Here's The Thing:
Smile, for you play the part of Riley Townshend, an ex-news camera operator searching for her missing sister Laura. The latter of whom was last seen taking part in a sinister scientific experiment of unknown description. Now, armed with great concern, indignation, and curiosity, she navigates the bunker rife with red flags and eyes everywhere. Will the truth get out and more importantly, can Riley?


I swear, my disclaimers get longer with each review… but I must tell you anyway. Right, I am one of the voice actors (Geoff) in this title. Yes, I was intensively involved with the playtesting. And yes, I backed this game and believed in it when it still was in its embryonic stage. So, why am I writing this? Because the world must know of the evil lurking in the, oh umm- I meant to say I am perfectly capable of critiquing a game fairly. Can I help it that I only happen to play quality titles?



Right off the bat, the dual-perspective gameplay makes for an unbelievably fresh take on a horror work. One where you spend exploring and solving puzzles while alternating between 1st person view after you pick up the camera and 3rd person point-and-click adventure style for when you’ve set it down. Each with its own set of dangers and advantages. For instance, you are safe from the most harmful being while looking through the lens, BUT you cannot turn that valve or exert much force until both hands are free!

Devout P&C adventure fans are also in for a treat as the 3rd person mode is not just a cool or aesthetical gimmick; it literally feels and plays like your beloved Sierra Entertainment titles! This means you should expect smart-aleck observations from Riley as she “interacts” and “examines” various objects, some degree of backtracking, and even creative solutions to the handful of puzzles. Who can forget the various classic unfair deaths that can regress your progress as well!?

Furthermore, there are many optional things to do, some of which grant you lore, achievements, and others just because! The three Acts will occupy around 4-5 hours in total, but who can say for sure!? Like I mentioned, it’s really up to how good your memory is, how thorough you are, and how fast you can commit to the rules of the experiment~

TIPS:
1) Save often! And save smartly!! I’ve said too m-.
2) I wonder what double-clicking does?
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3202617861

I’ve always been dense about graphics, but what caught my eye, or the lens rather, was Andrew’s unwavering dedication in crafting a real and “sterile” artificial environment. And I’m not just superficially talking about the novelty of the bunker either. The same extends for its daunting universe, but more so how it is able to breed questions, paranoia, and above all a sickening slow-burn spiral into insanity, even if it never quite reaches that point out of sheer restraint.

Every single room to each floor is not without purpose, and it’s exceedingly rare these days indie-horror-wise, that such meticulousness is applied towards the location design. A point I’ve only solely deeply commended to none other than Ghost at Dawn for their Pines Hotel. And my goodness, the sound design is flawless as well, albeit much easier to overlook in brilliance due to the elevated horror pacing. The OST, brings out the tinges of intrigue and distrust, all in spite of the limited number of tracks.

Now, let’s talk voices- don’t worry, this will be excluding mine, although I KILLE-! Anyway, first-timer voice actor Kaylee May in particular stole the show with her blasé-empathetic reads as Riley, coming off a very genuinely normal individual who’s dealt a bad hand. Vanna Oh’s no-nonsense and intimidating poshness as The Administrator also stood out! Really, there was not one weak link in the cast in terms of performance, which only added further to the quality of the work~


I recall being incredibly blown away by my time in the demo, especially when it came to the story, and how it laid out a ton of mysteries that I just could not connect, AND I have an innate talent for it, mind you! Now, I can safely say that the final product delivered on that front too by providing an overall groundbreaking plot, whose revelations take a turn into the unprecedented just as you barely formulate a hypothesis of your own. A mish mash of genres with neither a lack of detail nor attention. You can just tell that Andrew spent weeks, perhaps locked away in a bunker of his own, coming up with this stuff!

If you’re not careful, you’d make the mistake of assuming it was an adaptation of a book! Which only speaks volumes of how much of an avid reader the developer is. I’m telling you, beginning to end, the twists and turns will be as frequent as the number of times you have to switch between the two perspectives…! If I had to name movie inspirations, and these are just thin references based on the setting and approach; they’d have to be Rec (2007), Shelter (2015), 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), and V/H/S (2012). Everything was assembled together in a way that doesn’t just give you that singular a-ha moment but a series of them. Nor does it come off strewn about in hopes of making them work together. It’s one of the best & unusual stories you’ll encounter in horror this year~
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3202626211

The idea of “trust,” whether it be towards the authority in charge or Riley’s own instincts, is fully fleshed out and scrutinized, with it being constantly put to the test on top of the objectives of the experiment. Do you abide by every order without failure? How much do you really know about what is going on? At some point, you just end up doing things like a sheep to avoid from the pressure of thought… Maybe that’s what they want!? Who knows.

This title also voyeuristically plays around with the dichotomy of watcher and the one watched, not just because 99.9% of your time is spent either being subjected to it or doing it yourself! Rather, there’s no telling when one truly starts and the other begins. With Osiris being a question mark company specializing in high tech inventions- the possibilities of what could go wrong become endless. Not to mention, every variable could wind up being manipulated too. You feel powerless in that regard and perhaps you even come to enjoy it. Now smile for the camera~



Now I personally don’t mind the lacking of intensity and fast-paced action of the “usual” variety in the horror genre. That is to say, there is an absence of truly urgent & hostile encounters that impatient players won’t quite appreciate. However, there’s still a great deal of potential for them in that those pesky rules involving the camera and one-off mechanics introduced to you should keep you guessing and anticipating that fight-or-flight~


x No major game-breaking ones!


~ Animations may not be the dev’s forte, but a few blew me out the water!
~ Inconsistency in voice acting quality (not performance).


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3203075747

Last Words?
Highly distinct gem whose two viewpoints and tied-in game elements were captured and framed seamlessly. Its laudably layered plot, eye-catching atmosphere, and all-roundedness make for quite a show~

[code]Curator page here-->[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37670120/] DaRevieweD #234 [/url]<-- [i]New review whenever[/i][/code] [h1]"WE’RE ROLLING IN… A-WANA, AND A-TWO… 1-2-3-"[/h1] [u]Here's The Thing:[/u] Smile, for you play the part of Riley Townshend, an ex-news camera operator searching for her missing sister Laura. The latter of whom was last seen taking part in a sinister scientific experiment of unknown description. Now, armed with great concern, indignation, and curiosity, she navigates the bunker rife with red flags and eyes everywhere. Will the truth get out and more importantly, can Riley? [h1] ! DISCLAIMER ![/h1] I swear, my disclaimers get longer with each review… but I must tell you anyway. Right, I am one of the voice actors (Geoff) in this title. Yes, I was intensively involved with the playtesting. And yes, I backed this game and believed in it when it still was in its embryonic stage. So, why am I writing this? Because the world must know of the evil lurking in the, oh umm- I meant to say I am perfectly capable of critiquing a game fairly. Can I help it that I only happen to play quality titles? [h1][u][ ] PROS;[/u][/h1] [h1]:) WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT~[/h1] Right off the bat, the dual-perspective gameplay makes for an unbelievably fresh take on a horror work. One where you spend exploring and solving puzzles while alternating between 1st person view after you pick up the camera and 3rd person point-and-click adventure style for when you’ve set it down. Each with its own set of dangers and advantages. For instance, you are safe from the most harmful being while looking through the lens, BUT you cannot turn that valve or exert much force until both hands are free! Devout P&C adventure fans are also in for a treat as the 3rd person mode is not just a cool or aesthetical gimmick; it literally feels and plays like your beloved Sierra Entertainment titles! This means you should expect smart-aleck observations from Riley as she “interacts” and “examines” various objects, some degree of backtracking, and even creative solutions to the handful of puzzles. Who can forget the various classic unfair deaths that can regress your progress as well!? Furthermore, there are many optional things to do, some of which grant you lore, achievements, and others just because! The three Acts will occupy around 4-5 hours in total, but who can say for sure!? Like I mentioned, it’s really up to how good your memory is, how thorough you are, and how fast you can commit to the rules of the experiment~ [u]TIPS:[/u] 1) Save often! And save smartly!! I’ve said too m-. 2) I wonder what double-clicking does? https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3202617861 [h1]:) POSING… A TRIPLE THREAT-[/h1] I’ve always been dense about graphics, but what caught my eye, or the lens rather, was Andrew’s unwavering dedication in crafting a real and “sterile” artificial environment. And I’m not just superficially talking about the novelty of the bunker either. The same extends for its daunting universe, but more so how it is able to breed questions, paranoia, and above all a sickening slow-burn spiral into insanity, even if it never quite reaches that point out of sheer restraint. Every single room to each floor is not without purpose, and it’s exceedingly rare these days indie-horror-wise, that such meticulousness is applied towards the location design. A point I’ve only solely deeply commended to none other than[url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/DeadeGuard98/recommended/2153190/] Ghost at Dawn[/url] for their Pines Hotel. And my goodness, the sound design is flawless as well, albeit much easier to overlook in brilliance due to the elevated horror pacing. The OST, brings out the tinges of intrigue and distrust, all in spite of the limited number of tracks. Now, let’s talk voices- don’t worry, this will be excluding mine, although I KILLE-! Anyway, first-timer voice actor Kaylee May in particular stole the show with her blasé-empathetic reads as Riley, coming off a very genuinely normal individual who’s dealt a bad hand. Vanna Oh’s no-nonsense and intimidating poshness as The Administrator also stood out! Really, there was not one weak link in the cast in terms of performance, which only added further to the quality of the work~ [h1]:) CAN YOU SEE THE HEADLINES NOW? YOU’RE IT.[/h1] I recall being incredibly blown away by my time in the demo, especially when it came to the story, and how it laid out a ton of mysteries that I just could not connect, AND I have an innate talent for it, mind you! Now, I can safely say that the final product delivered on that front too by providing an overall groundbreaking plot, whose revelations take a turn into the unprecedented just as you barely formulate a hypothesis of your own. A mish mash of genres with neither a lack of detail nor attention. You can just tell that Andrew spent weeks, perhaps locked away in a bunker of his own, coming up with this stuff! If you’re not careful, you’d make the mistake of assuming it was an adaptation of a book! Which only speaks volumes of how much of an avid reader the developer is. I’m telling you, beginning to end, the twists and turns will be as frequent as the number of times you have to switch between the two perspectives…! If I had to name movie inspirations, and these are just thin references based on the setting and approach; they’d have to be [b]Rec (2007), Shelter (2015), 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016),[/b] and [b]V/H/S (2012)[/b]. Everything was assembled together in a way that doesn’t just give you that singular a-ha moment but a series of them. Nor does it come off strewn about in hopes of making them work together. It’s one of the best & unusual stories you’ll encounter in horror this year~ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3202626211 [h1]:) YOU HAD BETTER WATCH IT… AGAIN! AND AGAI-[/h1] The idea of “trust,” whether it be towards the authority in charge or Riley’s own instincts, is fully fleshed out and scrutinized, with it being constantly put to the test on top of the objectives of the experiment. Do you abide by every order without failure? How much do you really know about what is going on? At some point, you just end up doing things like a sheep to avoid from the pressure of thought… Maybe that’s what they want!? Who knows. This title also voyeuristically plays around with the dichotomy of watcher and the one watched, not just because 99.9% of your time is spent either being subjected to it or doing it yourself! Rather, there’s no telling when one truly starts and the other begins. With Osiris being a question mark company specializing in high tech inventions- the possibilities of what could go wrong become endless. Not to mention, every variable could wind up being manipulated too. You feel powerless in that regard and perhaps you even come to enjoy it. Now smile for the camera~ [h1][u][-] CONS;[/u][/h1] [h1]:( CAN’T CONTAIN THIS. ANY. LONGER![/h1] Now I personally don’t mind the lacking of intensity and fast-paced action of the “usual” variety in the horror genre. That is to say, there is an absence of truly urgent & hostile encounters that impatient players won’t quite appreciate. However, there’s still a great deal of potential for them in that those pesky rules involving the camera and one-off mechanics introduced to you should keep you guessing and anticipating that fight-or-flight~ [h1]BUGS:[/h1] x No major game-breaking ones! [h1]NITPICKS:[/h1] ~ Animations may not be the dev’s forte, but a few blew me out the water! ~ Inconsistency in voice acting quality (not performance). [h1]"I REALLY RILEY REALLY REALLY RILEY LOVE IT."[/h1] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3203075747 [u]Last Words?[/u] Highly distinct gem whose two viewpoints and tied-in game elements were captured and framed seamlessly. Its laudably layered plot, eye-catching atmosphere, and all-roundedness make for quite a show~