Lone Survivor (Spoiler Free)
A game called Lone Survivor came out recently, I wasn’t going to get it until I got my work done, but I couldn’t help myself. Made by Jasper Byrne over 4 years, out on PC, Mac and Linux. It’s a side scrolling horror game with retro styled graphics.
You have to escape from a city after some outbreak. This concept isn’t anything new, but what it does is offer a choice on how you go about surviving. There are stealth elements, so you don’t have to rely on firearms and the dwindling ammo supply, or if you choose you can kill pretty much everything in your way. Character health, both physical and mental also plays a key part. You can either look after yourself and do your best to cope whilst you escape/desperately search for other survivors, or go through both physical and mental collapse and fall into insanity.
The mood and atmosphere of this game is phenomenal, you really do feel alone on the verge of collapse, desperate for some sort of escape from hell. The atmosphere is like a Silent Hill game, an early Silent Hill game. The soundtrack would also be at home in a Team Silent game, it’s excellent and I can’t wait to pick it up.
I also really like the visual style, effects are used well to heighten the eerie feel, and the world really does look like it’s been ravaged by something horrible. I’m very unsure about any of the plot elements, I’ve specifically not read anything past a synopsis or seen anything past the trailer, but I do know this is a must play for anyone interested in real fear.
A demo is available to play online here:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/superflat/lone-survivor-demo
The official site has more information on how to go about buying the game:
http://superflatgames.com/wordpress/?tag=lone-survivor
It’s less than £10, but it’s easily worth double that. Horror is in such a sorry state in the mainstream games industry, support the indies who do it right.
