Tormented Souls – Review by 188man

- Spoiler free -

Tormented Souls a classic style 90's survival horror experience. When i say “experience” i absolutely mean that, this game captures everything you loved about games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. It's all there: Fixed camera, tank controls (optional), inventory management etc.

For an indie title this game is very well made, the visuals excellent, soundtrack wonderful, however the voice acting is probably the weakest part of the game. I don't know if this was intentional seeing that it's a homage to 90's horror games. Perhaps this was lost on me. Nonetheless the game is not hampered in any way by this setback.

The controls are extremely well implemented despite the fixed camera angle that seemingly everyone hates (I don't). You can use the directional pad for tank controls or analog for camera based movement as seen in the Resident Evil Remake/Remaster.

The combat is fairly simple and nicely paced, this is by no means an action game, it's a survival horror title. As difficultly goes, it's not that hard until you realize the hardship is mainly in it's puzzles and miscellaneous tasks.

Like all games of this lineage it involves a lot of back tracking and puzzle solving. This game has an avalanche of puzzles to complete. Certain tasks are very challenging, probably the most difficult I've ever experienced in this genre.

Traveling throughout the environment is quite easy and simple, many paths will be unlocked as you progress. It might sound like a negative connotation that you backtrack but I assure you it's a benefit; there is a great tale to be told. The very environment is almost like a character in itself.

As far as plot & story goes, it's actually quite remarkable for a game of this genre. Not to say that survival horror stories have been bad, but considering the track record, it's hasn't been stellar.
All i can reveal is that it has a cleverly written narrative that has scatterings of previous horror games in it's DNA. A lot of points in this game should be familiar to you if you have played Silent Hill for instance.

I love this game.

Tormented Souls is an explosive return to form for classic survival horror games. If you ever enjoyed games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Fatal frame or even Amnesia, i'd pick this one up.

9.5/10

A modern horror classic.