Developer: 3rd eye studios
Publisher: 3rd eye studios
Platform: PC, PS4
Tested on: PS4
Downward Spiral: Horus Station – Review
There’s been a long tradition now of horror games set in space, the infamous Dead Space being just one of many examples. Downward Spiral: Horus Station seemingly tries to follow in those footsteps, but doesn’t succeed in this endeavor and ends up falling horribly short of actually accomplishing something meaningful.
Story
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is the second game in the Downward Spiral series, though having played the short prologue game shouldn’t affect your experience of this one. The story is told exclusively through interpretation and visual means, there isn’t a line of dialogue in sight. Sadly, this is also where the game already starts to falter, as this visual storytelling might be a nice idea in theory, in practice it is hard to feel engaged or get even the slightest clue as to what is going on. This also makes it much harder to care about the characters or what is happening around them. Everything comes across as detached or uninvolved to the player.
From what we can gather you are playing some kind of astronaut, floating through an abandoned space station. The tech that should be protecting both you and the station itself has gone hostile, and now serves as the enemy that stands between you and the potential answers to what exactly is going on. But this is as far as one can get with the available information and you will be lucky if you clear up any more of this vague story. It’s a guessing game at best, a horribly vague premise at worst.
Graphics
The graphics of Horus Station work just fine for the game it is. All environments look more or less the same, sometimes this makes it hard to know if you’ve already explored a certain location when you inevitably get turned around. But the rare parts where you’re actually floating through space itself, instead of the confines of the always similar looking space station, are very impressive visually and give you a glimpse of what the game can accomplish when it’s actually trying.
Sound
The soundtrack is where Horus Station truly shines. Composed by HIM frontman Ville Valo, the music of this game is pretty amazing. It works together with the visuals beautifully to build a tense atmosphere, making you feel locked up, or like something bad might happen at any moment. Ranging from quiet background ambience to upbeat tunes for action scenes, the music in this game is versatile and entertaining.
Gameplay
Horus Station could be best described as a zero-gravity space adventure. This means the game is set in environments without gravity, making the controls quite interesting. The beginning of the game is spent bouncing off different surfaces to make your way forward, though luckily you quickly find a grappling hook to help you along. Later in the game there’s also a jetpack-like thruster that makes it easier to boost yourself in the appropriate direction, which makes getting around much less of a hassle.
Most of the game is spent exploring different parts of the space station and figuring out where to go. The game is quite linear in nature, there is usually only one open door at any given time for you to find and go through. Then you unlock the next door, bringing you to the next area, rinse and repeat. However, since most places are so big, it can take you a while to figure out where you need to go next and the game doesn’t give any hints. This can make Horus Station a bit of a chore to get through.
If you’re playing the game in ‘explore mode’ this is all there is to it. If you choose to play in ‘engage mode’ you will have the added feature of running into enemies and even bosses from time to time. These enemies consist of hostile tech bots you can make short work of with various weapons you discover along your journey, from futuristic looking pistols to machine guns. Controlling your character and shooting at the same time can be surprisingly difficult though, so only choose this game mode if you’re looking for a challenge. Luckily, if you die, you simply respawn in a closed-off area nearby, so the game is rather forgiving if you do choose to take on this mode.
The game can be played alone or in an online co-op, where you get to explore the station with a friend. Furthermore, there is online multiplayer available, including an eight-player PVP Deathmatch.
Conclusion
Ultimately, Downward Spiral: Horus Station feels like a failed experiment. While the atmosphere is amazing, the concept original enough to work and the gameplay enjoyable enough to keep us entertained, the story is lacking and the locations you explore all look the same and end up boring you very quickly. With some work, this could easily become a good series, but as it stands right now, it is a mediocre game at best.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station - Review,
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