[This review is written after the base game, before playing either of the DLC; tiny mild story spoilers]
A clear product of its time, this is a game that only falls short of being a masterpiece because the actual mechanical wrapping is so janky.
The writing is masterful; it's cheeky, it's unsettling, it's rife with metafictional weirdness. Every scene feels like a whirlwind of pastiche, love letter and deep admiration to its inspirations. Twin Peaks, Stephen King, In the Mouth of Madness, Silent Hill, Nordic metal and so many more; Sam Lake (and teams) love of these things is apparent throughout, even in its cornier moments.
Beyond setting up what is clearly an amazing franchise (4 DLC, a spin-off series, a sequel, 2 same universe games!) the writing here manages to really stretch the limits of what a video game can be. There are dreams, there are flashbacks, there's an entire game mechanic designed not only to build layers to the narrative but serve as hints (god, the manuscripts are cool), and even the real metafictional of having Sam Lake and Old Gods of Asgard appear in universe! The TV framing itself is a lot of fun, the episodes are not very well paced in terms of length, but they do follow a really clear TV thriller rise, climax and fall throughout. The credit songs and sequencing is all really fun (I didn't realise Poets of the Fall were in here too lol).
Level design is great. It manages to create a really rich town environment that feels real when you pass by and through it numerous times in each direction. Especially in later episodes when you drive places, you really get a sense of "Oh yeah, I'm passing that!" And some of the encounters are really unique (the spinning bridge, the junkyard, the "rock show" were personal favourites). Those cable cars, mine carts, and any sequence involving birds kind of sucked though, not going to lie.
But there are negatives to keep in mind. Firstly, it's clearly a vehicle for the story and the design is a little secondary. There is a real shallow puddle of enemy variety. You've seen essentially everything 2 episodes in in terms of people. The introduction of poltergeists mixes it up a bit but it's a very repetitive gameplay loop of light -> shoot, light -> shoot. Maybe that's ok but I've been on a string of a little more well-rounded survival horrors lately and it felt shallow.
It's also a 2010 game in terms of polish. The engine is a bit of a mess, it's optimization is all over the show. I ended up doing a weird solution of turning the game to windowed before closing every time, otherwise it'd black-screen forever. There's some weird lag in a few segments, especially when the fog effect is layered onto a lot of chaotic things. They are minor & few but it's worth pointing out; it's a clear "first big ambitious project" game.
My own gameplay gripe is the ridiculous conceit of removing all your gear repeatedly. I know there's some obvious points to do so (Hartman's, the police station) but there's some where you get your stuff back 20 seconds later; why take it off me in the first place?!? By the 4th time I was rolling my eyes...
This is the best 6/10 game ever made. The narrative is essentially perfect but the gameplay is a sludgy mess that *almost* ruins it sometimes.
