It's never really been a secret that I enjoy horror games. Far more than I've ever liked horror movies, at that (though really, I don't watch movies particularly often - much to the chagrin of my housemates).
I have fond memories of first playing the original Resident Evil, as a child, and being terrified when I encountered a corpse that had been pecked to death by crows - and got subsequently attacked by said crows. I turned off the game and didn't return for MONTHS. Felt like a badass when I did and got through that part, though.
Or the time I was playing Silent Hill 2, late night, lights off. Turned the game off to go to bed, and saw a... thing out the window. That was also terrifying, though it didn't stop me from returning to thegame the next evening!
Therefore, it should be no surprise that Nevermind is, and always has been to me, an interesting concept. A game that detects your fear through a heart rate monitor, and makes the game SCARIER until you can calm yourself down sounds like a great step in the direction of using tech to scare the crap out of people!
Therein lies my biggest problem with the game, though. I couldn't try that feature out, because I don't have, don't need, and can't afford, a heart rate monitor for a single game.
Fortunately, you don't need one for the game to work - and its still damn creepy without it!
What I Liked
Story Conceit
The story is that you are a psychologist, of sorts. You plug into a device that allows you to delve into the subconscious of your clients, to try and find hidden memories, which will point you towards the source of their traumas. Once this process has been completed, treatment can properly begin - though your task in the game is purely to make that breakthrough.
While I seem to vaguely recall hearing a similar plot germ a while ago, I've not actually experienced any fiction that takes this tack, and it piqued my interest. The tutorial level, in particular, was clever in using a well known story to ease you into how the game works, as well as providing a good level of creepiness to whet the appetite.
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| Why does this remind me of the clown game at the fair? |
Subtle Puzzles
The puzzles (beyond the tutorial level) range from being rather straightforward (oh look I found the photo I needed) to hair pullingly subtle (looking at clues on a wall and comparing that to the room's layout to figure out a safe combination). I quite enjoyed the tougher puzzles...
What I Disliked
Subtle Puzzles
...except that the toughest ones were absolute walls, and there isn't the concept of a hint button in the game at all. One puzzle locked me down for a good 20 minutes, and I eventually resorted to using a Let's Play video to get the answer since I was so stuck!
Let's be clear - in this particular instance I couldn't even figure out what my actual goal was, let alone achieve it. This is, however, completely subjective - some people may well breeze through those.
Length
I liked the game a lot, and was a little galled to find it had only two clients (beyond the tutorial level). While you can replay levels to find extra stuff, I've always found that scares don't hold up nearly as well the second time around, since you know what's coming! Therefore, I didn't bother with that.
You could, threoretically, blast through this game in a couple of hours. Seriously. I'd love to see some more content!
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| Let's face it - I would live on this street if I could |
Verdict
While I wasn't able to try with the heart rate monitor, I still found myself enjoying this quite a bit. If you're willing to throw $20 US at it (and let's face it - that's the cost of a movie nowadays, which is roughly the same length of time and not nearly as fun unless that movie happens to be Fury Road), you'll find your money well spent.
Also, I recall hearing that the tech was being used to help people treat anxiety (though I doubt it would do so using the horror game - at least not for people who have actual panic attacks), so that's damn cool too!
What a lovely day!
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