My first encounter with the work of Postmodern Adventures, aka José María Meléndez, occurred just last year, when, driven by a sudden desire to try something nostalgic, pixelated, and decidedly horror-themed, I finally got around to playing one of the Spanish solo developer’s earlier projects, Nightmare Frames.
Dead Format has the most insanely intriguing premise I’ve seen come out of a horror game in a long while. You take cursed, supernatural VHS tapes, each representing a different genre of film, and dive into them Inception-style to explore their every nook and cranny? And you do this within the framework of a survival horror game?
Tormented Souls 2 picks up more or less where the original left off, and begins with protagonist Caroline Walker and her freshly-rescued sister Anna riding a train to the town of Villa Hess for some much-needed answers.
Somehow, fate has brought yet another cooperative horror game to my attention where you spend the majority of your time completing objectives while trying to outsmart – or eliminate – a bloodthirsty and highly agitated monster. First it was Macabre, a fairly unremarkable and thoroughly undercooked project I didn’t have a particularly high opinion of; now it’s Species: Unknown, a sci-fi Alien: Isolation-esque co-op romp that is in a desperate need of content… but is actually fun to play.
“What in the world did I just play?” That was the very first question flashing through my mind as I watched the credits roll during the final moments of The Lacerator, and I’m still not sure I have the answer. Nor do I feel like I need one.
I’m going to start off this review by saying something that may cause a number of you to gasp. Well, maybe. Anyway, here goes: I had never heard of Space Adventure Cobra until I came to try this game. Okay, here’s your chance to gasp. All this time, I thought this was “just” a very well-made anime-style action-platformer – well, it turns out it’s actually based on a classic anime series from the 1980s.
On paper, Macabre sounds like a really solid concept. I’ll paint the picture for you: after being dropped into a hostile wilderness either alone or with friends at your side, you complete objectives while a relentless monster hunts you – one that supposedly adapts to your every move.
The basic formula is endlessly simple: you select a job, confirm the pickup location, and go grab your package. Then you drive to your destination with the goods precariously bouncing around in the back of your truck as you sweat bullets trying to make sure they don’t fall off during a particularly sharp turn.
Put simply, this is a detective game. An investigation game. And I mean that in the strictest sense possible: this is generally the kind of game that requires you to be a detective and… you know, detect things. What’s more, it expects you to choose your own deductions, draw up connections and possibilities, and work out a potential culprit.
In essence, the easiest way to introduce Eriksholm is to say it’s an isometric stealth game. But to me, that expression primarily calls to mind titles like Commandos, Desperados or Shadow Tactics – challenging stealth experiences focused on elaborate planning, creative problem-solving possibilities and making use of each team member’s unique skill set to overcome seemingly overwhelming odds in a quiet, yet elegant way.
