Tormented Souls is a survival horror game was released in 2021 for PS4, PS5, XBONE, XSX/S, Switch, and PC.
It was developed by Dual Effect & Abstract Digital, and published by PQube Limited.
Growing up with the classic survival horror, a genre that was pioneered by the likes of Alone In The Dark, and populated by Capcom's Resident Evil and Konami's Silent Hill.
Those are games that delivers the nightmarish of horror atmospheres which shook the gaming worlds with the gruesome gory effects, multiples of death sequences, fighting for the survival, unexpected jumpscares, and uncovering the dark secrets is what made these games quite popular back in the 90's.
Of course we had games back in mid-2000s like Resident Evil 4, FEAR, Condemned, and Dead Space had improved upon the gameplay design and horror elements, where as in year 2010s such as Alien Isolation, The Evil Within, and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard which brought us into the new level of horror that makes everyone shitting their pants off.
The popularity of the genre had spawned with many clone titles or the titles that was inspired by the classic survival horror games was made by some of the small indie game developers or fan communities site as today.
It is really interesting to bring back the 90's style horror game into the modern platforms, so there's one of the indie game that gives us a nostalgia throwback to classic survival horror genre which is Tormented Souls.
It's one of the horror title that got me attention after I've discovered the actual trailer back in year 2021 which I was originally planned to wait bit longer until I had a chance to get a PS5 console, but sadly my plan didn't go well which is why I've changed the mind to get a PS4 version instead, so that I can play the game that I've wanted to look forward re-visiting the 90's classic horror roots.
I had spent a week to play entirely to see if this game are actually just as good as the classic horror games that I've played back then, so my answer will be fully discussed on this review that I'll be covering some of the goods and bads aspects that the game is either a worthy to play that made the classic survival horror so great in the 90's or is it just a colossal mess that didn't do the game's justice.
So without go further do, let's start the review.
Presentation
The game starts out with the young woman named Caroline Walker had discovered the unknown letter from the Wildberger Hospital, which has the photo of the two mysterious twin girls are likely being missing in the mansion. She then headed to the mansion to investigate the situation and find the two girls that are missing in the mansion.
The story in the game are kinda a bit sounds above the average, but it does give the game a bit of the charm which is actually not that bad at all entirely.
I know you guys been thinking "why this woman really needed to investigate such a dangerous place and that?" so it may be sounds clueless at the beginning of the game, but not until you had to progress through the game to find out a part of the game may going to surprise you.
You may need to collect a numerous of diaries to uncover the mysteries behind the whole mansion may going to help you understand the plot of the game quite a bit.
Aside with the story, I say Caroline Walker is actually looked decent in the game which I really liked her outfits with black leather jacket, white dress with red ribbon, and black shoes. She does has nice short red-brownish hair and wears a eyepatch which sadly someone did something to her right-eye quite badly.
I also liked the concept design of the enemy monsters are kinda gives me a H.P Lovecraft's aesthetics to it, so you have a creature sat on the wheelchair armed with claws, the legless deformed crawlers will nab you closer and has nasty spitting, the wall-mounts creature are bolted to corridors with deadly scythes for hands, the Drip monster hooked to an IV bag will linger you with spikes, the tall-hulking walker with rusted blades attached to their arms, the big-fat bloating monster are floating across the room, and the big husky robot with hazmat suit armed with giant hammers. Those are the monsters which I finding it quite terrifying as any of 90's classic horror games had to offer.
I got to say the presentation in the game is quite amazing for its settings and locations because it really brings closer to the 90's classic horror game that we had seen it something similar to these environmental design, so stuff like in the mansion are filled with dentist room, bedrooms, meeting room, hall area, dining area, kitchen, sewers, library, basement, office, and etc.
Each of these locations has the mixed of house and hospital setups where most of the humans are being horribly experimented which they turns into a horrifying creatures.
You will see several of rooms and wards are filled with pool of blood and particles of gory limbs scattered all over the places, and there are some of the room and basement are nothing but a pitched-black that became too dark to traverse around which adding the creepiness of the game's horror tone.
Overall, it has quite fair story, decent main protagonist, and amazing horror presentation.
Gameplay
You take control of Caroline Walker in fixed-angle perspective, so in order to find the missing two girls you must find the way of heading to the destination goal by solving the puzzles that leads you into the new area, as well as uncovering the secrets and fighting for survival in the terrifying mansion.
The game has two control style that plays differently in the game, so you'll have a modernized controls scheme which are suitable for newcomers such as the left stick controls acts as 360s degree movement which you can move in 8-ways direction, where as the classic control schemes uses the d-pad buttons as the traditional rotation-tank controls like mostly from the 90's classic horror games, but you can also do 180s back-turn by holding the d-pad backward then press the square button.
You can interact, pick-up objects, and opening doors by pressing the cross button, where as holding the square button then pressing the d-pad button forward to make her run through the area, but she can also run automatically by simply just pushing the left-stick control without holding the square button makes it easier to control.
In combat, you get the weapon ready by aiming with the left trigger or right shoulder button, then fire the weapon with the right trigger or cross button which attacks the enemies, but you can also reload the weapon by pressing the circle button.
You can access to the inventory menu screen by pressing the triangle button, so this will let you equip the weapons that you have obtained, examine the objects like opening or fiddle stuff, and combining the two items together.
So unlike Capcom's Resident Evil where you can able to store more items into the safe storage box, this game lets you keep all the items and weapons on your inventory screen much longer which I'm kinda surprised by it, but it's not a bad thing because you don't have to keep backtracking to the save rooms over again just to swap or grab the items that you'll need it for the later part of the game.
You can also access to the map menu screen by hitting the right thumbstick button which let's you navigate the map location which tells you where you are and where to head at the next area.
So far, they did a good job of re-creating the classic horror elements into a horrifying experiences where it had the intensity level of scare factor aspects in the game.
Stuff like you'll be walking into the dark areas which likely you'll be dragged out and killed by random monsters unless the lighter item will save you from getting caught in action.
There'll be a tons of enemy monsters giving you unexpecting surprise in the dark areas and they'll move violently towards you receiving a severe damaging attack, so you'll be needing to use your weapons in order to defeat them, but be really careful about using the weapon frequently because you'll need to save up enough ammunition unless use it to kill if it's necessary.
These enemy's A.Is are really smart enough to catch you if you get really close to them or they'll see you in mid-range distance.
There are some of the weapons that came in useful such as crowbar which acts as close-range melee weapon, the pistol that are good for all-balance dealing with light damaging attack, the shotgun is a close-range weapon deals with heavy damaging attack are effective against the big enemies, and the electric rod that not only stuns but kills the enemies too.
The best part for the classic horror-style games is the puzzle solving segments where you need to solve the puzzle parts in each rooms which rewards you with the key items or objects that can leads you to next area, so stuff like figuring out the passcode to unlock stuff like padlock and cash register machine, activating the generators, using the correct patterns on door knocker, getting the elevator to function, unveiling the hidden secret door, using the valid combination key for locked doors, and many more to deal with the puzzle solving stuff.
While the game plays pretty decent throughout the story, I never liked how they designed the fixed-camera angles which I finding it quite cliché for most classic horror games but I never against the choices for gameplay design which I can fully respect it, but the problem is that having the fixed-angle orientation can cause the distraction when every time you walking or running across the areas it changes the angle differently can be nauseating for some players and you couldn't really tell where to find the items can be bit difficult to navigate stuff inside the rooms.
I got to be really honest about the movement controls which many newcomers had said that the traditional tank controls hasn't aged quite well as we remembered back then, so you have an option to use a modernised control scheme which I find the 360s degree movement on the left stick control tends to be quite easier to control because you don't have to go through with the tank controls like most of the classic horror games from the 90's era unless if you're one of the horror veterans who rather much preferred the old-school play which is sounds totally fine.
It is good to have the 360s degree movement which really helps the game, but I wish they should have added the aiming controls with the right stick as well because aiming with the left stick can be bit confusing for those who uses the modernised control option, but that didn't hurt the game as much to be honest.
What really matters the most is being able to enjoy the entire horror experiences filled with many monsters in each room that you had to either fight them or defend yourself for survival, cracking down the puzzles to reveal a hidden secrets, and uncovering the dark truths behind the mansion is what makes the game plays decently throughout the playthroughs.
Overall, it has good puzzle-solving and great survival gameplay.
Graphics
The graphics in the entire game are looking spectacular for the modern gaming platform because I really liked the way they improved upon with the lighting settings and environmental design which is so much cleaner and detailed which quite came close to games like Capcom's Resident Evil 2002's remake.
You have a bold textures of room's details, the structures of the building objects that are well designed, the use of the lighting effects in some areas gives us a great mix of light and dark tone of settings depending which locations are you at which adds up the game's atmospheres.
The use of the gory level are quite gruesome in some parts of the game, so you'll see a dead bodies everywhere, the pool of blood splattered on the floor, and the particles of body limbs that are surely slimy and squishy is just unpleasant to look at these kinds of stuff is what made the game quite disturbing to play.
The character's animation in this game are sure looking fantastic with their body movement and physics are keeping well intact to make human character moves like human being, and the creatures moves like a creeping monsters just got it really right in the game.
I also got to say that the PS5, XSX/S, and PC version delivers a best results for its smooth frame-rate and less loading times.
Overall, it has gruesome gore levels, fantastic character's animation, great lighting effects, and well detailed environmental design.
Music and Sounds
The original soundtrack in the game are sounds magnificent because its had sort of a Capcom's Resident Evil vibes for its calming piano tunes at the title screen and save room which gives a moment of the relief from the nightmare, where as the rest of the music such as the chase sequences, fighting with the monsters, and entering the darkest rooms with pitch black areas are kinda has Konami's Silent Hill aesthetics for its dark environments sounds that makes your mind feel unsettling and building up anxiety which is why they did a good job of capturing the horror atmospheres.
The sound effects in the whole game offers a great range of horrific noises coming out from the backgrounds, hearing a haunting screams in some places, and the roar of the monsters.
I got to say the voice acting in the game are sure quite cheesy just like the 90's classic horror games, so don't let it fooled you because I totally understand the concept of the 90's classic horror genres is what makes the game an interesting throwback to 90's classic horror games back then.
Overall, it has magnificent soundtrack and horrific sound design.
Special Features
I am grateful to have a free downloadable PS5 upgrade which is a fine bonus, but unfortunately there's no additional content in this game. It would have been better if they offer stuff in the game like unlockable galleries, needs to add enough more costumes than just 1, new game plus mode, add more game's difficulty option, and of course battle mode that could have given the game enough addition, so that's a shame because this game provides a really good single-player horror campaign which I've enjoyed it so far, but I wish they should have included the additional content features.
Overall, quite a shame.
Advantages
Amazing horror presentation
Cool concept design for enemy monsters
Decent main protagonist
Good puzzle solving
Great survival gameplay
Spectacular visuals
Magnificent soundtrack
Horrific sound design
Disadvantages
Fixed-camera angles may be not suited for some players
Aiming control should have been added to right stick option
Not adding unlockable content
Final Verdict
Presentation 7.5/10 - quite fair story, decent main protagonist, and amazing horror presentation.
Gameplay 7/10 - good puzzle-solving and great survival gameplay.
Graphics 8.5/10 - gruesome gore levels, fantastic character's animation, great lighting effects, and well detailed environmental design.
Music and Sounds 8/10 - magnificent soundtrack and horrific sound design.
Special Features 1/10 - lack of additional content.
Overall 7/10 - Tormented Souls is yet a good horror game that does the job quite right. It's feels like a true love letter to 90's classic survival horror genres that we adored the style of horror game which delivers a horrifying experience filled with multiples of deadly creatures coming to chase you through the corridors, discovering a rooms with amounts of blood scattered around the walls and floors, using a weapon and health kit as a tool for survival, and solving the mysteries to uncover the dark secrets is what made the game quite fun.
Even it does have shares with few drawbacks like the fixed-camera angles can be distracting for some players, the aiming control could have been better with the right-stick option, and of course the lack of the additional content that I've mentioned above which could have made the game done a bit better.
That being said, the game provides a good single-player campaign which I've been enjoying the game entirely, so yeah it's plays pretty good without any regret.
The game cost around between £15 to over £20 which you can get it physically on PS4, PS5, and Switch, where as you can also get it digitally on the digital storefront for all platforms just for between £16 or £17.
If you're one of the 90's classic survival horror fanatics out there interested in this type of style, then Tormented Souls is definitely for you to pick-up, and I am hoping for the game developers will able to do well on the upcoming sequel in the near future.
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