Power Hour Reviews are a new NYMG feature in which we spend one intense hour playing newly released games in order to get a sense not only of game mechanics and characterization, but narrative as well. Let us spend our time first, so that you don’t have to waste yours.
The randomly juxtaposed mannequins scattered throughout the art-studio-slash-living-room-slash-demonic-portal are an immediate warning sign that nothing good can come from this place. This home, complete with slightly disturbing statues and paintings courtesy of the main character’s profession as an artist and sculptor, is the setting of Matt Cohen’s recent indie horror game simply entitled Paranormal. A first person game seen through the perspective of the lens of a video camera, it celebrates the increasingly popular “found footage” style that is reminiscent of a mixture between Slender: The Arrival and Paranormal Activity. It is available this month on Steam for their Early Access program, allowing players to play prior to its release date while it is being improved upon and upgraded, for $9.99.
Paranormal’s premise is fairly simple. You play Mattel Clarke, a man who believes his house may be haunted and decides to film the strange happenings to prove his claims. Equipped with just the aforementioned camera, you wander the house and try to entice a variety of paranormal happenings. You don’t have to look for long, however, as things quickly start escalating and you begin to wonder if this is a home or a scene out of purgatory. Hidden around the house are notes that act as clues and glimpses into the troubled history of the home as well as the reasons behind the haunting and you must journey to piece them together before you find yourself meeting an untimely end. It is in all honesty not the most original plot, falling into the premise of many stories that center around trying to solve the mystery of a haunted house, but as I have not quite gotten far enough to piece all these plot points together into a cohesive narrative, I acknowledge that I am nevertheless intrigued to see what will come from it and await some story-based surprises to coincide with those in gameplay.
The horror is mostly dependent on jump scares, both in the form of visual interaction with objects in the room and loud, startling noises that make playing this game with headphones largely inadvisable. Each scare is part of a randomly-generated, reactive system of variables that ensures that each playthrough is in same way different than the previous one. This largely prevents the formula of searching around the house from becoming monotonous, as even when you gain some familiarity with some of the more frequent scares, you’re never really sure if or when it is going to happen at all. Some scares are rather standard: chairs tipped over, objects moved around, even the slightly corny faucets dripping blood. Some are very apparent and rather jump-worthy: loud screams, pounding, and mannequins thrown around the room. Others are subtle but creepy: paintings mutating in more disturbing imagery, mannequins blocking doors, and old film clips on the television. However, the fun really stems from the inability to predict what will happen, especially as you inch closer towards discovering more and more within the house.
Though narrative certainly plays its role in Paranormal it is most definitely not the focus here, as you could go through the game fairly satisfied with the bits and pieces you are able to pick up if playing mostly for the gameplay. I am eager to complete all the pieces of the story and wonder if the game will provide a solid explanation for the severity of the haunting. It does not pass the Bechdel test, at least not so far, but I do not foresee it doing so in the game. Some plot points that arise in the form of diary entries, at least from what I can make out, do make mention of domestic abuse, though that may or may not be the result of a demonic influence. Nevertheless the use of this is not terribly encouraging as it happens to the only female character in the game. Considering the theme of the game, I don’t foresee this having a good ending.
I did encounter a few issues with the mechanics that I believe were detrimental to the experience of the game. Firstly, when you stop moving Mattel, and even occasionally when he is moving, the camera sways back and forth as if checking out the entire area. While this sounds good in theory, it makes movement during this action difficult and disorienting. There is an option to toggle this off in the game’s settings but I was not initially aware of this and spent a good portion of my time bearing through the annoyance. Secondly the video camera’s battery life is extremely low – five minutes at best – and you must return to Mattel’s bed to rest and charge up the camera when it is on low battery. This, I found, prevented myself from being able to truly explore the house on any given night, as getting into a room and recording one “larger” scare was generally enough to drain the battery most of the way. It did give a sense of urgency to the game but ultimately it felt more frustrating than encouraging, especially when no clear objective is laid out before you. This is coupled with the fact that, as I have experienced in all of my playthroughs so far, if one has not solved the mystery – or at least progressed further into it – the game is over on the fourth day, severely diminishing your exploration time and making it difficult to actually move through the plot, as time must be treated with efficiency.
Now comes the ultimate question when reviewing horror games: is it scary? The answer is simply yes, as its jump scares, even when sometimes predictable, are still enough to startle me into yelping or letting loose a few curse words. It operates on the same method of fear provocation as the Slender series and if you find yourself susceptible to them then this will probably produce the same effect. The textures are not always top notch and there it definitely has its share of glitches. For under ten dollars, this game is well developed and an encouraging indie production. I would recommend picking it up and giving it a shot as I’m interested to see what kind of scares your playthrough will conjure up, especially as the developer promises free updates and additional locations to come.
