Phantom Eight Studios’ PAST CURE exceeds visual expectations for an indie game, but beyond that there’s not a much praise to sing. The trailers and teasers that built up to the game’s release were far more exciting than the entirety of the game itself. If you are looking for a true horror, third person person shooter game, allow me to burst that bubble before you drop thirty dollars on an agonizing headache.
The premise is intriguing; Ian, a super-soldier amnesiac, sifts through nightmares, blurry memories, and eery realities to find the truth behind his sinister kidnapping. Sadly, the gameplay falls short of the hair-raising hype. The first, but certainly not the last, patience hurdle to overcome starts at the very beginning. Gameplay starts in Ian’s first nightmare, a dismal dungeon littered with scrambled monster remains and the only thing that stands in your way of reality is a slew of monsters who are very hard to shoot until you adjust the controls. For the average gamer, expect to die around ten times before the real game starts. Those who are new to the gaming industry or casual players are not going to find enough reward in repeatedly getting murdered to reach the next step.
The horror elements are presented as implications rather than actual gore. The music and sound effects throughout this game build up the tension for a gruesome, Hitchcockesque slasher scene, but the fright factor barely leaves the station. The monsters in the nightmare sequences are far more irritating than they are hair-raising; they look like cracked mannequins with glowing eyes that kill you by throwing you on the ground or give you, what looks like, a karate chop to the neck. I went to bed with the ‘they’re coming for you’ music burned into my brain and admittedly it was a little creepy, but the image of one of these monsters busting through the double doors lulled me off to sleep in a giggle fit.
The controls of PAST CURE will feel very familiar to those who are fans of the horror genre. The restricted movement is reminiscent of titles like Silent Hill and the older Resident Evil series; you can’t dodge the nightmare monsters, but, rather, have to shoot them before they get their hands on you. Being able to shoot your enemies requires you to lead them, and also adjust your sensitivity settings for smoother game play.
The dim beacon of hope for this game is Ian’s supernatural abilities; Astral Plane, a sneaky telekinetic tactic to disable security devices, and Time Perception, the ability to slow down the world around you to make it easier to kill unwanted clusters of bad guys. The combination of these two powers add an extra layer to an otherwise basic ‘shoot ‘em up, beat ‘em up’ style of gameplay.
For the overall experience of PAST CURE, I give this indie effort a 4/10. The visuals far exceed expectations and there are some clever deceptions that come together nicely in the end, but to keep someone’s attention, start to finish, is a difficult task and this game does not deliver.
Here is the Past Cure Launch Trailer:
PAST CURE is available worldwide for Windows PC via Steam, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 for $29.99/£29.99/€29.99.
PlayStation 4 Review
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Overall Score - 4/104/10
Kendra grew up in the era where playing Donkey Kong in the dentist's office was a thing. Her creative mind enjoys the imaginative genius that goes into the intricate worlds and enticing narratives that have become the new wave of gaming. Forever a devotee of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, Kendra has stepped into the next generation of gaming with favorites like God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Spider-Man. She is always looking for the next gaming challenge and utilizes her fancy English degree to articulate her detailed reviews for hungry gamers like you.
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