Downfall

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Downfall is an old-school adventure game of psychological terror. The demo is set in a dream - it starts off with a Scandinavian rock star appearing to you in your hotel room and ends with you enthusiastically digging up a mystery grave. As you progress the game feels increasingly like it's governed by dream-logic, in a good way.

The art style is unsettling and draws you into the uncertainty of this dream-like world. The world is mostly filled with black and white, letting the bright red of the blood stand out among the monochrome. Color is used to great effect here, setting apart the more terrifying elements from the general unease of the dream world. The music is very effective as well, starting off with a little rock number while you're conversing with the aforementioned rock star and peaking during the more adrenaline filled moments.

The game is based on Adventure Game Studio and is only controlled with a mouse so there's minimal technical complexity. The story is sparse in the demo, but the dialogue hints at some deeper plot and has some great back and forth between our protagonist and the rest of the odd inhabitants of the town.

It all combines into one disturbing horror experience.

Why You Should Check This Out: A fine example of a psychological horror adventure game, Downfall gives off a very strong Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers vibe. Dread increasingly fills the game world as your travels progress to stranger and stranger sights.

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Comments

Switchbreak wrote:

That looks amazing. Like if LucasArts made Silent Hill.

I can't wait to dig into the full game, myself.

Just some control tips, the inventory is across the top of the screen, just move your mouse up there. The three icons on the side are Save, Load and Quit. That's pretty much all you need to know for the controls.

Here's the trailer.

That looks amazing. Like if LucasArts made Silent Hill.

Edit:

Website wrote:

PLEASE NOTE: Game contains scenes of violence and gore, sexual content and strong language

Sold.

How scary is this game? It looks interesting, but very disturbing, and I don't think I can handle that. Might have to give it a pass.
(PS - thanks for not selecting Blueberry Garden.)

Dysplastic wrote:

(PS - thanks for not selecting Blueberry Garden.)

It certainly was in the running, and we talked about it, but it's getting enough coverage on its own (and we're not sure how much is really there, beyond the aesthetics).

Some of the "indie" games out there seem well-enough covered by Indie Games Bingo.

Dysplastic wrote:

How scary is this game? It looks interesting, but very disturbing, and I don't think I can handle that. Might have to give it a pass.
(PS - thanks for not selecting Blueberry Garden.)

It's a horror game. If it doesn't scare you, it's not very good

You can decide how far you want to go with that. I'm usually a huge weenie when it comes to horror games, but this looks more psychological and disturbing than the average "JUMP AT THE SCREEN" horror game. I really enjoyed the demo, but I'm not sure if I should keep playing it at night.

PyromanFO wrote:

It's a horror game. If it doesn't scare you, it's not very good :)

True, but you compared it to Gabriel Knight SOTF, which wasn't very scary at all. I can handle stuff like Dead Space and System Shock 2 - but probably nothing like Fatal Frame.

Dysplastic wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:

It's a horror game. If it doesn't scare you, it's not very good :)

True, but you compared it to Gabriel Knight SOTF, which wasn't very scary at all. I can handle stuff like Dead Space and System Shock 2 - but probably nothing like Fatal Frame.

I don't know then, try the Demo. I haven't actually played the full game myself.

This is definitely scarier than GK SOTF ever was though

PyromanFO wrote:

This is definitely scarier than GK SOTF ever was though :)

Major difference: You won't spend the entire time in Downfall daydreaming about being Gambit.

I really like how a lot of the games written about in these Fringe Buster articles seem to be scary. I like scary games..... BOO!