They Left Us Here

[b] They Left Us Here [/b] is an atmospheric but linear sci-fi exploration walking simulator and puzzle game with a few action sequences thrown in. It's quite middle of the road in terms of rating because although the story is quite intriguing, ultimately it fell flat for me, and I think I would need to play it again to fully understand it. The game mechanics are nothing new either, with notes, posters, and computer logs providing the story, and puzzles involving finding objects and key combinations to open doors and safes. There's also a couple of sequences where you have to run and avoid NPCs which injected some jeopardy and excitement, and exploration is quite atmospheric with dark rooms creating tension and trepidation and overall the game succeeds in providing a nice sci-fi feel. It's a shame the game wasn't a bit longer, coming in at under two hours, but I am fine with that. I do think that time could have been extended by making exploration a bit more involved, like being able to open drawers, lockers, and searching in cupboards and bins etc. Just simple operations like picking up objects and turning them around to reveal clues or taking objects apart would have been nice. Every object you are meant to interact with is clearly marked by an orange square so game play does feel a little linear and you always feel that you are being pushed in one direction. However, there is a bit of backtracking needed because you'll often find terminals or doors that are locked and require an object later on in the game to solve, but areas are quite small so it's often a case of going back to the room you just came from and is in no way a chore. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3764751087 In this sense, the game is more than just a walking simulator because you do have simple puzzles to solve, albeit just finding codes and key cards in the main, but there's also a couple of chase sequences where you have to avoid a NPC whilst trying to find objects needed to escape to the next section, and that can be quite exciting. I enjoyed playing the game and was fully invested in finding out what happened on the ship but it just felt a little flat to me and I think it could have been improved considering the atmosphere and potential storyline was decent. [h1]Final Thoughts[/h1] [quote][h2][b] They Left Us Here[/b] is a good attempt at a sci-fi walking simulator with a creepy atmosphere and intriguing story, but it felt a little underwhelming to me. Maybe, that's because the story was solely provided by notes and journal entries, or the lack of any real exploration, or not enough character development. I just felt it could have been much more. I would still say it is worth picking up though, especially in the No Way Out bundle, because that seems a lot cheaper and has an extra game. If you are after a horror experience I would think you would be a bit disappointed because although creepy, it really isn't scary. [/h2][/quote] [quote]Thank you for reading my review. If you enjoyed it, please leave a like and follow[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/] [b]IndieGems[/b] [/url] for more reviews like this one. We also have a [url=https://www.youtube.com/@IndieGems2][b]YouTube channel[/b][/url] if you would rather see game play footage with reviews. [/quote]