The game takes heavy inspiration from the Resident Evil Saga main mechanics like the inventory system, storage box, burning corpses, etc… and packs them on a WW1 theme skin in the best way possible. Nevertheless, the game has some issues to known:
1. The game starts in Windowed Mode instead of Full Windowed, each time the game opens. No matters how many times the setting is changed.
2. Using a Xbox Controller with Bluetooth doesn’t work, the character starts to make random actions that is game breaking. You’ll need to connect with a USB to the PC.
3.The Soundtrack DLC isn’t avaible at the start of the game in the main menu, even if you purchase it.
Conscript is a game that sets out to do one thing and does it very good.
It wears its inspirations on its sleve with pride and they are obvious from the moment you start the game.
If you like the classic survival-horror genre then Conscript is for you.
However, you need to know that Conscript is not a "horror" game per se, it has more of a psychological fear ambience to it, with the visuals, sound and setting all working together to transmit the horror, sadness and brutality of the war. You don't fight monsters that are of fiction, you fight very real monsters: Humans.
Conscript relies heavily in backtracking and exploration to reward you, some times it gets a little bit too promiennt but this is done so that you have a reason to go back and forth through the haunting scenarios which show the destruction, death and putrefaction that was present in a battlefield.
The story tells us about two brothers that lived in the country side with their mother, their dad died and now they are both in the front lines and you are trying to keep both you and your brother alive through this endeavor. The story is personal, deep, and meaningful.
Combat is slow, and purposelly "clunky", in the sense that you have weapons that have slow shooting, bolt action riffles, pump shotguns, a pistol, and melee weapons. Knowing when to use each weapon, to use ammo, what to carry and what to leave, it all comes to play into combat . As you would expect of the classic survival-horror genre.
Inventory management is limited, important and you are cosntantly figuring out what to carry. If you want to keep as much stuff available as possible then you will be constantly going back to the storage. Discarding things makes them dissapear and can't be picked up back again, which makes knowing what to pick up and where you left it important.
Overall, Conscript does what it said it was going to do. A 10/10 from me.
It's a really great game enjoyed every moment of it on my first playthrough been wanting a game like this for a very long time no supernutral elements or zombies just the nitty gritty sadness of war especially for the First World War
I have played this game before on PS5 when it first came out and loved it, just wanted to be able to play on pc as well.
The atomoshere, sound design, music and the gameplay really pull you in like a classic survival horror of the likes of the original Resident Evils. With a merchant mechanic like Dead Space and Resident Evil 4 where you can upgrade weapons and purchase supplies, along with the save mechanic being a comsumable item if you want.
You don't want to miss this if you have missed the old days or just getting started on your survival horror journey.
