DERANGE Review for Steam

Developer Dark Gaia Studios’ and Publisher GrabTheGames’ Derange is a retro-themed horror game that intends to bring back the forgotten genre of classic, survival horror of the ‘90s. Taking place in Massachusetts in the year 2001, two college students must rely on their wits and survival skills to get through a series of puzzles and enemies with the little inventory they have — and limited saves.

Sound

Pros

• The soundtrack (and game overall) is very top-notch and reminiscent of older horror games, such as Camp Sunshine. It sounds exactly how a vintage horror game would, except clearer without feedback in the background.
• Sound is a great advantage based on the fact that the soundtrack makes me about as nervous as I was as a child first playing 8-bit horror games.

Cons

• Honestly, the music arguably may be too scary/jarring, though I may just be a weenie.

Graphics

Pros

• Such an authentic graphic display — the entire 8-bit animations are on par with its intended horror predecessors, with the added improvement of smoother animation and a more full, vibrant display on screen.
• I actually cannot stress the excellency of the graphic animation that is performed during gameplay. There is an advanced rate of light value that gives a subtle three-dimensional feel to the display without sacrificing the novelty of the retro pixelation.
• The flow of movement is still mechanical, given that it is meant to be in 8-bit, but there is also a subtle smoothness in the effects of some settings. For example, although the characters and dialogue boxes are noticeably archaically rendered, small things like fog moving across the screen are not subjected to this and as a result, enhance the entire gameplay experience.
• Location details are clearly well-thought out.

Cons

The novelty of the animation starts out well at first, until actual gameplay is required, which is where a familiar frustration that also happened with older games comes back in full force. Fighting animation is a travesty – which I expand more on in Gameplay.

Plot

Pros

• Plot is simple and easy to understand and is laid out at a good pace for the player. The basic premise is that the player is trapped in a haunted house and must solve a series of mysteries to progress, whilst having little inventory to utilize.
• The player may choose which character they would like to play as amongst two college students who both add their own unique touch to the storyline.

Cons

• Storyline progression can be a bit slow, as locations that must be investigated can be quite detailed and large, and enemy interaction + limited saves may inhibit the player’s progress quite a bit.

Gameplay

Pros

• Controls are simple enough to understand: general usage of WASD/arrow keys + SHIFT, ESC, and ENTER. Mouse is used very little.
• There are three types of difficulties that determine the difficulty of enemies encountered and the tools that are available for the player.
• It is made clear that combat should be used as a last resort, and that running/hiding strategically is what the player should lean more toward – adding a great deal to the suspense and thrilling aspect of the game.

Cons

• It’s difficult to minimize the game window without having to close the game entirely. The status menu available is mostly just to check the item inventory of the player, and not much else in terms of setting adjustments.
• Interactions between enemies and the player are frustrating and outdated in the worst way. The player’s character freezes momentarily when they are hit, which loses quite a bit of time that could be spent on getting away from enemies. In addition, combat is a pain because the player’s success rate is almost completely random while fighting, so the player must quickly decide if they want to take a chance to narrowly just miss getting an enemies attention or take a chance at winning/losing against said enemy, without any actual accounting for the player’s skill.
• Inventory/ammo is VERY scarce, and the game makes this known so that the player may focus more on running rather than combat, but this becomes more of an inconvenience more than anything as combat may be required a lot more often than anticipated. Unfortunately, running fails more often than not as enemies increase in quantity.

Reviewer’s Opinion

Derange has an amazing deal of potential, as it has aced the vintage horror game style in almost every aspect and more. However, it is lacking in areas that are crucial to keeping the player interested in playing throughout, such as combat efficiency and success rates. Perhaps if this was released during the time it is emulated to take place in (2001), then these flaws can be looked over (considering there were not a lot of expectations for games at the time anyway), but in today’s gaming climate, these flaws are unfortunately overdone and no longer have much leeway to exist. I suppose the frustrating aspect can also be considered a nostalgic factor, which more or less may help its authenticity depending on how one decides to look at it.

Rating

6.5/10

Check Out the Derange Steam Trailer:

Derange is available for PC for $5.99 via Steam.

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