Augmented Fear

A very cool and interesting game that I've had a lot of fun trying to solve! Was completely absorbed and thinking about it all the time during this last week I spent playing it. I found it satisfying every time I managed to make a bit more progress and understand more of how things fit together. As of this review there's still some mysteries I haven't figured out yet as some of the secret stuff is pretty hard to uncover! But one such obscure secret that I solved was quite clever in its design and it felt quite gratifying to finally get it. The puzzles can definitely require some patience and thoughtful observation. The randomization element the game has for items and rooms helps keep each run feeling fresher than if everything was static. I really enjoy the graphics and atmosphere! It's fun seeing how the environment changes when using the Augmented Reality vision and using it to help solve puzzles. The game is a little on the quieter side when it comes to sound, which I like a lot and it creates a nice mood, but I also think it probably could've benefited from a few more ambient sounds in the environment, such as soft wind passing through vents and some gentle hum of machines or lights. The quieter atmosphere does definitely help with paying attention to the actions of the hostile creatures in the game. I mostly played with the music off so I can't comment too much on that aspect. It seemed like there was a single music track playing occasionally throughout the game and, while it wasn't bad, I thought it was too intense for the mood of the game. As for those hostile creatures, they do add some tension and danger to the game and I mostly enjoy them - especially the CyberCat. When you're going back and forth struggling to solve a particularly tough puzzle the creatures can sometimes become a little troublesome (in particular the entity that stalks you when you use the Augmented Reality mode) but I don't think it ever got too frustrating. While I haven't seen everything there is in the game, the story is intriguing from the pieces of it I've gathered from seeing certain scenes and observing various things in the environments such as pictures and drawings. I love this game! I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who thinks it looks interesting. I believe the demo is still available to try as well. Admittedly there are some very rough edges and glitchy stuff that requires some patience and understanding towards the difficulties of making games, but I think all the awesome stuff in the game greatly outweighs any negative aspects.