What would Halloween be without a good horror story set in a haunted house? With Song of Horror, title developed by Protocol Games you will discover the innermost fears that are hidden in the human psyche with a series of scenarios that will keep you awake during the night. Follow us in our review to discover one of this year's most interesting horror films, if you dare.
The melody of a mystery
The year is 1998 and the famous writer Sebastian P. Husher he is obsessed with the melody of a disturbing carillon, a gloomy dirge that leads him to sleepless nights tormented by strange presences in his home. One day, however, there is no more news of him, so it is then that his editor sends his assistant, a man with a turbulent past, to Husher's house to see if all is well. In the house there is no trace of the writer and his family, the door opens without too much effort, silence reigns almost as if everyone had evaporated. To arouse the suspicions of our protagonist is a door completely different from the others, all worn and blackened with chains and planks attached in a rough way. Once you cross the threshold, however, it closes behind him trapping him in a claustrophobic environment where the darkness itself suffocates you and makes you lose the concept of space and time.
This series of inexplicable disappearances are the prime mover of the Song of Horror plot that sees different characters mobilize through a story that winds through various scenarios in search of missing persons and the solution of the mystery of the strange music box.
13 characters looking for an author
In Song of Horror we will have the opportunity to control a cast of 13 characters, each with their own story, characteristics and passive abilities. In each episode we will have the opportunity to choose between 4 gods 13 characters available, and each of them will have a personal way of approaching the proposed scenario: For example, if a character is an art expert he will be able to tell you more when you analyze paintings or if one has the passive "transceiver" ability this will emit some interference in the presence of dangers.
What characterizes this title is the permanent death of the characters, in fact when one of them perishes another will take his place continuing the research from where they came and finding the objects collected at the place of death, but it does not end here because the characters we will lose they could reappear within the scenario while they cry in a corner or hinder our game, in fact the order in which we will use them is also important to avoid hindering us alone during our run. For example, I faced the second episode with a policeman who, however, did not manage to escape the darkness that chased him, chosen a new character, the latter was killed by the policeman after turning a corner, he then committed suicide in the throes of violent hallucinations.
Our research will revolve around the classic elements of survival horror such as the collection of clues, the union of several tools and the solving of puzzles, the latter will not be easy at all and will keep you busy for a while forcing you to also resort to paper and pen.
Only the mad run in the dark
Song of Horror is a game that rewards calm and cold blood, in fact we will be led to listen carefully to the noises behind every door or to make informed decisions to avoid falling victim to the Presence, the dark entity that will haunt our protagonists. To escape the attacks of presence we will be offered a series of tests with reaction commands, such as keeping the heartbeat regular, hiding, keeping the doors closed or not making noise to avoid some ambushes. It all seems very simple, except that the game has an excellent AI that allows the Presence to adapt to our way of playing and to surprise us every time when we least expect it, making each run different from the others. There will be situations in which, if things go too well, the attacks will become exhausting to put you in difficulty or you will fall into the most foolish traps if you are too reckless, in any case the tension is built in a natural way and it is difficult to anticipate. when there is the next jumpscare.
A complex realization
The Protocol Games game has had a five-year development in which the team has been able to make the most of the potential of the Unreal Engine. The environments with a noir air are really rich in details that allow the Presence to manifest itself in increasingly unpredictable ways. The game setting shows without too much shame the influences from cinema, literature and genre videogames by skilfully mixing Del Toro with Lovecraft and a pinch of Silent Hill. A title that relies heavily on the sound sector, should not take certain slips, and instead, sporadically, some background audio files come into a loop, covering some effects necessary to understand if there are dangers behind the doors, thus forcing us to restart the game . Despite an excellent graphic sector, some facial expressions seem out of place accompanied by some collisions of eyes and hair.
In conclusion:
Song of Horror is a truly noteworthy survival horror that takes up the classic matter of the genre, thanks also to the fixed framing system, and renews it with a system that allows it the luxury of a fairly long-lasting replayability thanks also to three different levels of difficulty. The narration and gameplay fully involve the player making him worry about the fate of the various characters. Each episode adds something more like mechanics and ways to approach investigations, becoming more and more intricate making survival our main challenge. Unique in this title, as mentioned above, were some bugs in the audio sector and some graphic smudging regarding facial expressions.
The episodic structure of the game, 5 in total, only allowed us to play the first two chapters but the plot has literally kidnapped us and we can't wait to solve this series of intricate mysteries (the last episode is scheduled for March 2020 ). In any case, Song of Horror is the perfect game if you want to spend a Halloween full of terror alone or with your friends.
