Alone? is an immersive game developed by Deceptive Games Ltd. and was recently released on October 10th of this year. It is a single player game that supports partial controller support, which is nice if you prefer a controller over a mouse. You play as Sam who one day receives a letter from his sister, Michelle, asking him to come back to the family hostel that he grew up in because she feels like something is watching her. When Sam arrives to the house his sister is nowhere to be found and the interior of the house is locked up…
This game plays like a lot of FPS exploratory horror games where you are in the dark and left to find out what happened on your own. The environment is a massive hostel that is maze like in structure which left same asking what was added on and when. As you explore the hostel, you are being stalked by a black shadow that appears at random and experiences quick flashes of what looks like a red face. The house creaks and moans. The sound of walking and doors opening add a little more to the spook factor, every once in a while, you would hear something drop but never saw what. Since the game is in alpha stage, the graphics are not up to par compared to what we have seen in alphas like Layers of Fear or P.T. but it conveys the message of some spookiness. This game also has VR compatibility which potentially could make it scarier.
My overall impression consisted of disappointment and boredom. In alpha stage there is a lot of growth that needs to happen. The graphics were not impressive, it consisted of mostly cheap jump scares, and the story took a turn towards cults and demons in a tasteless manner. The experience may be different with a VR headset, but overall, not impressed. I am hopeful, however, that once feedback is given that when the game transitions to Beta phase, everything will be kicked up a couple notches.
Alone? is available on Steam for $2.99
Review by Meghan Rodriguez-Twitter: @collins_m81
