The Shadow Horror 12+

Clever and different.

This isn't one of those linear choice games that uses the same structure. This is in essence a free roam, haunted house text adventure. In my opinion I wouldn't go so far to say the game is scary; likely due to the restrictive format of the game as saying that, if this was a 3D game, it would be scary indeed. Instead the game creates tension and retains a spooky atmosphere throughout, always leaving you wondering if you should, for example, thoroughly read notes or investigating that closet for tools. This is because staying too long in an area or aimlessly exploring will inevitably lead to an encounter which you may, or may not be able to escape alive from.

The game has a brilliant time system with the house you're in changing considerably as it gets darker, meaning every time you walk into a room you get different descriptive texts. Encounters and situations also change depending on the rooms you're in at the time. Seemingly irrelevant items also find logical uses whilst going about solving the mystery with interesting statistics such as narrative bonuses (A bonus for being as horror story cliché as possible). Finally the game allows a lot of freedom on the player with as advertised, the option to ignore the house altogether for a fast but unsatisfying end.

On the negative side the game does feel slightly unfinished or rushed which is not benefitted by the authors optional commentary or the narration. Despite it being often informative, useful and occasionally funny, the author is perhaps too honest about the shortcomings of the game. I respect the honesty however he too readily admits that the save function is somewhat buggy, and that while developing this game he was behind on his writing so had to cut some corners,(He actually admits in game that he cut corners!!) detracting from the experience and leaving you feeling a little half empty about parting with your cash. Also, no matter how you finish the game the author offers bribes (He, himself calls them bribes) to try to encourage you to play the game again, as if admitting that the game may not be worth a second visit without them. The 'bribes' however are fun, but remove the challenge and some of the sense of urgency.

I only encountered one bug where I was using all the 'bribes' and went into many of the story related rooms to do the tasks before I was actually asked to do them (This will make sense if you play the game) resulting in being asked to go into a room to do a task I had already done.

Lastly, the game is rather little with only one puzzle; very limited for this genre, and the house does feel small, but the branching paths, choice and all the text you get, more than make up for it.

In conclusion, the game is fresh and deserves commendation for it's style and depth. I just hope that more people buy this to encourage the developer to further tweak and develop the game in more updates. I would however be surprised at this as they way the author spoke, this game seemed like a project he wanted to rush out and put to one side so he could concentrate on other things.