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Project Abel (Early Access) – An Atmospheric Indie Horror Game Based on Old-School Resident Evil and Silent Hill Games

Roy G — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 08:36:55 +0000

Game Review

Project Abel is an immersive horror game that’ll have you nostalgic for old-school terror.

It’s a survival horror game that’s based on pixel art with retro graphics rendered in 16-bit. The game plays with a sidescrolling perspective on a 2.5D plane. It’s like those old-school point-and-click games except with better controls.

The game has you playing the role of a random dude who gets trapped in an empty college, or university since it’s huge. The place is abandoned and you can tell from the fixtures that are no longer used. The place is creepily eerie and all you want to do is escape. But as with all horror games, it’s not that easy!

The game feels very similar to Resident Evil in terms of the gameplay and puzzles.

Yes, you solve puzzles throughout the game. They’re not too difficult, but you won’t be able to breeze through them without some thought and process. They’re mainly item hunts and item placement puzzles, but you’ll be forced to go into that classroom you really don’t want to.

Aft4er all, escaping this university is a lot more difficult when you have some pretty creepy things around you that lurk the halls.

Without spoiling the game, let’s just say you’ll be on-edge like the whole time. Even though the game is created from pixel art, it’s still very atmospheric and will immerse you into its gloomy world. You can’t see the farther edge of the screen and you can only guess what’s an inch to the left or right- especially when it’s a new area.

The atmosphere is dark. The sounds are creepy. The artwork uses a nice combination of dark colors with limited contrast. There’s also the factor that you have to utilize your resources correctly (resource management). The game has a few save points and saving costs you items (much like Resident Evil’s typewriter rolls).

You’re armed with just a basic weapon and it costs you ammo which you’ll have to use carefully. You don’t want to run and gun, but rather aim carefully at the monsters. Each monster takes quite a few hits to take down and reload times are something you’ll have to watch out for. And the pistol is pretty inaccurate.

The controls are also pretty blocky, but they’re probably made that way to simulate the controls of older gen horror games. Some of the key mappings are pretty difficult to use and will need to be worked on, but there is a control pad compatible option for those who prefer using one. The keyboard/mouse controls aren’t the best- they’re not the most intuitive. But again, this is just a demo and it’ll be improved with time.

Project Abel is a very immersive old-school horror game that we need to see more of these days. You can play the demo using the link below. it’s worth a playthrough if you’re into Resident Evil or Silent Hill-type survival horror.

ProsCons

Resident Evil and Silent Hill-inspired gameplay
Solve puzzles and gather clues
Immersive atmosphere
Nice pixel art
Old-school horror

Controls can be improved

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Game Information

Status: Early Access

Published: 3/2/18

Platforms: Windows

Engine: –

Genre: Horror

Languages: English

Inputs: Keyboard, Mouse, Gamepad

Developer Information

Developer: abeldev

Developer page: Go

Screenshots

(Via Developer/Game Page)

Gameplay Video

Download and Play Project Abel (Early Access)

Play

Roy G

Weird indie game specialist. Adventure, retro, and simulators are my fav. Xbox One and PC gamer on the side.

The post Project Abel (Early Access) – An Atmospheric Indie Horror Game Based on Old-School Resident Evil and Silent Hill Games appeared first on Peach's Castle.

The Lost Cave of the Ozarks (Early Access) – A Narrated, Immersive, and Beautiful Classic Platformer

Roy G — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 08:22:43 +0000

Game Review

The Lost Cave of the Ozarks is a puzzle platforming adventure game that’ll draw you in with its gorgeous artwork.

The game is currently in a Kickstarter campaign but already has a sweet demo available for play. The game combines puzzles, platforming, and lots of secrets for you to uncover throughout the game’s beautiful hand-painted worlds. It takes a lot of traditional platforming elements and mixes them with some modern ones for a new and refreshing take on the genre.

For instance, there are classic chase scenes as there are in any good platformer. But you don’t just run for it in this game. You have a stamina meter which you need to constantly watch out for. You need to balance it out if you don’t want to get caught. This is something I haven’t seen in a platformer game since the old-school days of first-gen consoles.

The game is based on different narratives that are all intertwined with each other. It’s set in the 1880s all the way to today, so time is a factor in the storyline. You control multiple characters throughout each time narrative that cover a different time period. The game offers 3 different characters in their own narrative for you to play through.

It’s inspired by real events and locations that have occurred in history. The stories are also based on actual events in history. It’ll immerse you in with its atmospheric 2D platformer world that brings about exploration, puzzle-solving, and super action sequences.

The game is also narrated and has a kickass soundtrack that evolves with the storyline. It’s a unique platformer that offers a lot of stuff combined into one game. The storyline is actually good enough make you want to play, and each characters’ stories seem like they’ll offer an interesting take into history.

There are also multiple story endings as well. The game does an excellent job of giving you total immersion into the game with the fantastic soundtrack and stunning visuals.

You play as a character called “The Boy” and the game revolves around you completing rooms from the past and then seeing the same segment in the present as Libedon- the tour guide of The Lost Cave.

The current demo offers just about 10 minutes of gameplay and shows off the game’s amazing hand-drawn artwork.

The gameplay is actually very fluid and well done. The game has a heavy influence by games where you need to solve puzzles constantly in order to progress through the platforming rather than once in a while. There are a few checkpoints on each level and also some awesome stamina management areas. The game is very creative and brings back that Nintendo feel of platforming that anyone can appreciate.

Come for the artwork. Stay for the platforming. The game will invite you into its lush, detailed world. It plays as a sidescroller as you solve simple to moderate puzzles in order to activate platforms, unlock secrets, and outrun hazard. Lost Cave of the Ozarks is a game platformer games will jump all over!