Developer: Waleedzo
PS5 Review
*Disclaimer: I was sent the code for this game on PS5 in return for a review; all opinions are mine and mine alone.
It was about time I played another horror, even if it was a short one, but a much needed one to have a distraction from the mundane, much like the game itself. Being stuck in a dead-end job, you're faced with an angry, nasty and quite frankly rude boss who treats his employees like dirt. You're (Fred) thrown into the dark, but you are being watched by what or who. A voice comes in loud and clear from a walkie-talkie. Fred needs to grab it to find out what an earth is going on and what his next tasks could possibly be, it's clear you need to make it out of this shift and follow the green light.
Whilst trapped inside your workplace with no lights, Fred must find a light to see what's going on. Your evil boss forces you to carry on working in the dark and makes you fumble around to get to the broom, but first some obstacles are thrown your way; of course, nothing is simple. Making my way in the dark, I gritted my teeth only to find the outline of a person watching me. I thought I was going to be trapped in that damn office the whole game and prepared myself for misery, but alas, there was a way out.
The atmosphere that surrounded me felt forgiving once I reached the outside world. I knew my purpose, so I pushed on to reach the green light. Nothing is quite as simple as that, though; with the use of puzzles throughout the game, you need to find a way to get closer to the green light. The puzzles themselves are very easy to solve; I managed to do them in no time, which makes the game that much shorter. I may not be a puzzle lover, but I would have liked something a bit more challenging; they were enjoyable to solve nevertheless.
I did find some elements of the game to be creepy; I wouldn't say they shocked me or made me jump out of my skin once we left the office, yet the eerie feeling of being watched stays with you. There is something very ominous about being watched; I was waiting for someone to come and grab me or kill me throughout the game. I was looking forward to jumping out of my skin, and the anticipation wore off pretty fast; I guess this is the psychological horror side of the game. I found myself wondering if I would get answers once I reached the green light, if it would make life happier, and if I would escape that dead-end job.
The game took around 45 minutes for me to finish; I was expecting it to be slightly longer; however, it worked out well being that length. At the start of the game, you come across a piece of paper that talks about not being able to escape your job from another employee; they make out that Fred is crazy, which pushes the narrative that is what is happening within the game. From my own interpretation of the game, I gather it was based on escaping what you hate to find freedom elsewhere; in this day and age, it's something a lot of us want to do. If you listen to Fred at the start, he explains his dreams but he is stuck; the one constant in his life is the green light in the distance from a lighthouse that is watching and waiting. Then listen closely to what the man tells him about the green light on the walkie-talkie. I have read a few opinions of the game so far saying they didn't get it but I grasped the concept.
I have to give credit where credit is due; this was a one-man-built game from the developer Waleedzo. He has done a wonderful job with the graphics, sound, voice acting and developing a game like this. The song used in the game and at the end is stunning too; I haven't found what it's called, but I would love to know. It's clear he is a fan of psychological horror, as he has another game called The Black Within with a similar premise. It can take a lot of work to develop a game, let alone do it all on your own. I'm looking forward to seeing where his game development takes him in the gaming industry.
Have a cosy day
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