THRESHOLD, developed by Julien Eveillé and published by Critical Reflex, is a horror game that focuses on creating an unsettling atmosphere that focuses on how the player will react to the world around them. This focus on narrative elements makes the game have a somewhat simple gameplay loop that allows the player to think on what is going on in the world and the train itself. Moreover, the primary focus of the game is to keep the train running and question what is going on in the world and build theories as to what is going on. Aside from that the design of the game itself is this retro styled graphics quite similar to another prominent work published by Critical Reflex called Buckshot Roulette which follows the same design trend.
The gameplay of the game while simplistic focuses on making the most out of it by making the player look around focusing more on the narrative of the game. The basic default controls on PC utilize the industry standard for First Person Shooters (FPS) with a focus on survival. By focusing on survival ensures that the player remains focused on staying alive while keeping the train moving forward. As for the main reason as to why the player needs to keep on surviving is due to the lack of oxygen in the air as they are stationed in the mountain with very thin air. The player needs to obtain oxygen cans either by trading in tickets for them or by finding them around the map. To delve into how those tickets can be traded in for oxygen cans is through the recycler and train counter producing them, for the player to obtain and put into a machine that dispenses oxygen cans. Aside from those oxygen cans, the player has a whistle that can be used at the elevator, horn, and intercom as a point of interaction to the world around them. These act similar to a checkpoint, and story progression allowing the player to know they are moving the story forward and, in some regards, to ask questions about the station they are running. While the gameplay is simplistic the narrative of the game leaves a lot of room for speculation and discussion.
By having a focus on the narrative leaving room for discussion leaves speculation as to probable answers to the questions that come to pass when playing the game. The game itself leaves the player perplexed as to what happened and makes the player think as to what is going on. This can hook a player’s attention and ensures that they are going to remain playing the game to find more secrets and clues as to how the world was built. While diving into the narrative without revealing too many spoilers the premises of the game is to keep the train moving, while trying to survive and explore the station asking questions. The player will need to question the state of the station, and the train itself as to wonder what it is transporting. Moreover, the ending will make the player think as to what is going on due to what they will see and truly wonder what they saw through the lens of their character truly real.
Julien Eveillé and Critical Reflex should be proud of the game they have produced and leaves the player with a bunch of questions. The simplified gameplay allows for the narrative to take a hold of the player and makes the player think as to what they just experienced. There are very few games that focus on telling such a story, with the only notable ones ending on a cliffhanger such as Half Life 2 (as of writing this), MOTHER III, DAYS GONE, and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. This allows the game to stick into the minds of players and if they are youtubers, they will most likely post a video on their take of the game. THRESHOLD as a horror game that focuses on critical thinking is a solid 8/10 game that leaves the player perplexed.
THRESHOLD is available for PC via Steam.
Related: Reviews by Kyle Manila
I would describe myself when interacting with games as a strategist with a pension for stealth and loud explosions.
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