[Review] Taste of Horror Game as Dad, 'Signaleless'

A familiar genre of grammar in a fresh worldview

Germany's indie game developer, Rose-Engine's survival horror game 'Signallers' announced its official launch after about four years of development. In June, it was known to gamers with many demo versions through the opportunity of Steam Next Fest, and then slowly gained recognition among survival horror genres.

The official 'Signallers' is sold for 20,500 won based on Steam Store, and can be played on consoles such as PS and Xbox as well as Nintendo switches. In addition, if you are in the XBOX game pass, you can play right without purchasing if you are subscribing to the game pass. The four and five hours of the right playtime contained an immersive fresh worldview and the grammar of the survival horror, which is very familiar to existing genres fans.

Game name : Signals Genre Name : Survival Horror release date : 2022.10.27 Review : 1.0 | Developer : Rose Engine Service : Humble Games, Playism Platform : PC, PS, Xbox, switch Play : PC (STEAM)

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In the heavy and humid atmosphere, the SF worldview that calls curiosity

In the demonstration of about 20-30 minutes in the past, the Replica (Lstr-512), the protagonist (a cloned man produced for special purposes), wakes up from a ship wrecked and searches for his partner to search all over the spaceship. I showed the scene. In this work, the movement of the interior of the spaceship is omitted, and the game can be played after the demo section.

In fact, the fact that Signals faithfully follows the grammar of the survival horror established by the Biohazard series has been confirmed in the past demo version. The developer Rose Engine differentiates it based on this genre grammar, designing a worldview and level that gamers are fully immersed.

In addition to other replicas that are similar to the main character Easter, there are quite unfamiliar names such as 'Gestalt', which refers to general humans, and 'Protector', which monitors the ideas/behavior of the country. The outline of the worldview is naturally revealed through the text that is obtained during the gameplay, but it is true that it does not draw a bright future.

The peculiarity is that even when playing demonstrations, 'Signallers', like any SF genre, will contain a kind of cliché that the social perception of cloned humans will not be very good. No see. Replicas with special purposes and strengthened bodies are in the spotlight, and in general, humans who have no ability (Gestalt) are sent to workers of mine and are dismayed in many ways, in which they have to work hard in harsh conditions.

A full-fledged game begins by exploring the facility where the main character Easter finds Gestalt, his partner. However, the facility had an unknown virus, and the symptoms were also expressed to the replica with the enhanced body of this epidemic that began with humans. The protagonist deals with the replica transformed by the virus and goes deep into the facility.

In addition to this dark SF worldview, puzzles consisting of old machines reminiscent of the movie 'Alien Series' are likely to play a role of drought for those who have a good taste. In addition, the first-person story development, which appears in the middle of the game progress, allows you to check the background in the worldview more in-depth, and even though it is not a long play time, it is a significant immersion.

Game design that follows the royal road of survival horror

In terms of gameplay, 'Signals' has brought the grammar of the existing survival horror as strongly and clear enough to cause the nostalgia of the past, as mentioned earlier. This is why it comes from the main menu screen that emphasizes the main character Easter's eyes, and like Omaha for the classic 'Biohazard' series.

The fact that the survival horror has been taken as it is based on a limited space, and while proceeding with the puzzles through the puzzles, it is a structure that is gradually shortcut and shortening the line. Do. In addition, some rooms have a box that can store things along with save points, and there is even an unknown rate (?) That there is no enemy attack here.

Visual also stood out to inherit classical survival horror. The overall visual looks like an adventure game in the PS1, but it's also the charm of the game that you can check the quite detailed dot graphics. The UI design, which coexists with Chinese characters and English that is hard to know, and the appearance of the screen as a whole, combined with the worldview of the game, allowing them to be immersed without inconvenience.

Even in many functions, too familiar elements have been used for survival horror fans in the past. The number of things that the main character can hold to the maximum can exceed six, which is why it is every day to run to the save point. There are almost all systems that can be thought of in common sense, such as investigating certain items to obtain key items, or combining items to create new items and using them as keys.

The same is true of the enemies that have been knocked down once again. Like the Biohazard series before the focus on action. No one knows when they will rise, but if you are dealing with, you will fall into a dilemma that you have to spend a bullet that is a waste. Therefore, in most cases, it is forced to play the game without being dealing with the enemy, which is also a play style that has emerged as a mainstream in the past survival horror genre.

As I said briefly above, 'Signallers' could be an indie horror game that used the grammar of the past without any development, but it can be seen as a work that differentiates through unique worldview and story development. It's less new in terms of systemic, but it appeals to the familiar taste for gamers who like classic games.

'Yes'

Of course, as we all know, the classic survival horror system is not a perfect structure without any disadvantages. If so, the Biohazard series, a pioneer of the system, may not have been trying to innovate several times to renew the franchise.

From the point of view of a gamer who has never tried the classic horror survival, 'Signallers', which does not have all the matters that the current generation game basically supports, is very likely to be divided. There is no automatic storage, and only six compartments have six compartments, so you have to go to the box every time, and the puzzle is not so kind. All of this is a part that can be accepted by the developer nodded with the intention of 'reproducing the grammar of the classic horror game in the current generation'. If you are not a gamer, it is natural to feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, if you are a gamer with a perfume for a classic survival horror game, you can play happily, but if you are not a gamer, you may be closer to the territory of the fire. However, if you want to explore the worldview of 'Signallers' even if you take this inconvenience, it is true that fun is guaranteed as it is already proven several times in the past.

In terms of developers who have completed the classic horror game concept, 'Signals' is an indie game that shows significant completeness. Although it was difficult to check a fresh system that was different from the past, it seems to have succeeded in bringing the classic taste. There's a dark and dull atmosphere and a complex story that reminds me of a cosmic horror, but it's a bit of a taste but attractive.

The playtime is not very long, but you can also invest more time to understand the worldview through various texts or to see all the multi-ending divided into several branches. Considering the price range of 20,000 won, it is a game that gives a very immersive experience, so if you are a subscriber who likes survival horror, it is recommended to play at least once.