A several several years ago, Resident Evil 7 efficiently took the traditional horror franchise in a new direction with its jump to a 1st-man or woman standpoint. RE7 was extremely superior and extremely frightening, and manufactured me consider about what a traditional Resident Evil game would be like in initially-human being. Luckily, Nightmare of Decay is here to offer just that: a retro shooter heavily influenced by Capcom’s authentic PlayStation smash.
Nightmare of Decay came out on Steam past 7 days, developed by indie studio Checkmaty. And let us not defeat around the bush: This video game is channeling the initial Resident Evil as closely as it lawfully can. It in essence solutions the issue “What if Resident Evil was a scary and survival-focused FPS designed in the ‘90s?” Both Resident Evil and Nightmare of Decay feature a major mansion, obtuse puzzles, an not likely amount of money of keys, zombies and other creepy enemies, near-equivalent well being meters, and in the same way similar help save units. In actuality, the to start with zombie you experience in Nightmare does the same, iconic head flip witnessed in RE1 and its remake.
The issue is, if you are likely to get inspiration from a survival horror activity, pulling from just one of the most beloved classics of all time is a good go. And to Nightmare of Decay’s credit score its very first-individual shooter consider on the materials, plus its personal unusual quirks, do enable make it far more than just a Resident Evil lover tribute.
For 1 thing: Nightmare of Decay is truly terrifying. Some of this is down to bounce scares and great audio design, like moaning zombies banging absent at doors before they at some point find and assault you. But it also allows that Nightmare of Decay’s visuals are a ideal mix of high-resolution menus and small-fi retro textures. There is just something definitely creepy to me about low-res textures, chunky products, and pixelated shadows, and Nightmare of Decay is loaded with that things. Strolling about its sprawling, maze-like mansion, with constrained ability to sprint, really is nerve-wracking.
Also operating in Nightmare of Decay’s favor is how it uses its 1st-person perspective. Although some screenshots may possibly make it glimpse like this is an FPS, don’t error it for a large-motion fight fest. In its place, like in a good Resident Evil sport, you commit a ton of time keeping away from fight, preserving your ammo, and applying positioning and motion to stab enemies with a knife. Fortunately, making use of a initially-particular person shooter structure also helps sleek about a substantial barrier quite a few players balk at when trying to revisit common RE game titles: their fastened cameras and clumsy “tank” controls.
Although some lovers adore people outdated-faculty conventions, I have an understanding of the aversion to all those decades old, clunky-ass controls. Decay avoids that issue fully with its more modern 1st-man or woman set up. But it does not let you crouch-soar all around like a monkey and 360 no-scope zombies. You however have to be very careful of where you stand and struggle. You’ll have to have to manage not only ammo, but also be conscious of keeping length from monsters that can kill you in seconds. And not staying equipped to very easily see driving you provides a new stage of stress to entering a place that might be crammed with flesh-consuming ghouls.
Nightmare of Decay is a little bit rough all-around the edges, with some wonky AI and occasional bugs. But I located these troubles elevated the perception of dread I obtained whilst enjoying this unpolished but spooky FPS. It’s also only a several hrs long, like the Resident Evil game titles that encouraged it.
But for only five bucks, this is a damn great horror video game that correctly captures a great deal of what designed the original Resident Evil so scary and very good back again in 1996. And someway, it is also a excellent video game for individuals who choose additional present day-emotion movie game titles in 2022.