This game is great, especially for 2005, but it could be so, so much better with some extra polish, better level design, more/altered weapons, more/better scares, the works. The worst is probably the level design. It's nothing but warehouses and concrete labs, offering some pretty boring levels both visually and as a playable area. The puzzles also... exist, and the weapons are hit or miss. The weapon choices were very odd, with the pistols possibly being the best (or, at least most fun) but never getting ammo restocks; rocket launchers always launch three at a time; and there's no real sniper: there's a burst gun (which is half the weapons) that sucks and a REALLY sweet atomizer leaving only skeletons, but neither get large ammo drops. So I hope you like the assault rifle and the shotgun, the latter of which is genuinely amazing. It's a classic for a reason, but it won't knock your socks off. Again, if this got a loving remake to sand all the edges we could have another Dead Space (2023) on our hands.
The first hour is really great, and got me excited for the rest of the game. A big, creepy late 1800's English mansion with terrifying rooms and 2 really great scares boded well for the rest of the story. However once you leave the mansion and the first hour is over, you quickly realize you're in for a different experience. The only thing you can interact with in what SHOULD be a physics-based puzzle game are chairs(???) and the puzzle solutions--what the hell? The “puzzles” are solved by simply picking up the nearest thing you can actually pick up and bringing it to the end of a hallway or door that you can open. Boom, puzzle solved, and onto the next section. The door locks behind you, and the second realization hits: this game is linear as FUCK, and not necessarily in a good way. The exploration is outright gone, and there are no health items, lighting utensils, nothing--all doors, dressers, closets, cupboards, etc. are all locked and/or not interactive, so just point your cursor forward and march on. While the game’s atmosphere is great for the most part, the story can’t carry it through the full 4-5 hours--even then, the gothic, foreboding atmosphere gives way to pipes and crates. The first game was ambiguous, but had disturbing implications and terrifying realizations as the narrative unfolded and both you and Daniel figured out what the hell was going on. It was extremely impactful to me back when I first played it in 2012, and it holds up extremely well in 2020. However, this game’s story just simply isn’t up the snuff. The implications that you are related to Daniel (and that the revenge ending is the canon one) is really awesome, but that’s about it. You quickly figure out that you’re behind all this madness, and while it’s gross and fun to imagine all the horrific experiments and descent into madness your main character went though, none of it is realized by the end. And boy, what a lazy, quick ending.
