Decay: The Mare (PC) Review

As stated, explanations here are, and will be throughout, very thin on the ground. It is an understatement to say the story is vague and that even the resolution leaves many more questions than answers. Rather, it all seems like a vehicle just to introduce the well-trodden horror locale of the creepy haunted asylum with all the creaking noises, blood stained floors and freaks behind doors it is possible to cram in. The problem is that it generally fails to ever hit a high mark in terms of the scares, which is fundamentally what the audience is there for.

That said, some credit has to be given for creating what is a generally atmospheric ambience as the player moves between each scene and there is plinking piano notes being played in the background with the soundtrack never intruding but always reminding. The problem is this slow burning approach should be leading up to something intriguing and that just doesn't happen.

There are numerous explanations for this and one might be that the graphics and art style are just generally quite outdated and bland in the extreme. The numerous jump scares that take place are not only horror clichés but when the ghouls are so basically textured and fully in view, naturally they lose their fright. The general art style does not help this. The asylum is certainly depressing but that might unintentionally be the monochrome colour palette, low resolution textures and totally flat lighting. If, in particular, the lighting was much improved, even the modest graphics budget of this indie developed title could have been avoided with clever use of shadow to increase the scares. Having said that, there are some genuine high points, such as a memorable scene in the - arguably best - second episode, in which the use of camera photos to negotiate a dark passage reveal all sorts of hidden horrors. The only shame is how sparsely this creativity is unleashed.

What probably does not help matters is the highly outdated mode of movement and general user interface on show. Moving between areas is frankly an endless frustration that does nothing to endear the experience to the audience. The puzzles throughout usually involve collecting items in one room and then heading back to use said item to complete the puzzle in another. The problem is the perspective of the protagonist and the camera works in very frustrating ways when trying to find the way back. It is a regular occurrence to end up in the room that was supposed to have been exited from. A minor but irritating issue alongside the generally clunky design choice is to require the selection of very tiny arrows to look round the room. It is hard to know why a more modern solution could not have been decided upon.

Add to that the fact that it requires two clicks to enter doors when one would seem fine, and using or examining items requires further entry into a list of items that has to be scrolled through and involves more clicking. By no means are these things 'game breaking' but if all these mechanics were streamlined, the whole experience would function a lot smoother.

The puzzles throughout never stray into the frustrating and always have fairly clear solutions that are well choreographed, mostly involving combining collected items in the right order and reading collected notes for the number solutions required to enter to open doors and boxes. This is quite pleasing as it would have been easy to fill Decay: The Mare with frustrations when the reality is that the main fun of the game, theoretically, should be experiencing the scares of the asylum.