I have a little challenge I set myself during PS Store sales - I like to sort by price and buy anything interesting that costs under £5. I selected a few games this time round - more on them in subsequent articles - but one of them was True Virus.
True Virus is a point and click horror game set in a mental hospital and the surrounding town. It's... about as sensitive to that setting as you'd think. I knew that going in though so we're not going to dwell on that too much.
The graphics have a very hand drawn feel - unpolished. When games go for this style it either works or it really doesn't, so True Virus get points for this adding to the uncanny feel of the hospital and town. The environments are quite detailed which is what you want when you're hiding objects. The character art looked slightly askew which personally I love, slightly outside of reality is my favourite horror genre.
Sound wise I really struggled with this game. There is a very pervasive soundtrack of "spooky" music which was quite loud and got overwhelming at points. I also didn't see a setting to change volume so I ended up using my own spotify playlist to mitigate. The music also seemed to swell at random points, making me think I was in for a scare when really the soundtrack was disconnected from the action on screen. I would have preferred a more pared back sound effects only soundscape, I feel like the absence of sound would have helped the isolated atmosphere more. Think Silent Hill.
So to the action on screen! It's your standard point and click fare with a lot of puzzles to solve and keys to find. I actually really enjoyed the puzzles - some even had me break out a notebook and calculator. Solving those were really satisfying. I understand this may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is certainly mine.
Unfortunately the plot let it down. The protagonist wakes up chained to a bed in the aforementioned mental hospital and has to figure out why they're there and what happened in this deserted town. It is revealed there was a pandemic and people were being kidnapped to find a cure at any cost. You make your way through the town looking for someone to hold to account for all of this. It's blamed on Dr Elizabeth, but it is revealed that the villain... WAS YOU! You killed your family, you butchered people to find a cure, you caused all this. Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuun.
I must admit, I grow tired of this twist. It seems like a lot of games rely on this to be a big shock, but it's so predictable at this point I guessed it a mile off. I don't know what I would have preferred, but something more interesting. Maybe you were Dr Elizabeth's long thought dead daughter? The sibling your protagonist did nothing but disparage? I don't know, but this twist just felt lazy.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy this game though. The puzzles were so good; if a little frustrating at times. I can forgive a lazy plot and a stereotypical mental hospital if the gameplay is fun.
Overall, if you have a few pounds to spare and fancy playing something a bit different, you could do worse. Like buying the other games I'm going to review. You'll have to come back soon to find out which ones though.
Teal Deer: Puzzles fun, plot predictable. 3/5
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