Welcome back to A's GAMING moments!
Now I've been thinking- I don't think I've reviewed any horror games yet this year!
So I thought, why not bring you one that takes the normal rules of a lunatic asylum game
and throws them out the window.
Hopefully it will surprise you, so let's take a look at The Town Of Light...
Now I'm not going to lie, this game won't satisfy a lot of people.
The majority of it simply involves walking around, picking things up, reading letters
and performing basic tasks.
And if that doesn't sound like your idea of a good game, well, bear with me.
You see, this game doesn't fall into your typical horror genre.
It's free from the jump scares, the zombies, the ghost stories- no, here, things get a
lot more sombre and so more thought provoking.
It bases itself upon true stories and true events, describing the state of affairs of
lunatic asylums in the 1930's and 40's.
In particular of the 'Ospedale Psichiatrico Di Volterra', an asylum in Tuscanny, Italy
also known as 'The Place of No Return'.
It forced itself to be shut down in 1978 after its practices were deemed too cruel, but the
game captures everything about this building, perfectly, from the architecture, right down
to the graffittied walls.
After you've played through this game, looking at real life pictures of the place, becomes
an eerie experience , because it feels like you've wandered these corridors before.
The game acts like a virtual tour of the place, providing an authentic reconstruction of an
actual psychiatric hospital.
The facility opened at a time when people didn't know how to handle mental illness.
Many thought of insanity as the Devil's work, so considered the best possible solution to
take these people away from society and keep them as quiet as possible.
Treatments provided short term results at best, the most famous example being the infamous
shock treatment.
There were cases of restraining patients, of forcing them to take cold showers and even
of suffocating them.
Plus, their vulnerable state made them targets for attack from certain members of the staff.
So why am I telling you about the horrific conditions of asylums in the 1940's?
Well, because the game manages to portray all of these situations.
Parts of it drip with intensity, like when you're sent to the so-called 'semi-agitated'
treatment rooms, where, when patients get too noisy, staff lock up the doors, close
all the windows and turn off the lights, then wait for the screaming to eventually die out.
I don't know about you, but this situation here seems a hell of a lot more horrifying
than anything Outlast throws at you.
The atmosphere remains consistently uncomfortable, plus when you throw in the dark tone and subject
matter- the experience truly becomes engaging.
Chilling music plays at just the right times for added impact, leaving you alone for the
most part to soak up the quiet hum of an abandoned building.
Or of course, to listen the thoughts of our leading lady, Renee.
The game is seen through the eyes of an old patient, returning to the hospital many years after
it got shut down.
As she wanders the corridors, her memories come flooding back to her, often making her
irrational.
She fears staying in certain places for too long, in case the old nurses catch her there.
Or she tries to look for people in rooms she once remembers them being in.
It provides for some interesting situations, where you know what you're doing doesn't make
a whole lot of sense, but in her mind it does.
Her paranoia gets infectious and I swear that doll's eyes just moved!
Her voice acting is delivered superbly, another example of how good this game sounds.
Having her character adds a much needed personal touch to the history of the building, enticing
you to push forwards to discover what happened to her.
At a few occasions throughout the story, you're confronted with some multiple choice questions,
which determine not only the path that the story takes, but also the mental health condition
that Renee suffers from, be it, for example, depression or obsession.
Going back and answering these questions differently doesn't provide too much incentive to replay
the game, unless of course you're going for trophies.
And hey, I just got my 30th platinum!
As I've already said, this game won't be for everyone.
It bears similarities to Gone Home, although personally, I prefer The Town Of Light's more
chaotic pacing and unnerving situations.
Plus it sheds some much needed light on a dark part of history.
Until next time, thanks for watching.