The Letter (Wii U) Review

The core essence of survival horror is human psychology. Understanding the basics of how people perceive concepts is crucial if the designer/director hopes to lead the player to feel a certain way, especially for horror. Eli Brewer, the mind behind TreeFall Studios, has no such understanding. Brewer's idea of horror is approximately on the level of what an emotionally stunted child might think would be scary. The Letter has the subtlety of an incoherent Charlie Sheen interview and music that sucks a player's life away with every clunky note that fights any semblance of melody or harmony.

Just by the way The Letter begins, a great sense of regret and shame emanates from the screen. A poorly conceived logo and a low resolution stained envelope with no options, only a prompt to begin the game. Upon starting the game, the most harrowing realisation occurs; the vertical axis is inverted and there is no means to reverse it. Brewer was very selfish and presumptuous to not have an option (or any options) to force the player to use this set up; either that or he just did not care or know how. After taking time to get oriented with the abhorrent settings, the bewildering slowness of looking around with the analogue stick reveals itself. In a game that depends on navigation in the first-person, The Letter completely botches the most simple aspect of the game magnificently.

The first area is a room with writing on the wall, which serve as instructions for the player: "Find the letter". Some questions arise here; are these instructions from the designers? Or are these instructions supposed to exist in the reality of the game? This might seem innocuous, but it sets a precedent for the confusion to come; it is distracting and takes the player out of the game as they are trying to decipher the context. Pretty much every written message on the walls are from the designer, informing the user what they have to do because Eli Brewer lacks the technical knowledge, nor does he grasp the basics of game design, or maybe he is just really lazy. Typically, players can be guided by a simple visual trick, discreetly ushering their direction. This can be done so in a myriad of ways such as use of colour or lighting, UI design, level design or some kind of movement. Eli Brewer manages to fumble every opportunity.

The Letter is a barren game, lifeless and devoid of character. There are no ways to die, and there is nothing that can inflict damage. There are no monsters, and almost no animation to speak of aside for some swaying tall grass. Built with the Unity engine, the designer peppers the locations with stock 3D models and a few designed by Brewer himself, tragically. The world that Brewer created is a small one populated by a few whispering teddy bears, sign posts that feature comical webcam photos of a few of the Indiegogo backers, and the not-so-well-hidden letters. Brewer's world is five areas, four of which are really tiny and one of them can only be stayed in for a few seconds before the game automatically boots the player to the final area. Some of the most faecal-like muddy textures make the overall package feel cheap and grimy, and in some instances, it makes it difficult to distinguish certain objects.

The cost of this game is $1.99, yet users on Miiverse still feel ripped off. Eli Brewer had originally promised free updates, but has since gone silent, leaving all his customers feeling very disgruntled. As to why Brewer would release the game in this state instead of completing it first, alludes to the possibility he has no intention of completing The Letter. The game is punctuated by an ending that completely betrays and grates on the audience, delivered in the clumsiest way since the movie Monster a Go-Go. The Indiegogo campaign for The Letter began on March 5th, 2014, but got closed March 20th, only earning $377 for its $5,000 goal. Judging by the pitch video that was first shown as early as March 5th, the final product looks identical to the pitch that was used for the Indiegogo campaign. Eli Brewer is a hack fraud, con artist and his game is a scam.