[GAME REVIEW] The Inpatient - Horror Play Station Game #15
Hi steemian wherever you are always healthy and remain in the protection of God Almighty. So stay active as usual. This afternoon I will return to review a game played on PC that is not less interesting than the game I've reviewed before. That is The Inpatient! Let's see how the review!!
Feeling already scared enough to play horror games on the latest generation platform? Now imagine, if technology now turns out to be also effective enough to offer an even, even more advanced experience. It no longer conventionally asks you to stare at a television screen or monitor, but takes you "jumping in" through virtual reality technology. That all whispers with small, faint sounds are now projected in a 360-degree environment, with an environment that seems to be in front of your eyes, and a jumpscare surprise which, of course, is ready to make your neck hair more erect than all your most terrifying moments. That is what the Supermassive Games are trying to offer with their latest game title - The Inpatient.
From the time he was introduced to the public, the Supermassive Games continued to emphasize that his appeal would be similar to what they had offered in Until Dawn before. A game that keeps choices as the most crucial content to determine what kind of experience you get, as well as enough mystery elements to make you shudder with fear. He is also certainly a game that menawakran same universe with Until Dawn itself, but with the timeline of the story of tens of years before.
So, what is actually offered by The Inpatient this? Why do we call it a half-horror game?
Plot
Mystery is one of the key elements of the Supermassive Games story. You play a man who has absolutely no memory of his past. In addition to a short memory slice that once showed a man and his flashlight dazzling his eyes, you do not know who you are. Just two information you know right now - that you are now living in a hospital called Blackwood Sanatorium, and second? You are under the guidance of an elderly physician who has so far, seen trying to help you regain your memory.
Constantly awakened by a nightmare refusing to leave, the effort to find health was not as simple as imagined. At one point of the process, you also come a friend of one ward who also like you, not much to remember about himself. Suddenly more strange events arrive. Locked behind a cell door with no ability to escape, you only hear shouts of grimace and panic with electricity that is starting to not work properly. The hospital clerk who is supposed to care for and feed you no longer returns. Famine struck, psychological and physiological conditions worsened, and the end seemed to arrive. Until the opportunity to get back to your life, suddenly returns.
So, what really happened with this Blackwood Sanatorium? Who is your true figure? What does this have to do with the Until Dawn series you've been familiar with?
Voice Recognition
So like most VR games, it's impossible to give you a clear picture of you, like what the Inpatient really looks like if you are facing your face. Because the screenshot feature for the Playstation VR only captures one image on one side of the lens alone, and will never be able to represent the sensation of "in the world" any VR games, including the Inpatient itself. From the visual side, it includes one of the PSVR games with pretty awesome quality, especially for the detail of the characters that exist. One of the most remarkable is its ability to offer a gripping atmosphere, though within a finite range. The design of the moving sounds around you, the haunting silence, until the small sounds are enough to make your hair goose bumps you will encounter throughout the game.
One that is quite unfortunate from this series, as a VR game though, is the lack of interactivity in it. You can play DualShock 4 or Playstation Move with it, but the existing gameplay level does not offer much content where you have to interact with the various objects actively. Unlike Resident Evil 7, for example, whose scales ask you to find objects, play them, complete a puzzle, or shoot, The Inpatient is offered in a more linear portion. That this is a game that asks you more to walk or just play in limited space, and enjoy the cut-scene to continue the story.
What is interesting is the implementation of the "gimmick" feature that he injected. Utilizing the microphone features that exist, as the game is more focused on the choice, you no longer have to use the controller to choose the offered. You just have to read the available posts to do it. As far as we tried it, with rigid and limited English pronunciation, this game can translate what we say quite accurately. Some long sentences are sometimes needed at least twice read. If you look at the tricks, the system seems to be trying to spot one or two of the easiest words in a sentence in each option, which usually comes with different words to remove confusion. Does it add to the gaming experience to a significant level? Not for us. But this is proof that this feature is potential to be utilized PSVR games in the future.
For business presentations, The Inpatient does offer a concept that should be worth your anticipation. The good news? For gamers who are sensitive about dizziness that often happens because the camera is too close or too fast motion, The Inpatient does not produce this one effect. Camera movement is done with a Resident Evil 7. Resident Evil 7. As movement is passive, you will not be faced with super fast action enough to make your brain difficult to capture the illusion of visual reality. Coupled with the gameplay time is also not so long, you will be comfortable to enjoy, even if including newcomer VR gamers though.
Taste of Until Dawn
So with all the things we mentioned above, you seem to have a clearer picture of what The Inpatient is. Just as the game "first" that look stunning - Until Dawn, he is indeed a game that is more focused on the story experience, choices, and consequences that arise from it, and not an active experience that ask for a move, solve puzzles, and the like. The storyline is a replayability attraction for The Inpatient itself.
Then most of your gameplay will end by choosing one of the two offered by each conversation. Actually there is a third option, namely to let the time runs out and decide to be quiet by not choosing any response. For this "secret" option, the NPC will also usually have a specific reaction associated with it. Like the concept injected in Until Dawn or as often offered by Telltale Games series of interactive games, your selection will determine what line of story you will get. This so-called "Butterfly Effect" feature will pop up on the screen once you choose something that does have a significant effect. Choosing who should stay and die? Choosing who should move first? Choosing what you should do when faced with a critical situation? It is not too difficult to guess that it will end how significant the choices you take, even before these effects occur. The good news? The Butterfly Effect will also be shown through a clear diagram to help you choose different story lines if you're curious.
His own experience is countless passive. There are not many objects that you can access interactively. The story will move in a simple progress, where you only have to perform one specific action to trigger it. The "extra" exploration process you do, which usually also takes place in a small scope between the ward or the corridor road you pass, will usually lead to opening an item that will give you a clearer picture of the background of the character you are using. These pieces of memory will not open the story explicitly, but will help you capture a clearer picture of what's going on.
The Inpatient is actually nothing more than an "interactive" medium in VR format to help expand the universe Until Dawn itself. A special setting to capture the origins of the threats you find in horror games that are so successful on the Playstation 4 itself. Did he succeed or not produce something interesting or memorable for you? It will depend on how you know Until Dawn itself.
The Half Horror
Like a game forced to connect with an unfit adhesive, this is the kind of experience we found at The Inpatient. Because basically, this one game is divided into two big story arc. The first arc centered on your efforts to find out who you really are and why got stuck in a ward with no clear memory. While the second arc appears to be the bridge of the story of what you know from Until Dawn before. The good news? Both these arcs have an opposite appeal.
The Inpatient first-tipped Arc's story is fantastic. As a game that makes mystery an attraction, it successfully explores the horror side effectively through the nightmare scheme that your character continues to experience. Plunge into a hospital-like world but with a gripping green lighting setting, this first arc touches all aspects of the horror game you expect. A world that has a super-creepy atmosphere, a silence ready to make your heart pound, the necessity to overcome anxiety that you will be faced with a jump-scare, and of course jump-scare itself. The first arc centering on your life inside this ward is the Inpatient higlight, a horror sensation in a VR format worth pursuing. Unfortunately, the experience stopped halfway.
As soon as the journey escapes from the ward and begins to enter the "universe" The Inpatient itself, the second arc loses a fantastic content offered by the first arc. There is no longer a nightmare world and a jump-scare that is ready to make you scream like a girl. It moves in a super linear straight line of stories, with interactive content simply asking you to push or close a door and a point, to stay still. For gamers who had tasted Until Dawn, the second arc that became the bridge of this story culminate offers a source of threat that is sure to feel familiar. It's hard to be afraid, if you already know what you're up against and what formulas will be used to make you scream. So this second arc runs like a game walking simulator that in our eyes, failed to produce a memorable gaming experience.
The result, is a half-horror horror game. In the first arc, the gameplay experience with the concept of horror that became base to look so intense, creepy, and also full of curiosity to dive and find out what is behind the mystery. While the second arc, moving in a cliché plot, is too "in line" with what you know about Until Dawn, and fails to offer the same atmosphere. For this second matter, the fact that you are also adventuring along with other NPCs together also lowers that factor.
Very unfortunate, indeed. Because the implementation of content like this makes two groups of fans end up not getting the full experience. Gamers who are not familiar with Until Dawn and want a quality VR horror game, only get half the content only. While gamers who are familiar with Until Dawn and want a VR game that explores the story universe with more powerful and detailed, also get only half the content only. A design that in our eyes, is questionable.
Conclusion
So with all the content and features he offers, unfortunately, The Inpatient should be categorized as a VR game that is not too special. It again feels like a concept test product that tries to melt many things in the same room, while losing the identity that to the gamer's heart like what it wants to show its appeal. Stories with diverse consequences are indeed the essence of Until Dawn's universe, but turning them into mere answers to the options offered seem to be wasted potential. That from all the things they can offer to make the choice decision more active, for example based on what you did / did not do, they decided to streamline it in text-selected format, supported by a not-too-significant voice recognition feature.
Content that is also divided into two separate arcs with separate charms also ends up confusing. For gamers who enjoy the sensation of horror that is so intense in the first arc, the second arc becomes a "pampering" story that is no longer interesting because of the cliched story content and the more predictable jump-scare is planned. As for gamers who enjoy the sensation of Until Dawn-style story in the second arc most likely will not enjoy the content of the first arc story because of the different experiences he offers. The Inpatient is seen as a product that is confused with its own identity.
If you are a PlayStation VR player who happens to have played Until Dawn, we would recommend you to wait for him at a more affordable price before plunging into it. But if you are not too familiar with Until Dawn and hope this will be a mystery game with a solid story, then most likely, you will end up disappointed.
Advantages
- The audio quality is fantastic
- Voice recognition features are potential
- The first scary story arc
- Visual quality deserves thumbs up
- High replayability
Deficiency
- The story is too cliche
- The second arc feels too "safe" and passive
- Minimum interactivity level
Developer: Supermassive Games
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director: Nik Bowen
Writer:
Graham Reznick
Larry Fessenden
Engine Unreal Engine 4
Platform: PlayStation 4
Release
NA: 23 January 2018
EU: 24 January 2018
Genre: Survival horror
Mode: Single-player
Written by: @anwarunsam
Langsa, Aceh, Indonesia, 7 Februari 2018
