Short review for a very insubstantial experience. Complete lack of challenge or stress in the gameplay that I would say subverts the horror experience had any effort actually been made to make the game even remotely scary or suspenseful. Ostensibly pays homage to old survival horror titles despite being a facsimile of what they actually looked like while adopting the very worst of their gameplay loops.
Crow Country is entirely putting square pegs into square holes to unlock triangular pegs for triangular holes. Silent Hill and Resident Evil had this as well but they had the sense to force the player to absorb the tense atmosphere between those bits by forcing enemy combat with intense resource management via ammo count and healing items. The gameplay reinforced the atmosphere; not a deep thought but it eludes Crow Country.
The writing is completely off as well. It's all Reddit-tier quips and lighthearted asides as if the setting was Candyland. It's tonally inconsistent with the visuals and also ineffective at inspiring humor if one was to assume that's a worthy goal. Following all of that up with the reveal of a future that refused to change was a particularly intense whiplash. Unsatisfying.
The worst thing I can say about Crow Country is that it proves anyone can make a game. No matter how fundamentally you misunderstand the design of games you insist you like, you can make a game. No matter how bad of a writer you are, you can make a game. No matter how misguided you are in your mission statement, you too can make a game.
After experiencing another disappointment with Signalis a year or so ago I'm about ready to call the "Survival Horror w/PS1 inspired graphics" genre DOA. Get them out of here.
I thought it was called Crow County for 95% of my playthrough. Pretty good dithering work.
2/5
Crow Country is entirely putting square pegs into square holes to unlock triangular pegs for triangular holes. Silent Hill and Resident Evil had this as well but they had the sense to force the player to absorb the tense atmosphere between those bits by forcing enemy combat with intense resource management via ammo count and healing items. The gameplay reinforced the atmosphere; not a deep thought but it eludes Crow Country.
The writing is completely off as well. It's all Reddit-tier quips and lighthearted asides as if the setting was Candyland. It's tonally inconsistent with the visuals and also ineffective at inspiring humor if one was to assume that's a worthy goal. Following all of that up with the reveal of a future that refused to change was a particularly intense whiplash. Unsatisfying.
The worst thing I can say about Crow Country is that it proves anyone can make a game. No matter how fundamentally you misunderstand the design of games you insist you like, you can make a game. No matter how bad of a writer you are, you can make a game. No matter how misguided you are in your mission statement, you too can make a game.
After experiencing another disappointment with Signalis a year or so ago I'm about ready to call the "Survival Horror w/PS1 inspired graphics" genre DOA. Get them out of here.
I thought it was called Crow County for 95% of my playthrough. Pretty good dithering work.
2/5