This is a game I feel nostalgic for, it is probably one of the first horror survivals in the H. P. Lovecraft’s world. It has such cool stuff, as for example a unnecessarily very intricate healing system (which accounts damage to different limbs, different types of injuries and uses different medical items for specific injuries) which also includes a sanity level, a stealth mechanic, a good storyline but not too in depth (You’ll also need to read the in-game lore to see the whole picture and also for a couple of puzzles). The game also has a little in depth in the gunplay by keeping track of the chambered bullet, but for some reason calls pistol magazines – pistol clips.

The atmosphere it creates is amazing, from the first part of the game where you just arrive in Innsmouth and you’re being treated as an outsider while something keeps following you in from shadows, to the late game design choice of the main hero crazy mumbling. While walking the street you can look into the basement windows of various houses and have a look into the horror which the inhabitants keep trying to hide from you. I think a lot of the atmosphere and visuals that in some places really manage to hold up still work due to having no clutter on the interface, which helps you get more immersed into the world. This is also the first ever game which made the hero afraid of heights by the visual indication during gameplay. And it feels like the main character is the only one in any video game with common sense since when approaching first time a safe to which we don’t know the combination, he refuses to interact with it until we find it.

With that said the game beside being haunted by a incomprehensible for the human mind cosmic horror is also haunted by numerous bugs, some of which might be fatal for the playthrough unless you’ll install a patch. I mean, you know it is an old game when it starts with the message “Closing all applications before running the game is highly recommended” and uses WAXD for movement. Though it doesn’t crash that often, you can’t alt tab. Some bugs are caused by the game running at >500 FPS, but the gameplay with it is so much better. One of the bugs makes it so that on any incline you’ll get a sound bug where multiple walking sounds would play which I presume creates a lot of sound entities, which basically disable any other sounds, including the ambience.

And be careful when installing this game and Call of Cthulhu (2018) because for some reason they install in THE SAME DIRECTORY!

In conclusion, I love the game, but I wouldn’t recommend it to a newcomer if you aren’t ready to withstand the jankiness of it. If you are though, then you’ll enjoy one of the best atmospheres in a horror survival game!