As you may know, it's easier now than ever to make your own video game. Granted, it's not simply copy-and-paste a few assets and objects here and there (though some people do), but you can't ignorethe hundreds of tools out there to use, and thousands more of tutorials to get you started. Seeing this big boom, I decided to start-up a column where I review the latest and most popular indie games to tell you which ones are worth playing, how they can improve, and maybe even give you a little advice on how to make a game of your own if you're curious. So, strap tight and hang on to your seat, as we go through Mashu's Indie Games!
Our first game we'll be taking a look at is a horror/adventure game called Kraven Manor. Kraven Manor, produced and developed by a small team of 13 graduate students known as Demon Wagon Studios, has received quite a bit of attention primarily by big-name let's players, and has risen up to the top of the IndieDB Top Games list, currently at #12.
The game takes place in, what else then, Kraven Manor, a big ol' spooky mansion with elaborate hallways and whatnot. What reason you have for being in here is, expectantly, unknown. The game leads you as you go down a giant library, stocked to the brim with mahogany bookcases and ancient literature, crisp pages within. Creepy ambiance plays in the background, like sudden mechanical switches going off, thunder in the distance, etc.
Already, as you can see, the visuals in the game are astounding, especially for such a small team working on it. The shading is fantastic, the textures are of great quality, and the overall look and feel suits the manor's enviroment very well.
As you search through the library, you begin to uncover news clippings and assorted books that detail the house's peculiar past, including readings related to odd philosophical subjects such as mental limbo and sorcery, like some sort of mental hospital version of Harry Potter.
Advancing through the room, you find a small model room of the house's cellar, which introduces the game's unique gameplay element: model rooms. As you explore through the household, you'll find models similar to these that you can connect to a table in the main hall, which lets you progress further in the game.
However, with this brings the game's first flaw: the model room element seems more like a gimmick than a genuine gameplay feature. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely a fascinating idea, switching rooms around, creating the environment around you. It's just, it's barely used within the game, so much to the point where a simple key system could have replaced the entire element, and everything would have played out the same. I think the developers should have utilized it more, and perhaps have different objects interact with these model rooms; for example, you could perhaps accidentally drop a pebble on it, and have an entire room collapse, making you have to find out how to navigate the area. Instead, it's not much more than a cookie cutter version of something we've already seen.
Soon afterwards, you make your way into a wine cellar, and this is where the horror begins to really amp up. The room is dark and dingy, as moss outlines the slanted walls and aged wooden barrels. As you go on, you swear you can hear a very faint metal crank sound in the distance...
The wine cellar is a fantastic example of the game's way of showing atmosphere. This isn't one of those cheapo "abooygooboogyboo generic horror face jpeg from nowhere" games, as it's easy to see that the game can display pacing quite well.
Suddenly, a smash, as part of the cellar's foundations comes smashing down, blocking your path. Before it, though, a very subtle glimmer of orange flashes beneath the hauntingly dark chamber. Soon enough, you see the shine of orange you saw before as you walk down a menacing hallway and see it: the main antagonist you're gonna hate throughout the game.
Just as you see him, he disappears, and in his place is a crude writing in blood, saying "GET OUT". Leaping out of the place, you find yourself back in the not-really-menacing-anymore-now-that-I-think-about-it main hall, where you find another model: the bedroom model.
Hey, a bedroom! I mean, come on, it's a bedroom, nothing that ba-
Oh. It's him.
The bedroom is actually one of my favorite rooms in the game because it portrays subtle horror amazingly. There's little to hurt you in this area, but the constant tense environment and creepy events, like a body being dragged in the corner of your eye, makes for a brilliant showcase of the game.
You find out that you must go back to the library to retrieve another piece of the puzzle, which begins easily the most iconic and downright terrifying part of the game: a direct contact with that son of a bitch mannequin thingy.
It plays out very similar to the classic Weeping Angels; always look at him. If, for one minute, you ponder even an eye in a general distance beyond him, he gets closer. And closer.
However, one thing that I absolutely love about this part is that the monster is smart. Really, really smart. As in, he won't just get closer and closer to you as you look away. Sometimes, he might throw a curve ball, and spontaneously appear right behind you.
As it chases you, you're ordered to push some book-lever things in a direct, correct order, like a memory game. Except, unlike a memory game, you're being chased by a demon-spawn in goddamned bronze.
The scene executes perfectly, as all the buildup before this really adds up, and a final (though not really final) sort of confrontation with this horrible beast. Another thing that I love about it is the monster itself. The game really didn't have to try very hard at all to make him seem scary, as he looks just like an oversized classical artist's mannequin. It's just, the way the game shows him in this menacing aura makes it so that nothing else is needed to make him any more scary. It's minimalist horror done very well.
After the encounter, you find yourself a small metal token that you take back to the main hall, which grants you a piece to the puzzle known simply as “white room”. From this, you must use the pieces that you have to create a path to this white room, then traverse them to it.
What I really quite like about this is that it gives you time to sorta "re-experience" the rooms. They're in the same format, but there are new elements and scares within them, and are, as you might expect, generally more tense and terrifying, especially our good old friend the Bedroom.
However, from this point on is when I believe the game seriously declines in quality. While the concept behind the revisiting of the rooms is nice, it's not much executed beyond a couple of shoehorned puzzles with little horror at all. Believe me, I enjoy puzzles in horror games, but I enjoy them when they flow naturally along with the horror aspect of the game. It's almost as if the developers took all the scariness of the game and packed it into the first half of the game, then picked out some basic puzzles here and there and scattered them across the second half. The tension that was making the game so great is gradually being lost.
Soon, you find the White Room, which turns out as a room filled with bloody worn surgical equipment and, whadya know, mannequin body parts, implying that this is where people were operated on and turned into those hellish beings. To be honest, the White Room is probably one of the least scariest places within the game, as instead of using natural and psychological fear like the others, it takes a more generic "mental hospital with blood oh gee willikers", and just isn't scary, not to mention the whole "people being made into mannequins" scare was fairly evident from the beginning.
However, to make up for it, the final, final(?) confrontation of this beast ensues, as you hopelessly run away from it. Instead of moving around a bit when you're not looking, this time, he's serious; he runs full-speed at you no matter what, giving you little time to escape this deadly foe.
One of his attacks is a sort of "energy ball laser" thingamajig. As you run deeper into the halls, you manage to get it to shoot it through some sort of ball of energy(?) that manages to set the whole mansion on fire(??), including the monster.
The place is beginning to collapse as you hear wood violently cracking and the vibrations of the whole place coming down. In the background, an almost Battlefield 3 Main Theme-ish sounding action movie tune plays, which definitely does fit the scene, but is still quite unexpected from what we've seen previously in the game.
You make your way through crumbling bits of burning debris, trying to find...levers?
This is probably the biggest annoyance of the game, the pre-ending. To get out of the place, you have to find about 3 or 4 levers hidden around the room as slowly burns away. The levers are very well hidden, and it took me a while to notice that they were even there, causing multiple deaths and constant frustration during this part, especially during a part that's supposed to be fast-paced and cinematic.
Throughout the place, you find a crazy reality-bending room, just to show off how pissed the house is at you. This would be pretty damn amazing, if it wasn't for, once again, the obligatory pace-breaking "puzzle" that you have to do during it.
Slowly but surely, you make your way out of the rooms you were in before back to the main hall. You know that you will have to confront this beast for a final, final, final battle, as you curse yourself for the fright that will co-
Wait, what the hell is that? Is that...the mannequin?
The horrifying, grueling monster that chased me on all fours? The being that lasted through rich history of the household's history, being converted to a metal, creaking horror? The leviathan that haunted my dreams and nightmares? Is now a clichéd "ball of energy"?
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily mind final boss fights in these types of games. They often turn out to be enjoyable. What I do mind is how it was actually done. Instead of making some intense, horrific ultra boss fight where this being mercilessly hunts you down, the developers were like, "yeah, let's just put in a generic platforming puzzle with this super-mega-ultra-giga-powerful thing". It completely takes away the suspense and overall "presence" of this being we once feared for so long. Even the sound effects the being makes when it shoots lasers at you are hilariously cheesy.
So, after completing...whatever that was (mind you, this part took me about 10 minutes to complete because of how finicky the platforming is), a small piece of metal comes soaring through the air and hits you in the head and knocks you out. At least we all know that horrifying thing is go-
Wait, you're kidding, right?
You mean, not only are you going to have that disappointing boss battle, but you also shoehorned a "WOAAH YOU WERE A MONSTER ALL ALONG"?!
And then the game ends.
Again, this game really has quite a bit of potential. The visuals are fantastic, and the beginning of the game plays out very well. It's just, I have a feeling that the creators of the game honestly had no idea what to do afterwards. They had some fresh ideas on paper, and managed to put them to mostly good use, but then they took a complete nose-dive with the quality during the middle of the game. The style just totally reverted as the rest of the game instantly became much less interesting, the pacing just completely collapsed during the last ¼ of it, it took a shit on what could have been one of the scariest beings in a horror game yet, and all the game's interesting and developing plotline was just wasted and thrown away.
But beyond those points, Kraven Manor is still a good game. It did a fantastic job at scaring me and putting me in a feeling of tension with its creative and unique atmosphere, and still entertained me plenty with its fresh and changing gameplay premises. It's easy to see that a lot of work has been done into the game, and for being made by a bunch of graduates, you do gotta give them credit for actually managing to get up and develop such an impressive game. I think if the developers put more thought and effort into planning out the second half of the game, then the game could really reach its true and fulfilled potential.
So, should you play Demon Wagon Studio's Kraven Manor? Overall, I recommend it a fair amount as being a genuinely scary game at first. If you've read this and feel interested in trying out, then by all means, do so. Just some advice, I recommend not playing it beyond the final library part, because the afterward parts simply don't do it much justice.
Kraven Manor gets a 7.5/10.
Kraven Manor can be downloaded at http://www.kravenmanor.com.
* * *
Our first game we'll be taking a look at is a horror/adventure game called Kraven Manor. Kraven Manor, produced and developed by a small team of 13 graduate students known as Demon Wagon Studios, has received quite a bit of attention primarily by big-name let's players, and has risen up to the top of the IndieDB Top Games list, currently at #12.
The game takes place in, what else then, Kraven Manor, a big ol' spooky mansion with elaborate hallways and whatnot. What reason you have for being in here is, expectantly, unknown. The game leads you as you go down a giant library, stocked to the brim with mahogany bookcases and ancient literature, crisp pages within. Creepy ambiance plays in the background, like sudden mechanical switches going off, thunder in the distance, etc.
Already, as you can see, the visuals in the game are astounding, especially for such a small team working on it. The shading is fantastic, the textures are of great quality, and the overall look and feel suits the manor's enviroment very well.
As you search through the library, you begin to uncover news clippings and assorted books that detail the house's peculiar past, including readings related to odd philosophical subjects such as mental limbo and sorcery, like some sort of mental hospital version of Harry Potter.
Don't give anyone ideas, the indie devs and/or fanfic writers will devour it...
Advancing through the room, you find a small model room of the house's cellar, which introduces the game's unique gameplay element: model rooms. As you explore through the household, you'll find models similar to these that you can connect to a table in the main hall, which lets you progress further in the game.
However, with this brings the game's first flaw: the model room element seems more like a gimmick than a genuine gameplay feature. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely a fascinating idea, switching rooms around, creating the environment around you. It's just, it's barely used within the game, so much to the point where a simple key system could have replaced the entire element, and everything would have played out the same. I think the developers should have utilized it more, and perhaps have different objects interact with these model rooms; for example, you could perhaps accidentally drop a pebble on it, and have an entire room collapse, making you have to find out how to navigate the area. Instead, it's not much more than a cookie cutter version of something we've already seen.
Soon afterwards, you make your way into a wine cellar, and this is where the horror begins to really amp up. The room is dark and dingy, as moss outlines the slanted walls and aged wooden barrels. As you go on, you swear you can hear a very faint metal crank sound in the distance...
The wine cellar is a fantastic example of the game's way of showing atmosphere. This isn't one of those cheapo "abooygooboogyboo generic horror face jpeg from nowhere" games, as it's easy to see that the game can display pacing quite well.
Suddenly, a smash, as part of the cellar's foundations comes smashing down, blocking your path. Before it, though, a very subtle glimmer of orange flashes beneath the hauntingly dark chamber. Soon enough, you see the shine of orange you saw before as you walk down a menacing hallway and see it: the main antagonist you're gonna hate throughout the game.
Just as you see him, he disappears, and in his place is a crude writing in blood, saying "GET OUT". Leaping out of the place, you find yourself back in the not-really-menacing-anymore-now-that-I-think-about-it main hall, where you find another model: the bedroom model.
Hey, a bedroom! I mean, come on, it's a bedroom, nothing that ba-
Oh. It's him.
The bedroom is actually one of my favorite rooms in the game because it portrays subtle horror amazingly. There's little to hurt you in this area, but the constant tense environment and creepy events, like a body being dragged in the corner of your eye, makes for a brilliant showcase of the game.
You find out that you must go back to the library to retrieve another piece of the puzzle, which begins easily the most iconic and downright terrifying part of the game: a direct contact with that son of a bitch mannequin thingy.
It plays out very similar to the classic Weeping Angels; always look at him. If, for one minute, you ponder even an eye in a general distance beyond him, he gets closer. And closer.
However, one thing that I absolutely love about this part is that the monster is smart. Really, really smart. As in, he won't just get closer and closer to you as you look away. Sometimes, he might throw a curve ball, and spontaneously appear right behind you.
fffftfffzfzfzzzzffzz
As it chases you, you're ordered to push some book-lever things in a direct, correct order, like a memory game. Except, unlike a memory game, you're being chased by a demon-spawn in goddamned bronze.
The scene executes perfectly, as all the buildup before this really adds up, and a final (though not really final) sort of confrontation with this horrible beast. Another thing that I love about it is the monster itself. The game really didn't have to try very hard at all to make him seem scary, as he looks just like an oversized classical artist's mannequin. It's just, the way the game shows him in this menacing aura makes it so that nothing else is needed to make him any more scary. It's minimalist horror done very well.
After the encounter, you find yourself a small metal token that you take back to the main hall, which grants you a piece to the puzzle known simply as “white room”. From this, you must use the pieces that you have to create a path to this white room, then traverse them to it.
What I really quite like about this is that it gives you time to sorta "re-experience" the rooms. They're in the same format, but there are new elements and scares within them, and are, as you might expect, generally more tense and terrifying, especially our good old friend the Bedroom.
However, from this point on is when I believe the game seriously declines in quality. While the concept behind the revisiting of the rooms is nice, it's not much executed beyond a couple of shoehorned puzzles with little horror at all. Believe me, I enjoy puzzles in horror games, but I enjoy them when they flow naturally along with the horror aspect of the game. It's almost as if the developers took all the scariness of the game and packed it into the first half of the game, then picked out some basic puzzles here and there and scattered them across the second half. The tension that was making the game so great is gradually being lost.
Soon, you find the White Room, which turns out as a room filled with bloody worn surgical equipment and, whadya know, mannequin body parts, implying that this is where people were operated on and turned into those hellish beings. To be honest, the White Room is probably one of the least scariest places within the game, as instead of using natural and psychological fear like the others, it takes a more generic "mental hospital with blood oh gee willikers", and just isn't scary, not to mention the whole "people being made into mannequins" scare was fairly evident from the beginning.
However, to make up for it, the final, final(?) confrontation of this beast ensues, as you hopelessly run away from it. Instead of moving around a bit when you're not looking, this time, he's serious; he runs full-speed at you no matter what, giving you little time to escape this deadly foe.
One of his attacks is a sort of "energy ball laser" thingamajig. As you run deeper into the halls, you manage to get it to shoot it through some sort of ball of energy(?) that manages to set the whole mansion on fire(??), including the monster.
The place is beginning to collapse as you hear wood violently cracking and the vibrations of the whole place coming down. In the background, an almost Battlefield 3 Main Theme-ish sounding action movie tune plays, which definitely does fit the scene, but is still quite unexpected from what we've seen previously in the game.
You make your way through crumbling bits of burning debris, trying to find...levers?
This is probably the biggest annoyance of the game, the pre-ending. To get out of the place, you have to find about 3 or 4 levers hidden around the room as slowly burns away. The levers are very well hidden, and it took me a while to notice that they were even there, causing multiple deaths and constant frustration during this part, especially during a part that's supposed to be fast-paced and cinematic.
Throughout the place, you find a crazy reality-bending room, just to show off how pissed the house is at you. This would be pretty damn amazing, if it wasn't for, once again, the obligatory pace-breaking "puzzle" that you have to do during it.
Slowly but surely, you make your way out of the rooms you were in before back to the main hall. You know that you will have to confront this beast for a final, final, final battle, as you curse yourself for the fright that will co-
Wait, what the hell is that? Is that...the mannequin?
The horrifying, grueling monster that chased me on all fours? The being that lasted through rich history of the household's history, being converted to a metal, creaking horror? The leviathan that haunted my dreams and nightmares? Is now a clichéd "ball of energy"?
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily mind final boss fights in these types of games. They often turn out to be enjoyable. What I do mind is how it was actually done. Instead of making some intense, horrific ultra boss fight where this being mercilessly hunts you down, the developers were like, "yeah, let's just put in a generic platforming puzzle with this super-mega-ultra-giga-powerful thing". It completely takes away the suspense and overall "presence" of this being we once feared for so long. Even the sound effects the being makes when it shoots lasers at you are hilariously cheesy.
So, after completing...whatever that was (mind you, this part took me about 10 minutes to complete because of how finicky the platforming is), a small piece of metal comes soaring through the air and hits you in the head and knocks you out. At least we all know that horrifying thing is go-
Wait, you're kidding, right?
You mean, not only are you going to have that disappointing boss battle, but you also shoehorned a "WOAAH YOU WERE A MONSTER ALL ALONG"?!
And then the game ends.
Oh man BLOOD
Again, this game really has quite a bit of potential. The visuals are fantastic, and the beginning of the game plays out very well. It's just, I have a feeling that the creators of the game honestly had no idea what to do afterwards. They had some fresh ideas on paper, and managed to put them to mostly good use, but then they took a complete nose-dive with the quality during the middle of the game. The style just totally reverted as the rest of the game instantly became much less interesting, the pacing just completely collapsed during the last ¼ of it, it took a shit on what could have been one of the scariest beings in a horror game yet, and all the game's interesting and developing plotline was just wasted and thrown away.
But beyond those points, Kraven Manor is still a good game. It did a fantastic job at scaring me and putting me in a feeling of tension with its creative and unique atmosphere, and still entertained me plenty with its fresh and changing gameplay premises. It's easy to see that a lot of work has been done into the game, and for being made by a bunch of graduates, you do gotta give them credit for actually managing to get up and develop such an impressive game. I think if the developers put more thought and effort into planning out the second half of the game, then the game could really reach its true and fulfilled potential.
So, should you play Demon Wagon Studio's Kraven Manor? Overall, I recommend it a fair amount as being a genuinely scary game at first. If you've read this and feel interested in trying out, then by all means, do so. Just some advice, I recommend not playing it beyond the final library part, because the afterward parts simply don't do it much justice.
Kraven Manor gets a 7.5/10.
Kraven Manor can be downloaded at http://www.kravenmanor.com.