Written past times Kris Galvez
Title: The Long Reach
Developer: Painted Black Games
Publisher: Merge Games
Price: $14.99
Genre: Action, Adventure
Also Available On: Steam, PS4
Horror inward video games are difficult to instruct correct specially if it's your get-go time. Whether your game is the saltation scare type similar Outlast or if it's the psychological type of horror similar Silent Hill, nearly all of these had already been done inward video games. Mastery of the genre is of import if you lot desire to laid your game apart from others. This is what the developers at Painted Black Games aimed to do inward their get-go video game outing.
The Long Reach is a psychological thriller bordering on the horrors of what the human heed allows you lot to reach. You play every bit Stewart or “Stu” every bit you lot navigate the hallways of an eerie laboratory where an experiment has gone wrong. The game plays similar a normal side scrolling endangerment game where you lot induce got to come upward up amongst a solution to the electrical flow “dilemma” or puzzle that your grapheme is currently in. Add inward several mad men who comes later on you lot to kill you, a soundtrack that exudes the creepiness of the setting in addition to nosotros should've gotten a decent horror title.
The game tries to give you lot terror past times giving you lot eerie music every bit you lot roam the halls of the laboratory, making you lot helpless against psychopaths who has large bladed weapons, in addition to fifty-fifty attempts to modify your character's perception of reality in addition to what not. All of this are supposed to travel good inward giving you lot the dread that a horror game needs. And it succeeds on that. Horror beats are good executed in addition to the means the game psychologically plays amongst you lot is nice. The skillful withal ends when you lot induce got to motion the game forward. Controlling Stu is every bit cumbersome in addition to boring every bit the inventory management. The Long Reach is trying to live a Ron Gilbert indicate in addition to click endangerment but it fails at it. Puzzles that are supposed to live logical sometimes postulate jumps inward logic to solve. By the terminate of it all, I was trying to struggle the game's puzzles past times merely trying to purpose all items on whatever object I tin purpose them on. This felt similar an do inward futility every bit I examine to click on anything clickable hoping something would work.
It would've been a nicer sense if the narrative is coherent. Unfortunately, the macabre dialogue is unloose in addition to distracting. The writing tries to live self aware but falls brusk on beingness intelligible. Character motivations sometimes do non brand sense which makes them non relatable. Basically, the disconnect betwixt the cool implementation of sanity effects in addition to the sloppy writing pretty much ruins the game's narrative.
With approximately cool sanity effects in addition to a somewhat skillful (even if overused) premise, The Long Reach could've been a lot better. Unfortunately, the clumsiness of the puzzle solving in addition to the less than stellar storey makes it quite forgettable compared to other horror games for the Switch. It's soundless a skillful get-go examine for Painted Black games then I am soundless excited for what they tin do inward the future.
Pros
- Great sanity effects which matches the themes of the game.
- Game is five hours long then it tin live finished inward i sitting.
- The creepy soundtrack adds to the overall atmosphere of the game.
Cons:
- Most of the game's five hours is trying to solve the puzzles. One build clean play through should exclusively induce got you lot a twain of hours.
- Despite the theme, the narrative itself falls apart due to shoddy writing in addition to underdeveloped characters.
Score: 6/10
Note: This game was reviewed using a code from the publisher.
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