https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3031520408

This prequel to Daymare 1998 puts you in the shoes of special agent Dalila Reyes, a HADES military combat engineer sent to the iconic Area 51 in order to secure vital intelligence, after an unexplained loss of communication with the facility. Of course, some secret experiment violating most ethics and treaties went terribly wrong, so the President called the cream of the crop to clean up that mess, and cover it up in the process. The story is narrated well-enough despite its unoriginality, with decent VA and cutscenes; however, the character animations are definitely stiff in many cases.

It’s a clichè, overused premise, that doesn’t introduce anything new in its sci-fi horror plot; it inspires mainly to the Philadelphia Experiment and the innumerable Area 51 tales to build up its lore - if you’re a sci-fi enthusiast, it will certainly feel already-seen. Nevertheless, the atmosphere and visuals are top-notch, much better than you’d expect from a small Italian Indie studio - combined with the exceptional sound design, they can really deliver an atmosphere I’d put on-par with AAA titles, without doubt.

Each level takes place in a different section of the gigantic Groom Lake facility, and plays out in a linear fashion, meaning that there will be one-way points you won’t be able to backtrack from once crossed. The notable absence of a map, usually customary in the genre, isn’t a big problem given the modest scope and size of each stage; you’ll unlikely lose your bearings, as there aren’t many side-areas to get lost into, enemies don’t respawn, and the way ahead is rather clear most of the time.

Exploring every nook and cranny won’t be as satisfactory as in other titles of this type, as the interactivity with the environment is down to a minimum: there won’t be opening closets, chests or rummaging through debris to scavenge ammo or consumables: everything will be conveniently-placed on shelves, crates or inside bodies, and highlighted with a marker when close enough. Still, it’s definitely worth it to spend extra time scavenging, as you’ll need all the ammo you can get, especially on higher difficulties. That being said, there won’t be “secret” areas or entirely optional chunks of levels, or any meaningful backtracking; at best, you’ll have a few side-rooms with an extra minigame to get some extra resources, or an upgrade if you’re lucky, and that will be it.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3031821980

Your foes will be lethal, and fast even more so. DSC detaches completely from the relatively slow-paced enemies found in most survival horrors, instead opting for blazing-fast, teleporting, grab-heavy foes that will hit like trucks, and may still be dangerous even after death thanks to the corpse-reanimating mechanic that migrates one enemy’s “soul” to another to either create a new foe or upgrade an existing one to a fearsome Red variant. Luckily, the Frost Glove, acquired early–on, is there to help you in slowing and freezing these monsters - the only way to kill their red “upgraded” variants, and generally a good way to deal with the rest.

Combat is based upon managing the limited gas reserves for the glove, usable to fuel various active skills, and of course being accurate with your shots, while kiting enemies around to not get grabbed or hit by ranged attacks. Ultimately, it’s a challenging combat system, that however feels more like an action third-person shooter than a survival horror at any point; it doesn’t have the methodicalness, deliberateness and pacing expected from the genre – a pacing instead found in the first Daymare. The constant QTEs to get free of grabs and the teleporting instant-kill enemies are unnecessary, frustrating additions that make many encounters more annoying than they need to be. In case of death you’ll be respawned at the nearest checkpoint or save-station, whatever is closest.

There’s only one real boss fight, and it’s not even a “true” one at that. The final boss is a complete disappointment, an escape section with infinitely-respawning enemies and an immortal boss you need to slow and avoid until you reach a certain location. It seems like the developers wanted to make this a “real” fight, given the massive amounts of ammo and resources given before it, but then ran out of time / willpower, instead making it into an anticlimactic “freeze the boss and keep running” meme that feels like a boring chore. You won’t even need ammo for it, trust me.

The limited weapon and tool selection, having only a shotgun, a SMG and the glove as implements, doesn’t really evolve at any point. Despite the presence of various upgrades to all of the above-mentioned tools, they never really feel any different in functioning, despite improved capacity, rates of fire, efficiency and so forth. Sure, they’re fine and do the job, but they don’t feel like improving at any point. This lack of variety, united with the lackluster enemy roster, makes combat encounters repetitive not after long. Upgrades can be useful and by all means, you should seek them by opening all side-rooms and solving all puzzles, but don’t expect the gameplay to be more deep or revolutionized by them at any point.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3031920051

[h1]Sum-Up[/h1] [h3]In-depth analysis further down.[/h3] [table] [tr] [th]🟩 [b]Pros[/b][/th] [th]🟥 [b]Cons[/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] • Excellent visuals and art direction: all locations are detailed, well-curated, and deliver a great horror atmosphere. • Highly challenging combat, that emphasizes player skill and resource optimization. It will test even veterans. • Good amount of puzzles and minigames, most of which are unique and well-designed. [/td] [td] • Combat animations and controls feel clunky, especially with the unusually-fast, bizarre pacing for a survival horror. • Balance issues with active skills, weapons and certain enemy encounters create frustrating difficulty spikes. • Despite being competently-narrated, the story is ultimately mediocre, and falls into too many sci-fi / horror clichès. • Poor variety of weapons and enemies: only two guns, one accessory and three total enemy types. It does get stale not after long. • Very linear level design with rare side-areas that contain secrets or optional sections. Free exploration is minimal. [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [th]🟨 [b]Bugs & Issues[/b][/th] [th]🔧 [b]Specs[/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] • Several achievements don’t trigger properly. • Rarely, enemies may get stuck in open doors. [/td] [td] • i5 11400H • 16GB RAM DDR4 • 512 GB SSD • RTX 3060 6GB • 1080p [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td][b]Content & Replay Value:[/b][/td] [td]It took me 13 hours to complete Daymare Sandcastle (DMS) on Hardcore difficulty, taking extra time to explore everything and get all collectibles / secrets I could find. The content is linear; I don’t see a reason to replay once finished.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Is it worth buying?[/b][/td] [td]Not really. The price of 30€ is a bit steep for an Indie production level and this amount of content, especially given its overall mediocre quality and issues. My suggestion is to buy the first Daymare, which is significantly better as a survival horror, and cheaper.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][h3]Verdict: Mediocre[/h3] [url=https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2548409603]Rating Chart Here[/url][/td] [td]A disappointing sequel that manages to improve on visuals and immersion, but distances itself too much from the classic survival horror genre, with new takes on combat that rarely work out well (or at all).[/td] [/tr] [/table] https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3031520408 [h1]In-Depth[/h1] [h3]Writing & Worldbuilding[/h3] This prequel to Daymare 1998 puts you in the shoes of special agent Dalila Reyes, a HADES military combat engineer sent to the iconic Area 51 in order to secure vital intelligence, after an unexplained loss of communication with the facility. Of course, some secret experiment violating most ethics and treaties went terribly wrong, so the President called the cream of the crop to clean up that mess, and cover it up in the process. The story is narrated well-enough despite its unoriginality, with decent VA and cutscenes; however, the character animations are definitely stiff in many cases. It’s a clichè, overused premise, that doesn’t introduce anything new in its sci-fi horror plot; it inspires mainly to the Philadelphia Experiment and the innumerable Area 51 tales to build up its lore - if you’re a sci-fi enthusiast, it will certainly feel already-seen. Nevertheless, the atmosphere and visuals are top-notch, much better than you’d expect from a small Italian Indie studio - combined with the exceptional sound design, they can really deliver an atmosphere I’d put on-par with AAA titles, without doubt. [h3]Exploration & Secrets[/h3] Each level takes place in a different section of the gigantic Groom Lake facility, and plays out in a linear fashion, meaning that there will be one-way points you won’t be able to backtrack from once crossed. The notable absence of a map, usually customary in the genre, isn’t a big problem given the modest scope and size of each stage; you’ll unlikely lose your bearings, as there aren’t many side-areas to get lost into, enemies don’t respawn, and the way ahead is rather clear most of the time. Exploring every nook and cranny won’t be as satisfactory as in other titles of this type, as the interactivity with the environment is down to a minimum: there won’t be opening closets, chests or rummaging through debris to scavenge ammo or consumables: everything will be conveniently-placed on shelves, crates or inside bodies, and highlighted with a marker when close enough. Still, it’s definitely worth it to spend extra time scavenging, as you’ll need all the ammo you can get, especially on higher difficulties. That being said, there won’t be “secret” areas or entirely optional chunks of levels, or any meaningful backtracking; at best, you’ll have a few side-rooms with an extra minigame to get some extra resources, or an upgrade if you’re lucky, and that will be it. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3031821980 [h3]Combat System & Bosses[/h3] Your foes will be lethal, and fast even more so. DSC detaches completely from the relatively slow-paced enemies found in most survival horrors, instead opting for blazing-fast, teleporting, grab-heavy foes that will hit like trucks, and may still be dangerous even after death thanks to the corpse-reanimating mechanic that migrates one enemy’s “soul” to another to either create a new foe or upgrade an existing one to a fearsome Red variant. Luckily, the Frost Glove, acquired early–on, is there to help you in slowing and freezing these monsters - the only way to kill their red “upgraded” variants, and generally a good way to deal with the rest. Combat is based upon managing the limited gas reserves for the glove, usable to fuel various active skills, and of course being accurate with your shots, while kiting enemies around to not get grabbed or hit by ranged attacks. Ultimately, it’s a challenging combat system, that however feels more like an action third-person shooter than a survival horror at any point; it doesn’t have the methodicalness, deliberateness and pacing expected from the genre – a pacing instead found in the first Daymare. The constant QTEs to get free of grabs and the teleporting instant-kill enemies are unnecessary, frustrating additions that make many encounters more annoying than they need to be. In case of death you’ll be respawned at the nearest checkpoint or save-station, whatever is closest. There’s only one real boss fight, and it’s not even a “true” one at that. The final boss is a complete disappointment, an escape section with infinitely-respawning enemies and an immortal boss you need to slow and avoid until you reach a certain location. It seems like the developers wanted to make this a “real” fight, given the massive amounts of ammo and resources given before it, but then ran out of time / willpower, instead making it into an anticlimactic “freeze the boss and keep running” meme that feels like a boring chore. You won’t even need ammo for it, trust me. [h3]Character Progression & Upgrades[/h3] The limited weapon and tool selection, having only a shotgun, a SMG and the glove as implements, doesn’t really evolve at any point. Despite the presence of various upgrades to all of the above-mentioned tools, they never really feel any different in functioning, despite improved capacity, rates of fire, efficiency and so forth. Sure, they’re fine and do the job, but they don’t feel like improving at any point. This lack of variety, united with the lackluster enemy roster, makes combat encounters repetitive not after long. Upgrades can be useful and by all means, you should seek them by opening all side-rooms and solving all puzzles, but don’t expect the gameplay to be more deep or revolutionized by them at any point. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3031920051