Maid of Sker | Xbox One Review

When it comes to story driven narrative games, of all the choices out there, I love horror based stories the most. I was recently given the opportunity to review Maid of Sker from the developers at Wales Interactive. At first glance I was ecstatic to play this game due to the look from the trailer. The chance to play a creepy and strange story that is presented in the form of a walking simulator style-game always catches my attention. With that being said, let’s take a deeper dive into why I believe this may be a game to steer clear from for the time being.

A Rescue the Princess Situation

First let’s crack into the story. You play as Thomas, who has set out to discover what has happened to his lover. You receive a message from her saying that she is trapped at the Sker Hotel, which is run by her father. She needs you to come and rescue her, but she is very vague about what is going on. All you know is that she is to be the star attraction (as a singer) at the grand re-opening of the hotel. However, some strange occurrences have been happening, and you have been tasked with finding out what is at the root of it all.

As you unravel the mystery of the Sker Hotel, you find yourself trapped and being tracked by a group of people called the Quiet Ones. Led by your fiance’s father, they are all fumbling around the hotel due to being blind. If you make too much noise, they will grab you and it’s game over. There are a great deal of puzzles to solve and notes to find, which will help you discover a deeper problem at the core of the story.

Like Driving a Bathtub Through Molasses

When I first started playing this game, I was able to almost immediately tell I was not going to have a great time. Firstly, the controls are sluggish and I had to adjust them multiple times just to get the game to a playable state. Your character’s movement is also slow and sluggish, which you do become accustomed to as the game progresses, begrudgingly. Many times I found myself being frustrated with something as simple as the targeting controls. I would find myself moving my character back and forth around an item to find the one perfect spot the developers used to target an item just to pick it up.

Also to make matters worse, most of these instances came during a timed event or while being attacked. The other big complaint about having sluggish and slow controls in a game like this is 90% of the game requires you to sneak around at precise times, which can be very problematic.

With Maid of Sker being a budget title, I don’t want to harp on the graphics of the game too much. They do feel slightly last gen but at times there are some very well constructed environments that make you just want to stare at them. Near the end of the game, there is a scene that occurs that has laughable animation. It almost looks like a paper model being pulled across the screen by a fishing line.

Some Slight Glimpses of Hope

Not everything in this game is lackluster. The narrative is interesting enough, and kept driving me forward in my quest to finish the game since nothing else could.  It’s a story crafted well enough, that has two different endings. I even went as far to discover that second ending of the game. When you do get there, though, it makes you question whether or not the time was well spent. Some of the puzzles are also fun and interesting, but the majority are very bland and leave you feeling annoyed. They do feel like they have been pulled from another very recognisable horror series.

Final Thoughts

Maid of Sker is a tolerable game at the best of times. For a genre that normally ticks all the right boxes, this is one of the few instances where I don’t openly recommend it. The story is somewhat entertaining, but after having to suffer through some seriously sluggish controls and lackluster gameplay, this game feels almost bottom of the barrel. Since this game centers around a hotel, the only thing I can think to compare it to is a falling apart, roadside motel that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.

To hear me talk more about Maid of Sker, be sure to check out Episode 305 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast at the 58:39 time stamp.

This review is based on an Xbox One copy of Maid of Sker provided by Homerun PR for Coverage purposes. It is also available on PC via Steam and PlayStation 4 with a Nintendo Switch version coming in October.