We analyze a psychological horror adventure for PC, PS4 and Xbox One (soon on Switch) that invites us to explore light and flee from darkness.
Those Who Remain is new to Camel 101 (creators of titles like Syndrome or Gemini Wars) alongside Wired Productions, a psychological horror adventure for PC, PS4 and Xbox One (and later on Nintendo Switch) that takes us into the dark and mysterious town of Dormont to experience in first person the descent into madness of a man who is trapped by his own past. Thus, and following the style of so many other independent video games cut by the same pattern, this new adventure encourages us to explore, solve continuous puzzles and riddles and, at certain times, flee from a terrifying presence that haunts us in closed environments. Let’s see in our Reviews if Those Who Remain manages to stand out among many other proposals that are committed to a similar setting, gameplay and development.
Better known devil than devil to know
Camel 101 proposes a typical experience of the subgenre of the so-called walking simulator, that is, a development based on a very basic and even monotonous first-person exploration of the scenarios to solve small puzzles or challenges that allow us to advance in the story, all of this under a disturbing setting that plays with a constant oppressive feeling but that never really terrorizes the player, especially those who have already “suffered” other proposals such as Outlast or Layers of Fear, titles with which it shares certain characteristics but which are far away. when immersing ourselves in a dark nightmare universe.
This time we took control of Edward, a middle-aged man with a wonderful woman and a perfect daughter, albeit tormented by his mistakes, reaching his own limits right at the start of the adventure; Without going deeper into his argument to avoid spoilers of any kind, we suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Dormont, a sinister town submerged in absolute darkness whose inhabitants seem to have vanished … Or so we believe. And it is that so typical American people have been corrupted by the acts of their own citizens, harboring a kind of alternative reality that will plunge us completely into a collective nightmare from which, apparently, we cannot escape.
We will quickly discover that we can only stay alive under any source of illumination, since if we go too deep into the darkness we will fall victim to dark oneiric silhouettes with blue eyes, armed with knives and axes and that will constantly stalk us, anywhere we do not. reach no light source. In fact, the development of Those Who Remain invites us to break through the darkness taking advantage of any type of artificial lighting, be it through electric generators, interior lighting of buildings, objects such as lighters and anything that can be used to illuminate our surroundings; precisely, it will be through the resolution of constant puzzles with which we can advance in the adventure, thus distancing such threatening figures, always static but equally impassive.
The adventure is divided into different chapters through zones independent from each other, leading us to visit all kinds of locations, from a gas station to a police station, passing houses, roads, supermarkets, restaurants and more, solving puzzle after puzzle, to continue on through a confusing and awkward narrative, all through small stories that do not finish transmitting a coherent thread that hooks the player. At least it has a differentiating element in each level that allows us to jump to an alternative reality from that same location to solve puzzles. Its access occurs through portals that we will have to open, recalling concepts such as “The Other Side” of the television series Stranger Things; So much so, that we will need to explore both versions of the same scenario to activate mechanisms or find key objects so that they have repercussions on the other plane of reality and vice versa. A solution that gives a bit of imagination to the set and somehow supplies that constant feeling of going here and there without a clear objective, something that happens more, much more, than would be desirable.
Another of the central axes although not so constant in Those Who Remain are the stealth phases in which a Nemesis-like monster looks for and chases us while we try to solve a puzzle or a challenge on a stage, of course, closed or delimited. Although they are situations that are solved with some ease and do not represent a real threat in themselves, if they add some tension and variety. Of course, the title suffers from a mechanic that does not finish being well resolved and becomes one of its main setbacks; and is that if we perish at any point on the same level or stage, either by a false step into the dark or by one of these creatures that we must give a corner to, we must restart the level from the beginning, repeating over and over You see the same steps and puzzles, something that can get really tedious; Although the levels are not excessively long, there are some more extensive than others.
Finally, the adventure offers us the possibility of making decisions in relation to certain characters that will cross our path, decisions that will have direct consequences and that will show us one end or the other among various possibilities; So much so, that as a sentence, we will have to condemn or save people from whom we will discover their past through clues at certain levels and who are trapped in a kind of purgatory awaiting our judgment. Whether through punishment or forgiveness, the real impact on the player is rather nil and we will not care much about the fates of these characters thanks to a development that goes far beyond their background in each case. A missed opportunity and from which much more narrative revenue could have been obtained.
Already in its staging, both technically and in its artistic design, it again offers us a series of chiaroscuro where its negative side dwarfs the positive; And it is that despite the fact that the settings and the settings can harbor a certain grace and even arouse our curiosity, the general feeling is that Those Who Remain could have appeared 10 years ago. Beyond certain performance hiccups, the title of Camel 101 features overly simple modeling, with very basic characters losing any credibility through very poor animations and facial expressions that would need a lot more work, certainly.
We understand that this is a small studio with limited resources, but in many respects its visual finish leaves much to be desired. At the sound level, the absence of any soundtrack does not detract from a successful setting, with voices, laments, blows, noise and a whole collection of typical effects of the genre that will cause us more than a scare and a constant feeling of overwhelm throughout its approximately 4 hours long, depending on which we entertain ourselves in each puzzle, although we will be able to advance with enough ease, everything is said. The voices of the characters are in English with a job of localization of the subtitles with a lot of room for improvement due to certain misspellings and their dubious semantic construction.
CONCLUSION
Those Who Remain does not offer anything that we have not already seen in so many other video games of similar development and staging, an exploration adventure that is closer to a walking simulator than to anything else. And all this despite a disturbing setting that is completely wasted by its own mechanics, where basically we will go from one place to another solving simple challenges through a confused and disjointed narrative that little interest will awaken the player. In addition, its staging is quite poor, with graphics from the past generation and certain drops in performance that should not occur under the circumstances. A title that we can only recommend to fans of the genre, but that will not convince those looking for a truly terrifying experience with a good balance between gameplay and execution.
THE BEST
- Puzzle between two realities
- Disturbing and oppressive setting …
WORST
- … Although it quickly loses steam
- Technical plan of a decade ago
- Clumsy and confusing narrative
- Unbalanced control points
- Localization with numerous errors
Improvable
It can have acceptable elements and entertain, but in general it is an experience that will not leave a mark.
