REVIEW : SIGNALIS (PC)
Get ready to lose yourself in a captivating trip filled with several traditional flavours that will keep you entertained from beginning to end.
Analyzing the influence of Resident Evil on video games and, most importantly, the horror genre, is fascinating but not surprising. The early episodes of the series, which adapted Alone in the Dark’s structure, laid the groundwork for survival horror, which a lot of other films went on to emulate. The transformation of Resident Evil 4 was even more striking, and it has had an ongoing influence on the sector.
Many other genre practitioners followed the move to action’s lead, and now that the remakes have been released, they appear to be setting the trend once more. But what about survival horror given that everyone seems to be relying on that third-person formula? classics? Once more, independent developers are the source of the solution, with works like Tormented Souls or the current topic of discussion, Signalis.
bad space vibes
The survival horror film Signalis is a timeless classic. It’s a strange mashup of Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, and Resident Evil. We try to make sense of it for you. On the one hand, there is the traditional element of the genre, which combines inventory control, management of weapons, and puzzles. Of course, there is also a dark plot to frame the adventure. On the other side, we have fixed cameras, but they choose a camera that is extremely reminiscent of the one in Solid Snake’s early adventures rather than giving us horrifying views.
The influences of each of these games are numerous: from Resident Evil, for instance, we have the playable base and some flares to burn defeated enemies so they don’t get up again; from Silent Hill, the passive characters who seem disconnected from the hostile environment and even the save screens; and from Metal Gear, in addition to the camera, we also have the interface and even a kind of cod; The most intriguing aspect of this combo is how special it is, leading to its individuality.
It is a pretty vintage title that puts a greater emphasis on the playable. As we move forward, searching for keys, solving puzzles, and eliminating adversaries, while we keep track of the bullets and manage our inventory, we will have to unlock this scenario. We occasionally come across first-person scenes that teach us more about the plot or boss fights that demand a new tactical approach. In general, it is a very, very enjoyable adventure that has no sudden spikes in difficulty and in which, as soon as we take a moment to reflect, we can easily solve all the riddles.
This, in our opinion, is the key: a survival horror game that wants to enjoy the player more than it wants to frighten or intimidate them.
We feel it is crucial to stress that the game is not terrifying, but rather has unsettling vibes. The enemies are not extremely terrible, and there are scarcely any jump scares. There are exceptions, such as some that suddenly emerge from the earth, but in general, they are relatively passive and simple to predict.
For us, it poses no issues at all, and we have thoroughly enjoyed the fundamental elements of this genre: slaying and dodging monsters, weighing the pros and cons of using a medicine cabinet to heal ourselves or continuing to play the game, finding objects and resolving puzzles, and, in short, surviving. The only drawback is that, for genre veterans, it can be rather conservative and rarely takes any risks.
Signalis is an adventure that takes on a murky and perplexing tale that progressively makes sense and answers problems while providing us with a smooth rhythm and plot twists almost from the start.
But its graphics component, which simulates 32-bit and 64-bit graphics as well as the distortion typical of the era’s tube displays and a more severe CRT filter in case we want the most authentic retro experience, may have attracted our eye the most.
Though it incorporates contemporary distortion and lighting effects that give it a very interesting touch and also serve to create a more oppressive environment, the visuals’ basic design is pretty straightforward—as we say, it strives to emulate a PSX game.
The sound is really basic and perhaps even a little disappointing because it could have been crucial to building tension in a game where you frequently can’t see the entire room, but it isn’t. In addition, it is delivered to us in Spanish (a language from Latin America), allowing us to follow the narrative in our tongue.
Thanks to a very quick and agile production in which everything flows, the game Signalis was able to hold our attention from beginning to end. It is not a frightening game, but it is quite fun, with few moments of annoyance yet not overly simple.
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