POWER DRILL MASSACRE (2015) - Injured after a car crash, Megan flees through the woods into an abandoned building, looking for help. The door jams and shes locked inside, forced to search through the dark corridors. She hears the echo of a power drill in the distance and realizes she's not alone. Power Drill Massacre is inspired by vhs slasher films and PS1 survival horror games
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This game made me have several heart attacks, to the point I started sweating. I've never managed to finish it, maybe one day...
Ótimo jogo para recomendar para seus amigos
Quase morri do coração jogando essa merda.
puppet combo has some hospital bills to pay after he gave everyone who played this a cardiac arrest
tenho medo
Power Drill Massacre is Puppet Combo's first fully original video game and with all due respect to the studio, it sure does feel like it. It feels more like a concept demo than a full fledged video game and can be beaten in less than 30 minutes.
Plaudits have to be given to the atmosphere. Power Drill Massacre was released in 2015, and attempts to bring back the retro horror feeling that was associated with 90s horror VHS tapes and early survival horror titles. This style would become synonymous with Puppet Combo. Whether he was responsible for the reintroduction of this style is not within my knowledge but he is certainly the most renowned developer with this approach to horror titles. It's nice to see that he had a clear vision as a horror game developer from the very beginning, and have only continued to build upon that in subsequent titles.
The premise of Power Drill Massacre is simple, you and your friend get into a car accident and must seek help. In doing so, you become locked in this facility, stalked by a maddened murderer wielding a power drill as a weapon. Finicky controls coupled with genuinely terrifying enemy encounters brings out feelings of hopelessness and dread which serve to deliver the intended experience well. Part of the reason why these encounters are terrifying however, is that they almost feel bullshit. It's hard to see exactly what is causing the threat, and encounters usually end within a few seconds.
There's no combat, just a light exploration within a daunting environment with a few scripted encounters scattered within. There is no voice acting, which would later become an appealing and charming aspect to Puppet Combo titles. After mulling over how I felt about the narrative, I really have mixed feelings surrounding it. It is 100% cliche but the lore is incredibly disturbing when fully understood. A nice touch was the inclusion of multiple endings, this trend would continue throughout Puppet Combo's future library. There are two endings in the game, which involve triggering different set pieces within the facility. They divide into a fairly obvious good and bad ending, with the bad ending in particular being incredibly off-putting to experience.
The game also can't decide whether it wants to give the player camera freedom or fixed camera angles and so allows both, which I think hinders the experience. Horror games that use fixed camera angles correctly will craft every room and experience with a great amount of detail. Each angle carefully provides the player with enough information to entice you to keep going forward, but also hides enough to make the player wary of progressing. The ability to switch the camera in these moments allows the player to circumvent the intended fear that fixed camera angles create, and I would have loved if the game decided on one particular camera style and stuck with it.
Power Drill Massacre can be described as a fine game. It does nothing abhorrent but nothing spectacular. The only thing truly memorable about the experience is the absolutely terrifying jumpscares, whose noise is piercing and can lead to you involuntarily releasing your hand from the keyboard out of shock. It's legacy would be that it proved there was a market for this style of game, that Puppet Combo would later evolve this primordial title into more special experiences.
Plaudits have to be given to the atmosphere. Power Drill Massacre was released in 2015, and attempts to bring back the retro horror feeling that was associated with 90s horror VHS tapes and early survival horror titles. This style would become synonymous with Puppet Combo. Whether he was responsible for the reintroduction of this style is not within my knowledge but he is certainly the most renowned developer with this approach to horror titles. It's nice to see that he had a clear vision as a horror game developer from the very beginning, and have only continued to build upon that in subsequent titles.
The premise of Power Drill Massacre is simple, you and your friend get into a car accident and must seek help. In doing so, you become locked in this facility, stalked by a maddened murderer wielding a power drill as a weapon. Finicky controls coupled with genuinely terrifying enemy encounters brings out feelings of hopelessness and dread which serve to deliver the intended experience well. Part of the reason why these encounters are terrifying however, is that they almost feel bullshit. It's hard to see exactly what is causing the threat, and encounters usually end within a few seconds.
There's no combat, just a light exploration within a daunting environment with a few scripted encounters scattered within. There is no voice acting, which would later become an appealing and charming aspect to Puppet Combo titles. After mulling over how I felt about the narrative, I really have mixed feelings surrounding it. It is 100% cliche but the lore is incredibly disturbing when fully understood. A nice touch was the inclusion of multiple endings, this trend would continue throughout Puppet Combo's future library. There are two endings in the game, which involve triggering different set pieces within the facility. They divide into a fairly obvious good and bad ending, with the bad ending in particular being incredibly off-putting to experience.
The game also can't decide whether it wants to give the player camera freedom or fixed camera angles and so allows both, which I think hinders the experience. Horror games that use fixed camera angles correctly will craft every room and experience with a great amount of detail. Each angle carefully provides the player with enough information to entice you to keep going forward, but also hides enough to make the player wary of progressing. The ability to switch the camera in these moments allows the player to circumvent the intended fear that fixed camera angles create, and I would have loved if the game decided on one particular camera style and stuck with it.
Power Drill Massacre can be described as a fine game. It does nothing abhorrent but nothing spectacular. The only thing truly memorable about the experience is the absolutely terrifying jumpscares, whose noise is piercing and can lead to you involuntarily releasing your hand from the keyboard out of shock. It's legacy would be that it proved there was a market for this style of game, that Puppet Combo would later evolve this primordial title into more special experiences.