Howdy Gamers
I got to thinking its about time I plucked up some courage and checked out a new horror title.
The last horror game I played was Harthorn a few months ago....I got to a point where I was freaked out by the deranged art teacher in that game stalking me like the Nemesis from Resident Evil 3 that I just didn't go back to finish the second part of the game.
I'm determined not to let that happen again so I looked to see what are some of the scariest horror titles released so far this year.
The one that intrigued me the most is Summer of 58' which released on July 21st and is currently £6.19 on Steam.
The game is set in 2008 ,we play a paranormal investigator named Alex Morton who has come to Russia to investigate a mysterious haunted pioneer camp at the request of his subscriber's. I am imagining this guy as one of those youtubers who explores haunted places and uses titles like "Overnight stay in Haunted Russian Pioneer Camp at 3am....GONE WRONG!"
As the game starts a video of the guys previous investigations of an allegedly haunted house plays in that green tinted night vision that immediately makes me think of the Outlast games...
When we gain control of the game for the first time we find ourselves in this room...
As this first level was loading we could hear the sounds of nails being hammered into wood...that was due to Alex deciding he doesn't want to be tempted to leave so he has nailed the door shut...
Ok so we are locked in...that's fine, I'm totally fine with that, not nervous at all...lets start the investigation...
To my left I notice a couple of items on a stool...the first is a Russian to English dictionary.
Next up is our trusty camera that has night vision so we can see in the dark.
Moving over to the table in the centre of the room we find a note...
The ritual described in the note seems like instructions to summon up the Russian version of Bloody Mary....Hopefully the game doesn't make me do this...mirrors freak me out enough as it is...
Ok so lets see...ahead we have a boarded up room and a room with the door opened invitingly... almost to invitingly...
I decide there must be something else in this first room and keep looking around before moving on...
An old newspaper article gives us some more back story....A mysterious child named Yakov seems to be responsible for the disappearance's. Strangely no trace of any of the camps inhabitants was ever found...
I decide to check out the boarded up bathroom first.
Even the windows are boarded up...its still probably easier to escape through here than the boarded up door.Im betting in a fit of sheer terror I could throw myself cleanly through these...
As I gaze upon these toilets I get to thinking...if the investigator plans to stay here for a few nights he's going to have to use these at some point...
Glancing around the room I find a lighter next to some cigarette's
I notice another note on the shelf under the lighter. I need to couch down to be able to highlight it...
A malevolent water spirit that kills on a full moon...lovely...hopefully tonight is not a full moon...
Lets use night vision and see if there's anything hidden in the dark...
A class photograph dated from 1946...
I think these are trigger items...investigating them doesn't seem to do much at first ...they are kind of freaky to look at tho...
Lets check out the other room...
Inside we find two boarded up doors which we cant open...I guess this first level just has these 3 rooms...
This gas mask reminds me of the Paddy Considine film Dead Mans Shoes ,well worth a watch if you haven't seen it.
If that dolls eyes move, I'm done with this game....
Hmmm nothing to click on near the gas mask...
Our first jump scare comes when we kick this tin can...
Hmm cats eh...and someone has left food out for them?
I notice the cats on top of the cupboard and instantly feel comforted that they are here...ghosts are afraid of cats right? That is of course unless they are ghost cats?
Notice this creepy rabbit doll...
I walked out of this room into the first room and heard a very unnerving noise I can only describe as someone running around trying the door handles....this game use stereo sound and suggests you use headphones so it sounds like the sound is coming from different directions...I am very much creeped out by this and head back into the room I was in.
Thankfully the noise stops and I find this newspaper article.
Everyone went missing never to be seen again...
Hmm what is this photograph showing? Looks like a gardening frame of some sort...maybe its one of the places he hid the bodies?
Another ominous note....
Alex has brought a sleeping bag to spend a few nights here, alone.Alex is a brave boy...gotta get those youtube views I guess...
Hmm one of the fuse's is burnt out ,if we find another the lights might work...
Heading back into the bathroom I notice that the creepy rabbit from before has moved to the window sill...
I go back and check the chair he was on...yeah its definitely moved...shit...
Heading back into the main room we hear a loud crash and the cats meowing...This startles me and I head of to investigate
As we head back in the room to investigate the noise I notice a Russian doll I must have missed before...we also hear the sound of an air raid siren and Alex wonders if there is a nearby military base...
The doll has an eerily photorealistic quality about it.I cant open it ,its probably another trigger object...
Back in the room the cats have knocked a box of the shelf...also the creepy rabbit has moved again how did he get behind the screen? His demon eyes pierce the darkness...
The box the cats knocked over contains candles...
Hmm where did the cats go?...sudently I feel alone agian...were they...g-g-g ghost cats?!
Lets head back into the main room...
Ok it seems we should light the candles...
Ok candles are light and Alex wants to roll out his sleeping bag...
I'm not sure I want to sleep in this room...would you?
Night 1....great now we are in the dark....evil mostly lurks in the dark...thats evils hobby...If you ask evil its adress it will likely say the woods, ask it its hobby it will say mostly lurking in the dark....I am somewhat unnevered now....
Faced with this real life situation I would just hide in the sleeping bag....
I try to investigate the bathroom but its to dark...
Thankfully we can grab the camera ...
This scene is litterally the stuff nightmares are made of....
Ok now we can see I guess thats....better?
No its not better ...there are dead crows in the bathroom...shit...dead crows is probably one of the worst omens there is...
On the window sill a photograph of a creepy Russian woman has appeared...If we see the ghost of this woman I'm done...good night Irene, Elvis has left the building...
Its creepy,yeah you can say that agian...
3 dead crows definitely the worst omen...
Lets head into the other room...
As we walk passed the boarded up doors we hear several loud bangs as something loudly bangs the other side of the door...this is the biggest jump scare so far my heart is in my mouth...the banging moves from this door to what sounds like the front door....genuinely getting freaked out now....
That freaky rabbit is back on his chair...
I leave the room and when I come back the rabbit has moved again...shit...
Also the door has closed on its on...double shit...
Its not just closed its locked....triple shit...
All I did was walk to the door and back and the Rabbit that was just here has disappeared from the room completely
I wander around the room for a while aimlessly then all of a sudden the phone by the front door starts ringing...I guess this is a timed thing, I cant think what I did to trigger it....very well played game...I'm genuinely scared but also VERY impressed by the atmosphere the developer's have built here...I wont ever forget this...hands down the scariest opening level of any game I have played...
Now the door has magically unlocked...again I cant think what I would have done to cause this...I was looking around trying to figure out what to do, being confused and freaked out by the rabbit moving even when Im in the same room...and all of a sudden the door is unlocked and a phone is ringing.....I dont want to move from this room....shit....
Holy Mary mother of God! There is a child covered in blood next to the candles....you guys see her to right?!
As we walk towards her she blows out the candles...
When we wake up we are in a different room ,I guess this is level 2?
Ok first objective is to find the camera...
I think I should call it a day for now and continue this in part 2...I'm just going to hang out with this pigeon until I calm down that first level was intense...
▶️ 3Speak
Looks good! Horror games are either hit or miss. The bad ones get buried and the good ones are praised. I see this one is harvesting good reviews and people are calling it underrated. I hope you managed to get some sleep tonight :P