Disturbed is a short horror adventure that puts me in the role of Von, a farmer whose life has basically fallen apart. His farm is failing, he has run out of hope and he reaches a point where he has to make a choice about what happens next. I like that the game starts with something fairly ordinary and slowly turns it into something much darker. It is not a normal farming game at all. The farm is really just the starting point for a strange little story about desperation, depression and addiction.
The hand drawn art is probably what stands out to me most. It is rough and simple, but that actually works well for the atmosphere. The game is trying to make me uncomfortable rather than impress me with detailed graphics, and the strange drawings give the world a very unsettling feeling. I also like the way the horror is presented through the environment and the things I discover instead of relying entirely on loud jumpscares. There is something about the simple artwork that makes the darker parts feel even more disturbing.
The gameplay is mostly about exploring, clicking on things and making decisions. I have to look around the farm and surrounding areas, find useful objects and work out what I am supposed to do next. There are puzzles and different choices that can lead to different deaths and outcomes, so I have to be careful about what I interact with. I actually like the trial and error because it fits the idea of the game. Finding out that something was a bad idea and then trying a different approach gives the short adventure a reason to be replayed.
The biggest problem for me is the length. Disturbed is very much a short experience, and once I understand how the main areas and puzzles work, there is not a huge amount left to discover. That is not necessarily a problem for a free game, but it does mean I cannot judge it like a full length horror adventure. Some of the puzzles can also be a little unclear, and there are moments where I feel like I am clicking around hoping to find the correct interaction rather than solving something naturally. The difficulty can be part of the fun, but the lack of clarity sometimes makes it more frustrating than mysterious.
I also think the story is more interesting than the actual gameplay. The themes surrounding Von give the game some weight, and I can see that the developer wanted the horror to represent more than just monsters and creepy locations. The game was specifically inspired by experiences with depression and addiction, which gives the strange events a darker meaning. I appreciate that because it makes the game feel like it has something it wants to say instead of simply using horror as an excuse for scary images.
There are also 17 Steam achievements, which gives me a reason to explore some of the different outcomes rather than stopping after finding one ending. I like that the game encourages me to experiment, especially because the whole experience is free to play. There is optional support DLC, but I do not need to buy it to experience the main game. For something this short and focused, I think that is a fair approach and makes it easier for me to overlook some of the rougher parts.
Overall, Disturbed is a small horror game that I think succeeds more because of its atmosphere and themes than its actual mechanics. I like the hand drawn presentation, strange setting, dark subject matter and choice based structure, and I think the short length works reasonably well for the kind of story it is telling. The puzzles can be unclear and there is not enough gameplay depth for me to rate it alongside the stronger horror adventures I have played. Still, it is free, it has its own identity and it manages to leave a more unsettling impression than I expected from such a simple game.
Rating: 7.3/10
