SadSquare Studios Kickstarter visage starts with a bang and never lets go, creating tension and delicious fear. For fans of horror games, Visage is a nightmare not to be missed. It’s the scariest game I’ve ever played. Visage is the haunted house from Hell that scares your socks off by taking advantage of a relaxed atmosphere, growing concern, and just the right amount of shocks and surprises. While the game suffers from poor inventory implementation and some of those indie flaws that could leave you stuck in an environment or falling through the world, those annoyances can’t shake the fact that Visage Terror is incredibly good at.
You start the game in a house without really knowing what is happening or with no real goals. The hands-off approach to discovering its many secrets might be daunting to those looking for guidance, but wandering the haunted halls without guidance is extremely effective as it builds up from flickering lights to shuffling spectral aberrations. It surprised me that after hours of gaming I was still finding excuses to explore well-lit parts of the house instead of going to the basement, even though I had already spent a lot of time there. Proof of the game’s strength is that even a mundane laundry room or TV corner can create fear. From a beguiling cat clock to a ceaseless radio that likes to turn itself on, there is enough annoying taste in the ordinary items you find around the house. Is there something in the dark about you? The answer is … sometimes. And that question always kept me up to date. Then it gets weird. The walls begin to ebb, impossible designs and architectures appear and new worlds open up.
Visage is a journey into the psychological and the real, and you may find yourself taken to lost tree houses, gloomy cemeteries, mental health facilities, or even a supermarket during your home explorations. In this way you will learn about the tragic and terrible stories of others who lived in the cursed place. Each “chapter” is tied to a character and has its own puzzles. They are thematically unbelievable journeys through the real and the surreal. A camera detects hidden threats and secrets during the panic of a flash as the only light source. Mirrors take you into the depths of the bizarre; or the eyes are always watching you when you crawl off misshapen bodies in the hallways of the hospital. Each arch tells a story with satisfying and terrifying endings that convey the world you stumbled upon. It’s not happy, and in every setting and chapter, as you open every door and solve every challenge, you will be equally filled with adrenaline and fear.
Along the way, lights and pills will keep your sanity high. Consumables are supposedly finite resources, and you are encouraged to be economical with your sanitary supplies as the house messes your thoughts by slamming doors, turning off lights, or meddling with electronics. Let your sanity slip too far and you will likely be visited by something far worse than a few muffled steps or a fleeting face. Using items the way you want is often a great pain when dealing with the environment. Trying to put candles down, organize your inventory, or just do anything with your items is often an exercise in battling the controls.
Visage creates a tangible playground for fans of horror to indulge in, and uses various types of fear to create a disturbing experience. Too often, genre titles resort to repetitive fear of jumping and shock levels, but Visage burns the house into your brain and makes you question every decision to open a door or climb a flight of stairs.
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