Just in time for Halloween comes Funcom’s The Park. Sometime in the last couple of years a new genre has arisen that is more an experience than a game. These “walking simulators” seem to be part movie and mostly walking, which describes The Park perfectly. Despite the amount of “game” in The Park being on the short side, it’s is a creepily enjoyable experience through and through.
The Park
Developer: Funcom
Price: $9.99 (23% off)
Platform: PC
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
The Park is a psychological horror-based narrative experience, and is actually a spinoff of Funcom’s The Secret World, an MMORPG. The controls are extremely simply, as all that you do is walk around, observe objects and shout for your son. The plot begins simply enough, you play as a young mother named Lorraine who’s following her son Callum into Atlantic City Park to look for his teddy bear. However, it becomes immediately apparent that things aren’t quite right.
Nearly the entirety of the story is presented through interior monologue and various letters and notes. Without spoiling too much, Lorraine follows her son through the various parts of Atlantic City part as you learn more and more about both the sinister park and Lorraine’s unstable personality. From horrific accidents to murderous Chipmunks (Yes, I’m serious) it’s clear that things at Atlantic City Park are far from normal. It also becomes difficult to tell what is real and what is simply within Lorraine’s screwed up mind. Through both Lorraine’s monologues and her right-click call-outs meant to help you follow Callum’s voice, it’s clear that as the story progress so does Lorraine’s insanity. Her voice wavers, and she becomes increasingly pessimistic about what it is to be a mother. While her monologues don’t always feel naturally spoken, they progress the story in both obvious and subtle ways. If you’re a scaredy-cat like me it’s easy to miss a lot of the meaning and story, as most of it is told through various hidden notes or subtle elements. Unfortunately, these are easy to miss but carry a lot of gravity in terms of the backdrop to the events going on.
Early on in the story is a Swan Ride through a tunnel where visitors are given a more-or-less accurate rendition of “Hansel and Gretel.” This tunnel as well as the story it tells are perfect metaphors for the rest of the game. The entirety of the tunnel I was expecting something to go wrong, some creepy mutation of the beloved child’s story that never came, and unless you can catch one of the game’s various secrets – hint hint – nothing seems astray until the end. As for the story, “Hansel and Gretel” is referenced non-stop throughout The Park. The connections between Hansel and Gretel and The Park are perfectly applicable, but the amount of times it is referenced removes any subtlety or rewarding thought as the game states every connection for you.
If you are looking to be outright terrified, The Park may disappoint you. Apart from two or three brutal jump-scares (I screamed very loudly) and a few tense moments, this isn’t a survival-horror experience. That fear of death that makes similar titles so scary just isn’t there. As far as I can tell, there are no fail states unless you simply refuse to play the game. The story and atmosphere are unsettling, and in a narrative sense I think The Park is a successful horror experience, just don’t come in expecting to run for your life.
For all of its missteps in story or gameplay, The Park succeeds in its atmosphere. After taking a quick look around two things become clear: one, the development team over at Funcom has obviously put in a ton of work accurately recreating theme parks of old; and two, the Unreal 4 engine can create beautifully realistic experiences. The lighting, sound and graphics are all nearly perfect in presentation, with only a few of the animations presenting any sort of issue.
The Final Word
The Park is an incredibly creepy narrative experience that unfortunately suffers from a lack of things to do. A lack of gameplay aside, this hour-long package is chalk-full of beautiful sights, and an in-depth story that mostly succeeds in telling a horrifying tale of mother and son.
– MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
