A stylish, old school inspired, science fiction, psychological, survival horror game at an affordable price point. Yes please and thank you!
Signalis plays how you would expect a survival horror to and is heavily inspired by Resident Evil and Silent Hill. You have a limited inventory space, which means considering what to pick up and planning your trips to the item box. You use the map to get around and see what needs to be explored next. Every enemy encounter needs consideration as you have limited health, ammo and items and you will probably need to back track through each location again too. There are good puzzles to solve which are not too easy but not too obtuse. The game does not hold your hand either and there are no constant check points. It’s all very satisfying to play and it is the type of game that is hard to put down. I found myself saying “I’ll just check out these two rooms” or “I’ll just see what this key opens.” Then another hour would fly by and I’m still playing.
The combat is the weakest part. The way the enemies move, look and sound is creepy but they don’t really pose a threat on their own. One or two enemies can usually be easily dodged around or put down. The way the game ups the difficulty is by throwing small groups at you and/or heavily restricting space. It would have been cool if the enemies were a challenge on their own and a greater variety in enemies and how they attack would have been good too. I found the combat definitely got tiresome by the start of a second play through. There are also some first person sections which felt too slow and tedious.
The story, world and lore of Signalis is interesting and I really enjoyed it. It’s not told in a direct way and there is room for interpretation. There are multiple endings as well which are all valid. The art direction and sound all fit perfectly with this story and world. It looks somewhat like a PS1 era game but has so much of its own personality and style which I am a big fan of.
Signalis was easily one of the best games released in 2022. The very small development team are absolute legends and I can’t wait to see what they do next. If you have any interest in survival horror then you need to play this or even if you just like good games in general then I recommend Signalis.
8.3/10
Signalis plays how you would expect a survival horror to and is heavily inspired by Resident Evil and Silent Hill. You have a limited inventory space, which means considering what to pick up and planning your trips to the item box. You use the map to get around and see what needs to be explored next. Every enemy encounter needs consideration as you have limited health, ammo and items and you will probably need to back track through each location again too. There are good puzzles to solve which are not too easy but not too obtuse. The game does not hold your hand either and there are no constant check points. It’s all very satisfying to play and it is the type of game that is hard to put down. I found myself saying “I’ll just check out these two rooms” or “I’ll just see what this key opens.” Then another hour would fly by and I’m still playing.
The combat is the weakest part. The way the enemies move, look and sound is creepy but they don’t really pose a threat on their own. One or two enemies can usually be easily dodged around or put down. The way the game ups the difficulty is by throwing small groups at you and/or heavily restricting space. It would have been cool if the enemies were a challenge on their own and a greater variety in enemies and how they attack would have been good too. I found the combat definitely got tiresome by the start of a second play through. There are also some first person sections which felt too slow and tedious.
The story, world and lore of Signalis is interesting and I really enjoyed it. It’s not told in a direct way and there is room for interpretation. There are multiple endings as well which are all valid. The art direction and sound all fit perfectly with this story and world. It looks somewhat like a PS1 era game but has so much of its own personality and style which I am a big fan of.
Signalis was easily one of the best games released in 2022. The very small development team are absolute legends and I can’t wait to see what they do next. If you have any interest in survival horror then you need to play this or even if you just like good games in general then I recommend Signalis.
8.3/10