With several evolutions behind it, passing through the Playstation Talents program, wild sphere brings us what has been its most ambitious proposal to date. Oxide Room 104 is the novelty of the Spanish studio founded by Miguel Diaz e Irene Guardiola. It’s a game that breaks with everything seen so far in its history. Its terror promises intense and above all violent moments, thus joining a list of titles which, despite their “indie” status, seek to keep the player completely immersed and waiting.
If we were to compare it, probably Martha is dead oh Face would be some of those games that it looks like. It’s a similar concept, except this time we’ll have to flee a terrifying hotel where strange things are happening. Following some bad decisions, our protagonist (Matthew) will have to escape from the Soul of the Night Motel after waking up in room 104. Will he make it out alive?
An atmosphere that helps
If there’s anything the more humble studios tend to leverage, it’s their creativity and talent. When resources are limited, you have to make the most of them, and in this case Wild Sphere even manages to camouflage some shortcomings during the game. In horror adventures like this, it’s important for the player to immerse themselves in a well-designed setting. It’s a risk added to the fact that your view is in the first person.
The interaction and the camera make us pay attention to the smallest detail, so yes, we are more in the Night Soul Motel, but it also highlights some flaws. And don’t get me wrong I did not find any major errors, whether it’s bugs or whatever. Graphically, Oxide Room 104 it doesn’t look bad insideand its status as a hotel gives meaning to the great resemblance between most of the areas we visit.
On the other hand, on leaving, a significant change is noticeable. Without taking us out of its decor, open spaces denote less detail and overall care. This is felt, among other things, when you take some of the exterior corridors, where the darkness helps to camouflage a lazy loading on textures walls. Pools of blood or the appearance of certain objects in the environment also seem outdated for the time. But like I said, the frame helps camouflage it.
discovery and interaction
If something has Oxide Room 104 It’s a leisurely pace and full of exploration. It can generate both positive and negative opinions, and partly yes, the game offers significant interaction with the environment. However, when one investigates or searches too much, it generally happens that the tension that one seeks to generate in the player is diluted.
Seeing how our character reacts to objects is striking at best, even with occasional curiosity that isn’t too much. The problem arises when half of the things we try don’t really help. Like turning on an extra lamp that barely shines or opening countless drawers that are always empty. But leaving that aside, the essence of the game, the terror its setting can generate, sometimes fades, and that’s also because sometimes you can get stuck longer than necessary.
It’s not about the game telling us what to do, but at all times I felt that its own characteristics make it hard to guess what’s next. This is not necessarily a problem for many, but personally I think this confuses the player greatly, spinning him in false circles without really knowing how to redirect him to the real goal. Sometimes we advance more by a “stroke of luck” than by anything else.
“Let’s Play a Game”
There is a saw point in the proposal Oxide Room 104which somehow combines the most supernatural of a silent Hill with the macabre game of John Kramer. This is due to one of the features of the game Wild Sphere, so that key objects and elements are distributed in a specific way. It is understood after our first death, that without going into spoilers, I will tell you that it will not be the last and that it will completely change the situation.
The thing is, every time you die, you respawn in room 104, but that won’t be the end of the game. That’s where a feature comes in that can be tedious, but is actually necessary. And it is in this last point that I see the problem. No matter how skilled we are or how well we survive the dangers of the game, In the end, death becomes mandatory if you want to see certain cutscenes or find new elements to move forward.
There is a dark figure behind everything that happens in the Night Soul Motel, but the way he is presented to us, when he has great moments, makes the player, again, not sure how to interpret progression in the plot. At least from the start.
Survival and inventory
To survive the Night Soul Motel, Matthew will have an inventory which reminds us above all of what we saw in the saga resident Evil. Not just for how it looks and uses objects, but for being able to combine them. A good example of this would be the revolver we found at the start. The bullets we find must be “combined” with the weapon in order to reload it. The same happens with keys and chests or other items.
This inventory space can be expanded also as we move forward and discover new places. But as usually happens, we will not always be able to carry all the objects, and for this reason the game again resorts to something that we already know very well. At specific times we will have a chest to store our belongings, but yes, if we die we will lose everything.
And how is the fight against the enemies going? Well, at first you might be surprised by a certain sequence with fast events as a “presentation”, but the rest will not be developed in this way at all. What I expected was that these enemies would be more plentiful and varied, although they still give rise to the most terrifying moments. The design is great, and they are (still) reminiscent of the universe silent Hill. Unfortunately, aiming isn’t as polished as it should be, and camera movement with the right analog feels clunky and inaccurate.
good sound job
Another of the more careful aspects of Oxide Room 104 This is definitely the sound section. For this horror adventure, the developers of Wild Sphere present us with an ambient soundtrack that helps generate a terrifying atmosphere. This, added to certain moments of silence or more than one scare, manages to give an extra point to our game.
And of course, I can’t forget the dubbing. The standard is kept quite high through deluxe voices, including one that will sound familiar to many. The villain is neither more nor less than @TodoJingleswhich It has stellar moments during the plot. Although on rare occasions the animations do not coordinate well enough with the voices, it is clearly a very favorable point that improves and gives packaging to the narrative of the video game.
Does Oxide Room 104 live up to the hype?
Understanding the dimension of the title and of those responsible, it must be said that this Oxide Room 104 This represents a very important step forward for Wild Sphere. Does that mean it’s a game of ten? quite the contrary. There are several things to improve for a future project with these features, such as the graphics section, which seems outdated.
Animations and some textures are a pending account, though on the other hand there is a great job in terms of sound, with voice acting to match and a soundtrack that complements the terrifying vibe of the Night Soul Motel. At the playable level, there are things that can also be improved, such as the camera or aiming. This, yes, I liked the interaction with the environmentcounting on many possibilities (although many elements do not add much).
Personally, I tend not to dwell too much on the plot of this type of game, because the experience in terms of playability and in terms of sensations is more important due to the atmosphere that emerges. Anyway, I think the plot will appeal to a large part of its audience, with a story told mainly through documents scattered on the stage. Moreover, they are related to other characters. Being one of the first Wild Sphere projects, I think that despite its flaws, it’s still an attractive game, which will surely appeal to those who already know Face, Martha is dead or other similar titles.
Oxide Room 104
24,99$
Pro.
- The adjustment is well done
- A nice interaction with the scene
- The sound section is one of the best in the game, with top notch voice acting
Contra.
- Sometimes we get lost without knowing what to do and the immersion of the game is lost
- Graphically it looks good inside, but the animations and exterior areas look outdated
- Camera movement is rough and aiming is imprecise
I’ve traveled to worlds you’d never believe, ended up with enemies that elude all mysticism. I felt my pulse quicken with each battle, and the sigh of someone who knows they will have to get back up. There’s always a villain waiting and an adventure around the corner.
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