DAYMARE: 1998 is a third-person survival horror with hardcore survival mechanics and hard to kill enemies. It requires a strategical approach to combat and puzzles and offers a multi-character point of view on the story, revealing a deep and obscure lore.
The scene is set with a secret research fa...
DAYMARE: 1998 is a third-person survival horror with hardcore survival mechanics and hard to kill enemies. It requires a strategical approach to combat and puzzles and offers a multi-character point of view on the story, revealing a deep and obscure lore.
The scene is set with a secret research facility, a deadly chemical weapon and a special security team to investigate this incident with the potential to become much more than just a security breach. Follow the steps of an elite soldier, a helicopter pilot and a forest ranger, as they play out their roles in an event that transforms one peaceful small town into a deadly zone and its citizens into bloodthirsty monsters. Take the creatures down first, before looking for any clues and evidence to bring more sense to the mess. Keep track of your itinerary, as resources are scarce in a situation like this! Anything can happen when your daymares become real…
Fans of the iconic cinematographic brands and classical gloomy survival horror games of the '90s will be thrilled, seeing how DAYMARE: 1998 recreates the atmosphere of the most beloved works from the end of the millennium and places a typical yet fresh story in the middle of it. The plot unfolds through the eyes of various characters, putting players in the shoes of different personalities that will guide them through their theories and doubts about the situation. Backtracking, managing ammo, collecting lore items, solving environmental puzzles and the overall difficulty will help players jump a couple decades back and get chilled to the bone in their first real daymare.
Main features:
Multi-character POV – see the story from different angles and discover the truth
Dreadful enemies – rendered in detail with lifelike animations and dismemberment
Realistic HUD – check inventory, health and position on a special piece of gear
Environmental puzzles – finding your way is not always easy, look for clues
Classic mechanics - limited ammo and save points, backtracking, collectibles, tough enemies and more
Modern graphics and effects – not all is classic thanks to Unreal Engine 4
Experience 90s – homage to the era with tons of references
1. Definitely needs to have ways to open up areas as shortcuts to reduce back tracking.
2. Better Directions for objective locations, especially floors of buildings.
3. Fountain Puzzle compass needs rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise to be correct.
4. Good at that old school Resident Evil style gameplay and atmosphere.
I just finished the fountain puzzle at the point this review was requested.
I loved RE3 as a kid. This looked like a good modern follow up.
Rather than do a breakdown, for this review I'll detail the first few times I tried to play it.
Attempt 1, "Daymare" difficulty : You're a cynical wetwork op going into a known hard target. You carry a pistol, a rifle, and ten spare pistol rounds for this prolonged 'kill everything' op. You deploy without a second rifle mag and the MC refuses to take his mag out to reload it. You can accumulate bricks of ammo and have an empty rifle, as it will not let you reload a weapon directly OR eject your only magazine. Everything is balanced with tight margins at this difficulty, so you're meleeing instead since the rifle is useless. The MC won't hit a prone enemy, and they are immune to melee attacks while standing up. If you're too close when the invisible switch flips from IMMUNE to FIGHTING, you're instantly grappled, even if you're directly behind them. (Not 'quickly'. Instantly. 0 frames between facing away from you and a grappling QTE). Melee takes ages, so you have to try to time it so punches land AFTER the invincibility but BEFORE you get grappled. One hit takes a third of your health. Many hits visibly land but don't register. It's just awful. I quit, my pistol empty, fifty loose unusable rifle rounds in my pockets, when I got to the point that I had to RNG / Jank a half dozen zombies between save points with one hit remaining.
Attempt 2 - Second hardest difficulty : A total cakewalk. Two or three shots on average instead of Daymare's six-ish. Hits take less than a tenth of your HP. Got trapped on terrain early in chapter 2, realized I wasn't being challenged or scared, and quit.
Attempt 3 - Mercenary Mode : Ammo everywhere. No survival horror, just action, but VERY easy. Lots of jogging down empty identical corridors while overly dramatic music swells. Quit twenty minutes in, bored, weighed down in consumables.
Four hours in, I'm cutting my losses.
Came in with low expectations and it kind of blew me away. Excellent level design and atmosphere. Sound design is also very good. Possibly the most derivative game I have ever played, but well executed generally, with only a few minor issues.
As of 2025, this game ran perfectly, and controlled just fine on k+m. However, I did have to turn the mouse sensitivity up to solve some sluggish aim issues.
I got this game for free, but I would have been happy if I purchased on a sale.
Just a resident evil copy with some balance issues (except if you are a fan of masochistic difficulty factors - such as zomibes(!) requiring multiple headshots to go down and then still get back up, etc.).
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Last 30 daysLast 90 daysLast 6 monthsWheneverAfter releaseDuring Early Access
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