Daymare: 1998

61% If you go in with no expectations and just want a funny and janky Resident Evil clone then you might enjoy it but otherwise you will be disappointed.

It's an ok game. Corridors could be shorter, maybe less backtracking. But the final boss has you run through a corridor opening doors through QTE and then you have to wait for an elevator. If at any point boss gets you, it's instant death for you. Guess where you start if you die?

It's a pale imitation of the games it claims to revere so much. Jank is to be expected with a smaller team. But that doesn't forgive some baffling game design choices. Here are the three that were a consistent annoyance throughout a full playthrough and how Resident Evil did them right. Inventory Screen: Character slowly brings up their knock-off pip-boy and waits for it to boot up while the action is still going on around you and then you shuffle through samey looking icons searching for what you wanted. Resident Evil games over the years have had both live and paused inventory screens. But the one thing they ALL had in common was the menus were snappy. Instant open, instant close, and items were easily identifiable. Reloading: Requires a magazine or opening the slow and clumsy menu to combine ammo with the gun. Resident Evil: Outbreak made it work by allowing a faster reload with a magazine and having the character slowly reload one round at a time without it. No menuing required. Sound design: Classic Resident Evil games had stellar sound design. You walked into a room, you heard zombies breathing and shuffling. The enemy sound design here is almost non-existent. Usually, they jog right up behind you without making a peep or they are sitting around a corner waiting to spring forth when you walk by. It's not scary, it's annoying. It is absolutely not worth the $30 asking price at time of review. For a steep discount (or if it's given away for free again) it's worth a look if you are a seasoned Resident Evil fan with a lot of patience and 10 hours to kill. If you have not played the games that "inspired" it. Go play those instead.

The story is interesting, the voice acting is mediocare, the combat is clunky but all in all it's worth a play for all fans of Resident Evil type games. A banger for the buck when you get the game on sale :)

The game dose take a good care to create atmosphere even tho the estabilishing helicopter incident (the thing that creates all the undead) felt very wildly paced and confusingly cut. Most rest of the game the narrow paths even on larger streets feel little bit too claustrophobic and could have instead been used as good contract to evoke fear of open spaces since well in open space undead can be any one of the apparently substantial populace of Keen Sight (yeah nice pun) , or rather formerly living population now kinda not. Weapons and their usage feel satisfying the jumpscares are far less annoying than in most games that employ them. And believe you me i HATE jumpscares. The puzzle element whilst intending to add something interesting and different seems to sometimes be applied in most baffling places and even more baffling ways (realy fire suppression sytem on and off are puzzles? why?) , i could do either without or with it being dessigned in more natural style than separate interface. Storyline is... i do not know the switching perspective for now is not that interesting and the crossover is not yet pronounced enough to make me feel anything towards it it also means i conflate stories of Raven and Samuel bit too much. The focus would be beter if it was solely on Samuel and the Helicopter bit was a flashback or even outro or even better have those events take blace retrograde in comparision to Samuel. As is its presented in very fractured way that i find particularly dissatisfying, altho there is nothing naratively wrong it feels bit conffused as result fo the presentation (and my limited brain abilities). All in all a decent enough game you can play if you are either fan of genre or just curious about said genre, tho in that case i heard its sequel (err prequel? its DM94) is superior in every way. There are fun little tribute posters here and there in the game that i think are possibly most enjoyable thing about game that and some enviroments (Galery).