‘REVEIL’ Review: Don’t Play This Game If You’re Scared Of Clowns
Walking simulator horror has come a long way, and since we have come away from the market being flooded with the genre, it’s nice to see a title like REVEIL take its time building the tension and slowly dole out its mechanics. It is also Pixelsplits first foray into horror. With that comes ups and downs as they work in some inspiring tension and find the perfect location to set a horror game: The Circus.
REVEIL follows Walter Thompson as he struggles with a case of amnesia to the point where he is having psychological issues in remembering his past, what is happening with his family, and what is even real. REVEIL does an excellent job of setting itself in its horror circus, which we dip in and out of as we track down his daughter Dorie. While the story was a little uneven for me, it makes for an interesting set piece as notes are littered throughout the levels to fill in the story. It creates this instance where someone playing through might only have a great grasp of the story being told if they dive into each note. But each note is saddled with the voice acting, which is not horrible but just kind of bland. It made me start just skipping notes.
Early on, we come across the circus. This is not only the central location in REVEIL but also the lore and holds all the secrets that Walter needs to unlock the truth of the situation. What really sets REVEIL apart is its slow-rolling mechanics. It wasn’t until roughly two hours into the game that it was revealed that you can crouch. When it does this, it is because they finally introduced a death.
Evolution Deathbed
Well, not really death. Death is not really a part of REVEIL, as when you run into a situation that would result in a game over, time interestingly resets itself. At the start of the game, you wake up at Walter’s house. Locked inside his bedroom, you need to solve an environmental puzzle to escape. But even when you escape, this isn’t the last time you’ll see that room. When the monstrous beings attack and catch you, instead of “dying”, you find reliving the moment of being locked in the room, albeit with some changes. Depending on the “death”, those changes may be more subtle, like the items strewn around the room are different, or more significant changes, like bleeding walls and horrific visions of a girl in the bathtub.
The walking simulator horror genre has long delved into the ever-shifting landscape behind the player. It’s in REVEIL that it works the best, specifically in the circus-based levels where it’s clear the team let their creativity fly. With winding halls and perspective-shifting rooms, it really got me thinking just how incredible some of these room setups were. They play with the horror aspects of a circus in such unique ways.
Bringing Childhood Wonderment
There is a funhouse mirror room that I have never seen done like this before. As you follow your daughter in, the room shifts. But, the mirrors are masked in such a way that, at points, it feels like unless you are just staring at the ground, you will easily get lost in the unending reflections. Frankly, the way the lighting and sound work when you are stumbling through sprouted a long-lost fear in me.
Things falter a bit in the story and the entity encounters. While the initial introduction of the other beings is cool each time, there is a split second of each that had me confused for just long enough to get captured. With the mirrored hallway mentioned above, there is a standout encounter here as well, but with a mannequin. But, once you “get” the encounter, it’s effortless to work your way through.
It doesn’t help that when entering a new area after the first hour the game’s performance takes quite a hit. Multiple times when passing through a doorway, things would stutter, and it mostly seemed like whenever there was a door string curtain. But it is very noticeable and takes you out of the moment.
Interconnectivity In Puzzles
The puzzles in REVEIL are pretty creepy, and make sense within the lore. Early on, there is a giraffe room that finds a way to interconnect the puzzles within each other, which is Spencer Mansion from Resident Evil levels of complicated. However, there are some truly difficult ones, like when you must decode symbols to find the correct angle to aim a laser point to unlock a box. It does bounce between the intelligent interconnectivity puzzles and the one layer too deep to be coherent puzzles from time to time.
Needless to say, REVEIL is interesting. It’s incredible at building tension, building out this world filled with family horror, and paying it all off in ways I haven’t been scared of in video games before. Conversely, the overarching narrative leaves something to be desired, and the encounter mechanics falter quickly. But, if you are looking for a good scare, REVEIL is an excellent source for clown-based fear.
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REVEIL
Summary
REVEIL tries something new in the land of walking simulator horror and mostly prevails. What holds it back are the technical issues and overall story. There is some incredible visual trickery going on throughout that I couldn’t recommend more.
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