We got our hands on the new horror title Inmates, developed by Davit Andreasyan. A game that promises to be a story-driven, atmospheric psychological horror game. With ups and a lot of downs, the expectations aren’t met and this is why.
Waking up
After having a strange nightmare you wake up as a middle aged man in a prison cell, not knowing whether it’s another nightmare or reality. Soon you will discover a note, where you as the player find out what the name of the character is: Jonathan Bradley. With four other names on the note the wondering begins, what is going on here? You decide to walk around and search for an exit while pondering on what one of the notes said:
”But what’s reality, if not a perception of the environment with basic feelings of a human being”
Going Nowhere Fast
Finding an exit isn’t always easy and at the end, that’s not even what you are looking for. In Inmates, you are able to do a few basic actions. Jonathan is able to pick up items to read, open doors and interact with the different puzzles around the place. This is basically what you do throughout the whole game, making it pretty repetitive. As the prison isn’t very well lit in certain places you are able to pick up matches to explore the dark areas, besides that, you see better without the light causing shadows. Most areas are still visible enough. Walking around a prison doesn’t seem like a problem at first sight, till you notice Jonathan isn’t able to jog let alone run. While walking through a long hallway you get the urge to check your social media in real life, to pass the time while just pressing W to walk forward.
I’ve Got a Feeling
While playing the game one thing is pretty clear, the developer has been really creative in designing the environment and the story. This makes the game different from other horror games out there. While the prison isn’t that scary the thunder outside gives a nice feeling to the game as well as the dark prison cells. Not to mention some inventive decoration you will find around the place, adding a dark atmosphere to the game. The scenery tells you something is off and while walking around you keep wondering what it is. The sound and music of the game might not be very special but combine these with the thunder and dark surroundings it still adds something to the whole picture.
Expect the… Well, Expected
While walking is the most annoying part of the game itself there are a few other issues. Firstly you get the expectation that you will play a psychological horror game which is a pretty big let-down. Even though the game has a few moments where a jump scare might actually scare you for a little bit, most of them are expected and annoying. Missing the horror in the game you also start to miss the challenge. The puzzles you concur are described as mind-bending. But in reality, most of them won’t take more than a few seconds to solve, as long as you get the clue or pay attention. Adding puzzles was a good idea but the execution feels off.
Mind- Blowing end
The end of the game is definitely the best part, at this moment the mystery of the prison and yourself gets revealed. It certainly doesn’t reveal everything but at least fills up some gaps of the storyline. While the end credit is in sight you are still mind-blown by the end of the story.
While the game looked promising from the start you won’t get what is expected. The idea of the game is creative but in the end, it’s not enough to let you truly enjoy the game. It took me 2 hours to complete my first gameplay and while I’m still thinking about the end of the story it’s not a game you will play again. As the surprising end is the best part of the game. The execution of the game is sadly not enough to let you stay around and it simply isn’t worth the current price.
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