Deluded Mind is a psychological horror game from new indie publisher/developer, Pyxton Studios. Within it, gamers play as FBI agent Dean Catrall; a man whose daughter has been murdered by a criminal organization. Waking up in the Hillstone Asylum, Dean soon finds that he has been kidnapped and injected with a powerful hallucinogenic by the same man who killed his child. It's now his job to find his partner Robert Page, apprehend the criminal mastermind, and find his way to safety.

Let's get right down to the meat of this bad boy; the scares in Deluded Mind are absolutely phenomenal. I have played hundreds of horror games over the years, from the best of the best to the absolute worst, and I can confess that only a small percentage of them manage to make me actually scream. This release was able to make it into the top tier of that tiny group of titles. It helps that many of the frightening instances are randomly generated in certain areas, which causes the game to be totally unpredictable at key moments. Another great and immersive feature is that Dean actually responds to a significant amount of hallucinations, as his breathing becomes more shallow, raspy, and rapid when events happen.

Nearly all of the horror in this release rely on jump-scares alone; something that I'm personally not too keen on usually, and a lot of other people may be put off by that sentiment as well. However, that fact doesn't stop this game from being one of the few jump-scare centric horror releases that are actually good. Unfortunately, there's a severe lack of atmosphere and ambiance in Deluded Mind, and soundscapes only play during a very few specific moments. Had the developer put some more effort into this element and provided a steady, consistent ambiant experience throughout, the game could've been driven a lot further than it already goes.

The main gameplay of Deluded Mind lies within a handful of puzzles and finding certain keys. Most of the puzzles reveal codes for the multiple keypads placed throughout the game. While the majority of the puzzles are complex in their own way, only one is truly frustrating and needlessly long; the labyrinthe. In fact, the labyrinthe is an entire level in and of itself where the player must wander around a series of numbered corridors in search of a specific, yet unspecified, number. I spent a good hour of my 4 hours of play time in this area. I eventually even busted out a pen and paper to write down the corridor numbers that I had visited; there are 100 of them, by the way. After getting completely frustrated and fed up to the point that I nearly quit playing, I watched a walkthrough and realized the number I needed would be lit up. It would've been very helpful to know that from the start.

Despite its shortcomings, Deluded Mind is a promising start from a new developer. The jump-scares are great, and the fact that they're randomly generated is even better. The game could've very well done without the labyrinthe section, and it could still benefit by being shortened; I was having an excellent time up until sinking an hour into that area alone. The ambiance needs work, as it's always a highly necessary element to any horror title. For its longevity of 3-4 hours, the quality of the content within, and the great performance stability, the asking price of $14 CAD isn't too bad. Grab it and support a new developer.

The Horror Network Curator | Group Click for Gore

The developer provided a free copy of this game for review, through The Horror Network's Curation page.

Deluded Mind is a psychological horror game from new indie publisher/developer, Pyxton Studios. Within it, gamers play as FBI agent Dean Catrall; a man whose daughter has been murdered by a criminal organization. Waking up in the Hillstone Asylum, Dean soon finds that he has been kidnapped and injected with a powerful hallucinogenic by the same man who killed his child. It's now his job to find his partner Robert Page, apprehend the criminal mastermind, and find his way to safety. Let's get right down to the meat of this bad boy; the scares in Deluded Mind are absolutely phenomenal. I have played hundreds of horror games over the years, from the best of the best to the absolute worst, and I can confess that only a small percentage of them manage to make me actually scream. This release was able to make it into the top tier of that tiny group of titles. It helps that many of the frightening instances are randomly generated in certain areas, which causes the game to be totally unpredictable at key moments. Another great and immersive feature is that Dean actually responds to a significant amount of hallucinations, as his breathing becomes more shallow, raspy, and rapid when events happen. Nearly all of the horror in this release rely on jump-scares alone; something that I'm personally not too keen on usually, and a lot of other people may be put off by that sentiment as well. However, that fact doesn't stop this game from being one of the few jump-scare centric horror releases that are actually good. Unfortunately, there's a severe lack of atmosphere and ambiance in Deluded Mind, and soundscapes only play during a very few specific moments. Had the developer put some more effort into this element and provided a steady, consistent ambiant experience throughout, the game could've been driven a lot further than it already goes. The main gameplay of Deluded Mind lies within a handful of puzzles and finding certain keys. Most of the puzzles reveal codes for the multiple keypads placed throughout the game. While the majority of the puzzles are complex in their own way, only one is truly frustrating and needlessly long; the labyrinthe. In fact, the labyrinthe is an entire level in and of itself where the player must wander around a series of numbered corridors in search of a specific, yet unspecified, number. I spent a good hour of my 4 hours of play time in this area. I eventually even busted out a pen and paper to write down the corridor numbers that I had visited; there are 100 of them, by the way. After getting completely frustrated and fed up to the point that I nearly quit playing, I watched a walkthrough and realized the number I needed would be lit up. It would've been very helpful to know that from the start. Despite its shortcomings, Deluded Mind is a promising start from a new developer. The jump-scares are great, and the fact that they're randomly generated is even better. The game could've very well done without the labyrinthe section, and it could still benefit by being shortened; I was having an excellent time up until sinking an hour into that area alone. The ambiance needs work, as it's always a highly necessary element to any horror title. For its longevity of 3-4 hours, the quality of the content within, and the great performance stability, the asking price of $14 CAD isn't too bad. Grab it and support a new developer. [h1]Rating: [b]4.0/5.0[/b] - Excellent, highly worth playing.[/h1] The Horror Network [url=http://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/28221963/]Curator[/url] | [url=http://steamproxy.net/groups/thehorrornetwork]Group[/url] Click for Gore [b]The developer provided a free copy of this game for review, through The Horror Network's Curation page.[/b]