Recommended? Yes, definite thumbs up from me.

True Fear: Forsaken Souls is part 1 of a (planned) trilogy of HOG-style adventure games. I refer to it as "HOG-style" because the HOG scenes are less hunt and click random items, and more of a chain of cause and effect. You need a piece of tape to fix a wire that gives power to a light that shows a code that you need for a safe etc etc etc - all within the same small scene. The first one of these puzzles took me back a bit, and I was almost disappointed. But, as I progressed, these puzzles felt a bit more logical and natural vs your standard fare.

The rest of the game is pretty standard static-scene adventure gaming. The puzzles were generally logical and the use of the map function made hopping from room to room easy. I did get stuck a couple times, but it was mostly due to my own idiocy in missing something very basic.

The setting is creepy and dark, but not overtly frightening. A run down house (actually, 2) with a cemetary in the basement and an abandoned asylum (bonus chapter) make up the locations. Typically, the scenes/rooms are fairly static, with some mild animations like bugs skittering across the wall, or lights flickering. But interspersed throughout the story are short cinematic scenes (again, fairly typical - though decent quality) that added to the horror element. It is in these that a few jump scares and PG gore would occur. My 10 year old son watched me play and got startled at the jumps, but nothing that gave him nightmares or anything.

All-in-all, if you enjoy the Artifex Mundi games but want something a bit darker and more forboding, this is for you. $15 may be a touch high for the time you'll spend, but the game itself is worth the price. If you find it half-off or better, it's a must-buy IMO.

Recommended? Yes, definite thumbs up from me. True Fear: Forsaken Souls is part 1 of a (planned) trilogy of HOG-style adventure games. I refer to it as "HOG-style" because the HOG scenes are less hunt and click random items, and more of a chain of cause and effect. You need a piece of tape to fix a wire that gives power to a light that shows a code that you need for a safe etc etc etc - all within the same small scene. The first one of these puzzles took me back a bit, and I was almost disappointed. But, as I progressed, these puzzles felt a bit more logical and natural vs your standard fare. The rest of the game is pretty standard static-scene adventure gaming. The puzzles were generally logical and the use of the map function made hopping from room to room easy. I did get stuck a couple times, but it was mostly due to my own idiocy in missing something very basic. The setting is creepy and dark, but not overtly frightening. A run down house (actually, 2) [spoiler]with a cemetary in the basement[/spoiler] and an abandoned asylum (bonus chapter) make up the locations. Typically, the scenes/rooms are fairly static, with some mild animations like bugs skittering across the wall, or lights flickering. But interspersed throughout the story are short cinematic scenes (again, fairly typical - though decent quality) that added to the horror element. It is in these that a few jump scares and PG gore would occur. My 10 year old son watched me play and got startled at the jumps, but nothing that gave him nightmares or anything. All-in-all, if you enjoy the Artifex Mundi games but want something a bit darker and more forboding, this is for you. $15 may be a touch high for the time you'll spend, but the game itself is worth the price. If you find it half-off or better, it's a must-buy IMO.