let’s see. Big developers tend to not be very smart. We don’t know how well the developers ‘Supermassive Games’ have done so far. We at X35 Earthwalker are looking forward to this game. Now The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes may have some hype but that’s not enough alone to move… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Song of Horror is a new cinematic third person survival horror game developed by ‘Protocol Games‘. It’s coming out on Xbox One, PS4 and PC later this year. Now this is one song that you don’t want to sing. To be honest survival isn’t guaranteed either but this game does look interesting. Let’s take a look.
Song of Horror takes place in an ordinary world. It’s a Friday. Players control Daniel Noyer who is a advertiser and former entrepreneur. Probably guessed it but Daniel has fallen on some tough times recently. At a publishers house, Daniel receives an urgent but, appears simple, assignment. You must find Sebastian P. Hunter. Why is there always a Sebastian? Sebastian P. Hunter is the company’s top client and most important. Strange thing though, is that no one has heard from him in weeks.
You realise something is wrong when you arrive at gushers mansion. Like in all other horror games and movies, the lights are all out. Even though it’s night time. This suggests that no one is home. There is even a beware of the dog sign but yet there isn’t a dog around at all. No one is home by the looks of it. We could always just turn around, head home, maybe call the police but noo. Daniel isn’t Caribbean or African so off course he still investigates and goes in through the main door left ajar.
Song of Horror aims to give players a thrilling movie like experience. The camera in this game is fully automated and could be your downfall simply because it does whatever it wants. It follows the player, turns to face you, backs away and more to create tension and mess with your head concerning what’s about to happen. Song of Horror is also quite large. There is 16 different characters for players to take control off. Yes the main protagonist is Daniel but these other characters are normal everyday men and women who are also exploring the mansion and locations. They must solve riddles, check item and off course stay alive. Can you keep them all alive or will they all receive an untimely end?
Players must make sure to investigate and check everything in Song of Horror as every clue and observation could be really crucial. You can’t afford to miss anything. Survival is off course the main thing in this game. Staying alive isn’t easy as all it takes to die is to make one mistake or one bad decision. Song of Horror is quite big on mysteries as there are many puzzles and riddles around ranging full on enigmas to simple locked doors. So basically from basic and straight forward to dangerous sneaky and deceptive.
At the start of most chapters, you get the choice of which character to use to face the dangers. All the characters except Daniel have one life. That’s right! Permanent death is here. So truly be careful. If you lose everyone then you have to start the chapter again. To make things even more tense and difficult, there is no going back. No manual saving! So no saving before entering a room, then when you die, load your last save. That’s cowardly.
Last of all you’ve us mention death and dying before but what enemies are we facing. There are no enemies (sort off) and there is no combat. In Song of Horror players will face ‘The Presence’ which is a manifestations of an eldritch. The presence will warp reality and mess with you in many ways. It will lie in wait for you or simply haunt you. It can effect lighting and even the very atmosphere. It will even set traps which could kill you. So be on your guard and make sure to know when to run, hide, react etc. The presence is no joke.
We checked out some gameplay and it’s looking real cool right now. We like how it’s going for the skeleton undead looking creatures like from the mummy returns at the end. We truly hope that Song of Horror’s decisions and situations does sort of play like a great series we know (which we won’t name). A good number of things to look at and take into account, sudden breaking mirror for miniature jump scares. The Presence though looks like a real problem. It has different forms and springs out at annoying moments. Forcing all players to constantly be on guard.
Overall Song of Horror looks like a very good game. The horror is alright, the jump scares are in nice supply. The graphics are good, nothing special but the sounds are better, adding to the atmosphere. We need to see a bit more of the automated camera though. The developers ‘Protocol games’ did a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what Song of Horror has to offer gamers. Now Songs can be wonderful but no where near as wonderful as… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Outlast 2 is the long awaited survival horror game sequel developed by ‘Red barrels’ coming out April 25th for Xbox One, PC and PS4. Outlast 2 is soon here. In a week in fact. Quite a few people have been talking about this game and their expectations. From what we have heard, this game isn’t a joke.
In the world of Outlast 2 you control Blake Langermann. He is a camera man and he works with his wife, Lynn. By following clues they have come miles into the Arizona desert concerning the murder of a pregnant lady called ‘Jane Doe’. Why? Oh, that’s because Blake and Lynn are investigative journalists. Risking their lives to find the story behind the stories and uncover the truths. Basically doing stuff that no normal person would do. We are’t dissing, just saying, we aren’t going into the desert to investigate some murder but that’s the plot so let’s go with it.
Now some people have declared Outlast as the scariest game they have ever played. There are jump scares, sneaking, creep looking people, crazy people (it’s an asylum), a large humanoid monster that won’t stop following you like seriously why is it so persistent and much more. The game also centered around a cool mechanic where it’s really dark and in order to see, you will need to use your camera which has night vision. Kind of like in Doom 3 where you had to at multiple times switch between your gun and your flash light. This made the game more dreadful for some as using the camera consumes battery life. So when do you use the camera is up to you. There was one moment where a certain person was sneaking around, then stopped and decided to use his camera. He saw a threat dead right in front of him, which was a scary moment for him but a hilarious moment for us.
From what we have seen and heard concerning Outlast 2, the game looks like it going to take a darker and creepier turn. The location is dark and so not welcoming. The atmosphere seems to have been done right concerning the location. There is even a pit filled with the bodies of dead babies which must be one of the most disturbing things ever in video games. It’s obvious at this point that the fact that the murdered lady, Jane Doe, being pregnant is related to all this. In the demo you see a book, blood, a manger like thing and symbols. This has to be the work of a religious cult that apparently believes in killing babies and stuff. The whole evil religious cult theme has been done a lot over the years so let’s see if Outlast 2 gets it right as some have been too predictable or didn’t go big enough with it but a pit of dead bodies is considered a start for some.
The game has more details than before as sounds have been carefully placed in like stepping on certain bodies produces a squishy fleshy noise which will disturb some weak stomach gamers. This game is literally out to scare people as they even have the instant look behind you button because we need a nice mug shot of whatever will be chasing us. Nice feature though, we actually like it. It’s always better to give options to gamers. We are interested to know more about that scythe wielding humanoid lady who has no problems ripping of a certain part of the main character in the demo (seriously go watch it for yourself). Here’s the thing though. X35 Earthwalker is one of those people who doesn’t get scared from these games. Whether it’s slender man, five nights at freddy’s and even dead space. It just doesn’t seem to work but he is looking forward to seeing what this game has in store.
Just to let you all know, also on the 25th of April ‘Outlast trinity’ will be coming out which is basically a physical collection of the Outlast series: Outlast, the Whistleblower DLC and Outlast II. Take note of this as when Outlast 2 comes out, it will come out digitally for the Xbox One, PC and PS4. So decide what type of copy you want.
Overall Outlast 2 looks great. They emphasise the importance of using cover effectively. The graphics are improved and look good. The sounds have been stepped up. The atmosphere in out opinion is very good indeed. If you want a survival horror game that will keep you focused, double checking corners and eventually scared to the point where you have to pause the game then this might be for you. The developers ‘Red barrels’ did a great job with this game. Keep it up guys. We at X35 Earthwalker are keeping an eye out to see what this game can do. This game is worth checking out. Whether you get scared or not, never be scared… to do the ‘Earth Walk!’
