Apparition | PC Review
/apəˈrɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
- a ghost or ghostlike image of a person.
Apparition is a first person survival horror game developed by MrCiastku and published by Fat Dog Games. In it you play a paranormal investigator trying to get evidence of the existence of supernatural apparitions. To hunt down this evidence you are roaming the haunted (fictional) American forest Green Creek. After dark of course. With only a candle to light your way. Carrying a Ouija board. Are you scared yet? You should be.
Paranormal Investigations
You walk around carrying a candle and a lighter, exploring the abandoned (?) wooden buildings in the area. You find several useful things like batteries and scraps of paper with questions for the Ouija board. Unfortunately, there is also enough to find that is not so savory. We’re talking body bags, mattresses drenched in blood and very creepy drawings of demonic entities. Clearly, you are in the right place to work your trade. You set up your Ouija board and put everything in place to summon demons or ghosts, even though you have no way to fight them. All you can do is hide and hope they don’t find you, and if they do, hopefully distract them by throwing rocks. Will you survive? How long will you survive?
Ghosts On Film
In Apparition you earn points for the evidence you collect, and after dying you can use those points to upgrade your gear. With better equipment you can get better evidence, thus earning more points. You can also unlock new places in the area, but I never got to that point; the trapdoor in the hut remained closed to me, and I don’t want to think of the horrors hiding under there.
Blair Witch Vibes
This game freaked me out. The atmosphere of dread in the forest is palpable, and there are several techniques used in the game to scare the hell out of you. Playing this with headphones on regularly caused me to break out swearing because another scare that got my heart rate going up. The Blair Witch Project immediately came to mind while playing. The area you get to explore isn’t very big, but it’s got enough to keep you going and is still being expanded.
My first few tries were mostly trying to figure out where everything is and then dying, because I was outside in the dark for too long or getting one too many scares for me to handle. But the real horror starts once you use the Ouija board to summon…something. At first, I thought nothing had happened, and I continued walking around the campsite. But then out of nowhere I got attacked, and besides my dying on screen I almost got a real heart attack. This game really delivers the scares!
Food For Horror Hounds
The version I played had smooth gameplay, nice graphics and a great atmosphere. MrCiastku is still improving on the game and his additions looks very promising, including new areas and functionalities and more story where you discover the tragic backstory of the area. Horror hounds will get a good kick out of Apparition. There’s plenty to explore, many apparitions to summon, and many times to die.
This review is based on a PC code provided by Stride PR for coverage purchases and is available on Steam as an Early Access title.
Apparition
Early Access
Pros
- Very scary
- Interesting concept
- Very difficult
- Great atmosphere
- Simple controls
Cons
- Very scary
- Very difficult
- Small playing area (but with expansion on the horizon)
