Horror is a hard genre to crack. Our society and culture play a key role in what truly terrifies us. Trying to get under the skin, slithering into the mind, is no easy feat. But that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of challenges, especially in the video game industry, the latest of which being Russian based Cracked Heads with their latest release Silver Chains.
Silver Chains
Developer: Cracked Heads Games
Price: $24.99 USD
Platform: PC via Steam
MonsterVine was supplied with Steam code for review
There’s a lot to be said about the current state of horror video games and media. Both are awash with similar efforts and recalls of classic themes. Silver Chains falls directly into the family of creepy location scouting with only a small light source for the company. Cracked Heads’ projection of fear follows. The story follows a young gentleman named Peter, who just smashed his car into a tree and found himself outside of an abandoned mansion. Entering the decaying structure, Peter begins to feel oddly familiar with the place, almost at home…but why?
Silver Chains’ identity is firmly grounded in the current crop of video game horror. First-person exploration with puzzles to solve, garnished with ghoulish delights. When the mansion doors open and the creek of withering woods cries out, there is a moment of self-reflection wondering what to expect. The problem is, there’s not all that much that you haven’t already seen or felt before.
Cracked Heads’ approach of trying to tell a creepy story of family ties and buried bodies is constantly haunted by the ghosts of the genre. Slowly moving through dark corridors while being ambushed by musical spikes isn’t anything new, or even that scary. In truth, there’s very little to be scared of, but plenty to startle. The mansion is a collection of locked doors, rooms, and narrow corridors, beautifully detailed it must be said, but nothing that feels all that interesting to traverse.
Unfortunately, a large portion of the set dressing seemingly plays next to no role in the game beyond trying to look creepy. Framed photos, maps and artwork decorating the walls have no meaning or context in relation to the game’s story or lore. Admittedly, this may be a nitpick, but it does leave the environment feeling like a collection of Halloween decorations as opposed to a cohesive living world.
The disconnection felt with the mansion’s look and feel inflicts harm upon one of the key elements of Silver Chains: its scares. A lack of tension or immersion leaves the spookier moments feeling rather cold and devoid of impact. The blood-curdling cries of pain, objects moving around and even the much loved (or overused, depending on your stance) use of ghostly children does little to scare. It all produces this inconsistent tone of psychological horror spliced with a haunted house funfair attraction. This feeling is further amplified by the introduction of a ghastly creature that chases Peter throughout the game, with the only refuge being to hide in closets
In an odd move, the before mentioned hide-and-seek ghoul only appears a handful of times, accompanied by its own theme tune. Any attempt to shock or surprise the player is utterly nullified by the music blaring out signaling the threat’s arrival. Additionally, the player is about 5 meters away from hiding spots whenever the event occurs, making the inclusion of the whole thing pointless at worst, questionable at best.
Aside from spooks and exploration, Peter will often encounter a number of puzzles. Most tend to be connecting the dots together, while others are a little less obvious. Bizarrely, an early tutorial implies pushing furniture around can aide Peter in his quest, but this only ever appears in the tutorial and nowhere else. It’s a confusing realization, but perhaps that’s a good way to sum up most of the puzzles, confusing. They aren’t anything clever or well crafted, often feeling menial. Putting things together to progress to the next stage of the game rarely feels truly satisfying, nor does it feel like a slog. Sadly, it does feel like just part of a process. A sentiment that echoes throughout the entirety of Silver Chains.
Cracked Heads display a keen skill in creating great looking and sounding environments. Shadow consumes the decay before Peter. Each movement produces a sound that whispers into the ear. Aged furniture sits and stares, allowing the rooms to feel lived in, at least partly. Some of the design within the Mansion is a little confusing given its apparent English origin, looking more like an idea of that period than the actual thing. It’s a true shame the environment is let down by a lack of set dressing that truly breathes a level of life into the surroundings.
Silver Chains crawls towards a close with an essence of panic. A strange game of ring and ring roses sees the credits roll with the plot just sort of ending. Nothing is truly revealed, no grand twist of point of curiosity, just an ending that gets the job done. At the end of the day, that’s exactly what Silver Chains ultimately feels like, just getting the job done. A combination of uninspired puzzles and scares leaves very little to speak of, or truly recommended.
The Final Word
A game as lifeless as the ghosts within it, Silver Chains will appease those hooked on the genre but will scare away everyone else.
– MonsterVine Review Score: 1.5 out of 5 – Terrible
