Out of the darkness and into the white. There is no more prolific nor consistently creative a horror game developer working right now than Puppet Combo (AKA Ben), and Power Drill Massacre remains his bloodcurdling masterpiece. The psycho killer romp is at once a glorious recreation of 80s-B-movie-style tales, wonderfully toeing the line between sex and violence; death enacting a vivid climax, severing the escalating tension with a blood-soaked hunting knife. The game forces its voluntary guinea pigs to lose themselves in the labyrinthine halls of its abandoned factory. The unstoppable killer is let loose to roam unpredictably, recalling the randomised antagonist of Slender, only with a far more gruesome appetite. Death after death, the mounting screams and impenetrable gates closing the player in dutifully offer up a most unadorned challenge: Survive. Polygonal terror for the post-VHS era, slathered in an unmistakably modern demeanor.

Reviewed on Jan 14, 2021


Comments