Return to the world of survival horror in a new take on the classic survival horror formula that stays true to its predecessors while providing a compelling and disturbing adventure through an abandoned hospital.
Tormented Souls
Developer: Dual Effect and Abstract Digital Works
Price: $20
Platforms: PC (reviewed), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
MonsterVine was provided with a PC code for review.
A strange photograph sends Caroline Walker to an old mansion-turned-hospital in search of two twin girls, only to be attacked from behind and wake up missing an eye. She sets out in search of the twins as well as the truth of what happened to her, but the hospital is abandoned and filled with horrific monsters. This is the start of Tormented Souls, a survival horror game that follows in the footsteps of genre classics, complete with fixed camera angles to show off its ominous environments.
You’ll obtain a handful of weapons to help you fend off the monsters that stalk the hospital’s halls. Ammo is plentiful enough to take down most of the enemies that stand in your way, while still scarce enough to make me nervous about running out. A single melee weapon, a crowbar, lets you conserve ammo a bit more, although a few swipes from an enemy can easily take Caroline down if you aren’t careful. The enemies are nightmarish in appearance, often consisting of the twisted remains of a person hooked up to medical equipment, and the sound design is excellent. Many times, the ominous clanking of a monster hauling itself toward me alerted me that I was in danger while I tried frantically to see where the threat was coming from. Darkness is also a threat, however; Caroline will die if she spends too long in the dark. Since your first light source is a lighter that must be equipped, early encounters often task you with reaching a well-lit area so you can switch to a weapon. This adds a good deal of tension, although it can be tedious to open up your inventory every time to switch which item you have equipped.
Exploration and puzzle-solving are at the heart of Tormented Souls, and as you explore the hospital, you’ll come across numerous locked doors and other key locations that you’ll need to return to later. Most areas contain a map you can pick up and check from your inventory at any time. The map doesn’t show your location, but does mark save points and certain other key locations. Speaking of save points, you’ll need to think carefully about when to save your game. You save by using tape recorders, and that means you need tapes–a limited resource that will be one of the most valuable items you find.
Puzzles range from simply finding the right key (or key items) to unlock a particular door to trickier riddles you’ll need to solve. Many of these are the sorts of puzzles that made me grin with delight when the pieces finally fell into place and I figured out the solution. A handful of them, however, can be frustrating because you’ll need to guess how the developers intend you to interpret the clues. There were a few times when my progress stalled at a puzzle not because I couldn’t figure it out, but because I could see multiple possibilities and wasn’t sure which was the correct one. At another point, I thought the clue meant something different than what it actually did, and spent quite some time scouring the hospital for a nonexistent item. Since key items aren’t marked in any way, you’ll also need to search each room thoroughly to make sure you’ve picked up anything you’ll need. A fair amount of backtracking is required as you find new key items, and I even took notes on areas to return to later.
Tormented Souls also plays with time and space for some of its puzzles. Without getting into spoilers, there are a couple of ways you’ll visit alternate versions of the hospital to assist in your puzzle-solving. Those sections are excellent, and my only criticism is that Caroline appears oblivious to how they work. While it’s understandable that she wouldn’t believe it right away, it raises the question of why she’s solving those puzzles. I’m solving them because I understand how the game’s mechanic works, but when the protagonist outright states her ignorance of what’s happening, why would she do those things from a story perspective? These are minor criticisms, though, since story justification for these types of puzzles always requires some suspension of disbelief.
The story is dark and disturbing, primarily told through journals and notes you find scattered around, as well as the occasional cutscene. The voice acting is questionable at times, and the dialogue doesn’t always match the subtitles, but the story itself is pretty interesting. It leaves some points ambiguous, but the resolution was satisfactory and brought most of the story’s elements together. From its story to its gameplay to its structure, Tormented Souls truly feels like a long-lost classic survival horror game, to the point where I looked for my first save point as soon as I heard the calming melody of the safe room music.
The Final Word
If you like your survival horror games to include unsettling enemies, clever puzzles, and backtracking to unlock new doors as you explore a sinister location, Tormented Souls is the game you’ve been waiting for. Some elements might be underused, but it’s a solid addition to the survival horror genre that left me delighted as a fan.
-MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
