Despite its quite uninspired identify, Supernatural is likely one of the extra distinctive indie horror titles accessible now thanks largely to its premise. Made by a single developer, Supernatural hopes to supply a singular form of horror expertise the place the sport actively reacts to the participant’s actions. For instance, the sport has a characteristic the place the participant can work together with the supernatural entity that they’re investigating by making use of their microphone. Couple that with a compelling thriller that the participant has to unravel and issues get much more attention-grabbing that ensures Supernatural isn’t just one other horror sport.
Let’s get a number of issues out of the way in which: Supernatural follows within the footsteps of horror titles that revolve extra round investigation and stealth quite than providing up some motion set items within the vein of video games like Resident Evil. It’s additionally price noting that investigation is an enormous a part of Supernatural, to the extent the place other than being scared, you’ll be spending most of your time with the sport fixing puzzles to determine the mysteries behind the story.
Supernatural is a sport I can finest describe as a mixture of some extremely attention-grabbing concepts wrapped up in a package deal that is perhaps extraordinarily interesting as many wouldn’t consider. Supernatural has a number of nice issues going for it, and a few of its extra investigative and puzzle-solving facets are downright implausible. Sadly, the sport felt like a little bit of a let down as a result of, strive as I’d, I simply couldn’t get the sport to acknowledge my microphone.
This isn’t a small downside both. The reactivity of the sport to the participant’s voice by means of the microphone is an enormous a part of the sport’s promoting level. With out this characteristic working correctly, Supernatural doesn’t actually have a lot in the way in which of attention-grabbing issues that haven’t already been explored in titles like Phasmophobia. The truth that the sport permits gamers to have full-on conversations with a mystical creature, with the additional step of the sport additionally reacting by including or subtracting frights relying on the way you sound has been a most needed characteristic for followers of the survival horror style, and it’s a disgrace that I couldn’t get it working with my setup.
Other than the stuff with the microphone points, Supernatural appears like a reliable puzzle horror sport. It options loads of frights by itself, thanks largely to its distinctive animations for the titular supernatural entity, in addition to a few of the hallucinations that gamers can face all through their time with the title.
Supernatural places gamers within the sneakers of Detective Wyatt, who has been tasked with determining the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of a housemaid. The sport largely revolves round gamers going from room to room to try to piece collectively simply what occurred there. This takes the type of hallucinations, frights, and even puzzles. There’s little in the way in which of motion right here, with one memorable second being sadly spoiled by the sport’s trailer. As an alternative, you’ll spend most of your time creeping round the home making an attempt to comply with blood trails and determine puzzles.
“Supernatural appears like a reliable puzzle horror sport.”
Curiously, and this does include a warning for gamers which may not have the abdomen for a few of the sport’s violent facets, Supernatural has a number of gore with copious quantities of blood in all places. Whereas it by no means actually will get into identical ballpark as one thing like Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Supernatural definitely will get near providing up the identical degree of gore after which some.
A core theme of Supernatural appears to be Wyatt’s personal tenuous grasp on actuality. The truth that these hallucinations are occurring in any respect is an enormous inform that the protagonist isn’t fairly feeling proper and a few of the interactions which might be attainable with the entity are inclined to additional reinforce this interpretation of the sport’s story. This may change, nonetheless, when you occur to have a microphone with you whereas enjoying the sport. Supernatural brags about that includes distinctive gameplay any time you begin it up, and even claims to have three endings. Sadly, I may solely actually discover one within the time I used to be capable of spend with the sport.
Replayability additionally appears to be certainly one of Supernatural’s core tenets. Because it permits for a number of types of horror due to its interactivity, in addition to a number of endings, the sport’s comparatively quick run time is implausible for gamers. Every play time is clocked at between 2 and three hours, providing loads of incentive for gamers to revisit the sport to seek out extra clues, and maybe, a greater ending for his or her character.
“Every play time is clocked at between 2 and three hours”
Whereas gameplay is a vital a part of horror video games, the style tends to stay or die based mostly on its visuals and audio, and that is a side the place Supernatural delivers in spades. Visually, the sport’s environments look downright attractive, and a few of the gory tableaus it usually presents really feel nearly clever in the event that they didn’t look so disgusting. The one actual downer right here is the supernatural housemaid itself, which, whereas high-quality and scary from a distance, begins to veer off into the realm of comedy the nearer you get to them. Fortunately, the animations do a terrific job of doing the heavy lifting right here, and the creepy methods they generally transfer may be sufficient to make anybody really feel bizarre.
Relating to audio, Supernatural as soon as once more hits it out of the park. Whereas there isn’t a lot of a soundtrack right here, what’s current does so much to boost the already creepy ambiance of the sport. As you discover the hallways of the home, you’ll usually hear voices of individuals and even objects being thrown round proper across the nook, solely to seek out nobody there. These low-key spooky moments are then punctuated with an emphasis on the bass whenever you come face-to-face with the housemaid, who’s simply as prone to toy with you with cryptic hints and obscure instructions earlier than making an attempt to outright kill you.
The truth that Supernatural is a comparatively quick sport does it a terrific service, because you’ll by no means actually find yourself enjoying the sport lengthy sufficient for it to ever begin getting in your nerves or really feel tedious. The quick runtime signifies that Supernatural may be an effective way to spend a night for followers of horror video games. Despite the fact that, I personally had hassle with getting one of many sport’s core options working, Supernatural is unquestionably price a search for followers of the style.
This sport was reviewed on PC.
