The Park

I've given it 2 - not because it is essentially linear, not because it is short, not because you get to a point where the kind of ending it does have is predicable, not because you walk around and interact very little with the world and finally not because there is virtually no replay-ability but because of all those things together. It is a good looking game, there a couple of "Boo!" moments that work quite well and they have the horror mood down pat. For those who have read a little you might even find some references to the works of H P Lovecraft which I thought was a nice touch. A game to kill some time with and enjoy on that level but nothing to get excited about.

There are two main things one needs to know before playing or buying this. 1) It is mostly a walking simulator. You walk, you hear a story and you locate items to read. It does feel like a game, but Alan Wake this isn't. The story is mostly well made and the controls work well. 2) The game is depressing. I am not even kidding. If you are suffering from depression (like I am) then I would avoid playing it. While I could see more or less what was going to happen from the first few minutes, it only got worse as the story and the very good acting tried their best. Do I recommend this one? It's a short game, I finished it for my stream in under 2 hours. In 1 hour 42 min to be exact. I didn't pay much money for it as I got it in a sale. For even the full price it is worth it for the quality of the acting alone. The graphics are good too. Just remember the two things I mentioned. Oh and the game did manage to scare me in a couple of occasions. But the most serious thing you need to remember is that this game is depressing. The game warns you when you start and I laughed at it. I have proof in my vod of my stream https://youtu.be/Rft70EEBXQc I was not laughing at the end of it. I got too depressed to do anything else that night. If you know you have no such issues, then I easily suggest this experience.

The art direction and voice acting were great. The story was pretty lacking and transparent (to me at least.) Initially I had problems starting the game. Then after a restarting the game again I couldn't turn... Then the game crashed and I couldn't continue my game. After a third restart of the game it worked fine. Another problem is the text on all the letters and stuff you're supposed to read are tiny. I hope you have good eye sight. I got this for $5 on sale. Was it worth it, maybe. I wouldn't waste my time on it and just move on. The game takes about 2 hours to get to the end. There's no puzzle solving, no gameplay elements. Just walking and clicking on stuff to go through the story with narration.

The reviews on GOG are much more accurate than the reviews I saw on steam in terms of overall score. This game is down-right awful, and I can't see how anyone could really rate it above a 1/5. For starters, the game isn't scary. I mean maybe if you've never played another horror game or never seen a horror movie in your entire life this might give you a jump scare once or twice, but even then it's a stretch. The game is actually just a simple walking simulator. One with a terrible story and the most edgy annoying lady of all time babbling nonsense in lieu of plot. There is zero interaction beyond reading sheets of paper spread throughout the area. Sometimes you have LITERALLY no control as you sit on "rides" and watch a non-interactive scene. For example (minor spoilers) the first "ride" is a water ride which tells the entire story of Hansel and Gretel. When I say the entire story, I mean the ENTIRE story. As in, you are sitting on this ride for 15 real world minutes watching shadow figures in the shapes of the characters on a virtual rock wall. If that sounds really bad, that's because it is. I think they wanted the story to be deep or something, but it just comes off as something that would be written by an edgy twelve year old. Mother loses her son, mother has issues, mother rants about the "true meaning of life". Made me want to jump out my window (my apartment is on the third floor). The game took me 52 excruciating minutes, and that was with reading most of the sheets of paper spread throughout the game. The one segment that has any semblance of actual horror-aesthetic is in the last ten minutes of the game, and it was stolen from the PS4 game P.T. (a looping segment that gets scarier as it goes on). The fact games like this get high ratings confuses the life out of me. I just don't get it. There has to be some standard for quality, and this game doesn't come anywhere close.

If you're not a fan of walking simulator games, this isn't for you- aside from walking and running, about the only thing you can do is examine notes and objects. With that out of the way, The Park does a fairly decent job at setting up a creepy atmosphere. The idea of exploring an abandoned amusement park and riding a bunch of scary, broken-down rides is fun all on its own, and the park looks and sounds great- from the rusted buildings to the indistinct voices whispering over the PA system, it delivers a spooky vibe from the start. Unfortunately, it doesn't go much beyond that. The story is told through narration and notes, and while the protagonist's past eventually becomes clear, the story of the park itself and what's actually happening remain somewhat ambiguous, and the ending leaves more questions than answers, coming abruptly and with no real payoff. The game is so short there's not much room for it to breathe and expand upon things, and it feels rather pointless and cheap as a result. It feels more like a casual trip to a real amusement park than a narrative experience. During the first half of the game you explore the park and hit all the rides, and this is definitely the best part- most of the rides deliver an experience that's either fun, scary or both. The character of the Boogeyman or ringmaster is actually pretty unsettling, which makes it all the more disappointing that he's secondary to the protagonist's personal history. The second half of the game fills in a lot of backstory but is fairly dull and confined by comparison, and leads to an unsatisfying climax. The Park is a spinoff of The Secret World, and I'm not sure if playing that game would improve the experience- but standing on its own, The Park doesn't quite hold up. It's only 3 to 5 hours long at most, and probably not worth the base price- but pick it up on sale some time. The rides alone are worth investing a couple hours into it.