Uncanny Valley [Game Review]
Game: Uncanny Valley
Genre: Psychological Horror
Developer: Cowardly Creations
Publisher: Cowardly Creations
Copy supplied by developer
Uncanny Valley is a 2D psychological survival horror game developed and published by Cowardly Creations.
STORY
You play as Tom, the new security guard of a facility far away from society. He is in charge of the night shift, and when he starts exploring the facility he finds secrets that should not be unveiled.
Saying something more about the plot would ruin the entire experience. There are multiple ways to proceed in the story, and multiple endings to be unlocked. The atmosphere is fantastic, similar to the one in the first Silent Hill games, and exploring the silent corridors listening only to your footsteps is really creepy.
GRAPHICS
The game has a pixelated look which is more detailed than the one is Lone Survivor, but with less detail than the one in Westerado: Double Barreled. It still looks really good, and the areas are big and varied enough to never tire you.
GAMEPLAY
You explore the environments, looking for objects to interact with and collect. You will encounter puzzles that aren't that hard to complete most of the times, as well as some sessions in which you have to run away and hide from the enemies which are suprisingly fresh and intense in their execution. In case you get hit, you must find bandages to heal yourself in a similar way to "Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth".
Unfortunately, there are some problems. First of all, it is really hard to know what to do and where to go sometimes (even though that's kind of the point). You also have a stamina meter that depletes way too fast, and when you run your flashlight turns off, forcing you to stop and light the environment before running again. The game is still very enjoyable, and this are just a few nitpicks that can be easily fixed.
CHALLENGE
The game's puzzles are relatively easy to beat, but unlocking some endings and surviving the entire game is fairly challenging, especially when avoiding the enemies.
SOUND
The sound effects when exploring the environments help creating the sense of dread that we love in the good ol'horror games. The soundtrack by Danilo Kapel is also great, and I recommend buying it.
REPLAYABILITY
There are a total of six endings to discover, tapes scattered around the facility to listen to, and 18 Steam achievements. The game's story is interesting enough to make you go back to it multiple times.
Fans of classic survival horror focused more on puzzles than combat will love this experience, while others might be turned off by the non-linear storyline.
Story: 8
Graphics: 8
Gameplay: 8
Challenge: 7
Sound: 9
Replayability: 8
ENJOYMENT: 8.5
FRUSTRATION: 6
