- GAME INFO Decay: The Mare is an adventure game by Shining Gate Software released in 2015 for Mac and PC. It has a Illustrated realism style, presented in Slideshow and is played in a First-Person perspective.
- Full walkthrough (no commentary) of Decay: The Mare - Episode 1. All coins, extras unlocked. PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION BELOW FOR TIMES. Coin 1 - 5:15 Coin 2.
With a stronger script, and perhaps some more interesting puzzles, Decay could very well live up to its aims as a low-budget Silent Hill attempt. All that being said, if you're after something a little more unusual from your horror, you could do much worse than Decay: The Mare. Decay: The Mare was released on February 13th for PC, Mac and Xbox 360.
Decay: The Mare is a first person point-and-click horror title which only bolsters the case that the genre has actually been alive and well for several years thanks to independent developers. Originally started as an episodic series, the first two episodes of The Mare were released on smaller digital platforms in 2013 and 2014. But with the release of the third and final episode, Swedish developer Shining Gate Software has teamed up with publisher Daedalic Entertainment to package all the episodes for PC and Mac for a larger audience on digital platforms including Steam. A wise move considering that the original Decay series suffered from obscurity due to the clutter that was the Xbox Live Indie Games service.
Following on from the original Decay series, Decay: The Mare continues Shining Gate's surreal vision of the paranormal and psychological with a more subtle approach, reminiscent of Japanese horror films and horror adventure games of the nineties. Although the game places main character Sam in a drugs rehabilitation clinic called 'Reaching Dreams', the naturalistic setting soon flies out the window, giving way to a nightmarish world in which puzzles, and tense atmospheric scares are plentiful.
Under the its gritty and decayed finger nails Decay: The Mare is surprisingly simple and easy to play, utilizing a first person point-and-click set up, putting you center stage like many modern indie horror games. Although you navigate the world via a series of singular screens inside a 3D environment, this works wonderfully for establishing a slow creeping sense of danger as it forces the player to confront the unknown environment ahead whilst allowing for movement and manipulation of the world through interaction. This is exercised through the collection of items and solving puzzles, most of which provide a fair cryptic challenge without being cripplingly difficult. And the inclusion of extra items like the camera adds a new layer of depth to the player's interaction with the world.
But Decay: The Mare's world is not a pleasant place to be. Reaching Dreams' desolated rooms are laden with the usual rusted iron surfaces, peeling paint and blood stained walls. But other oddities give it a more unique edge, including bleak artworks, cryptic messages and oddly arranged dioramas. Locations are occasionally lit with unnatural washes of colored light, creating a strange sensation between the realistic and the abstract. It might not be of an ultra-realistic quality found in larger productions, but the basic understanding of design psychology provides unnerving moments. One unsettling example is a room plastered with copies of a single photo of a young woman over every wall. It's when you question the static nature of the photos that you begin to doubt your surroundings as well as your sanity.
This sense of unease is backed up brilliantly by Johannes Rae's score which contrasts eerily calm piano melodies with electronic ambient drones, reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails' instrumental work. And because of its quietness, it works on a more subconscious level, settling into the background whilst still maintaining a strong presence. However, this is marred slightly by sound blips during inaccurate looping of the music in longer cut-scenes.
But along with the wonderful sense of disquiet Decay: The Mare inspires, it also aims to weave a narrative with a more minimalist approach. And this is where things fall down. Although the original Decay series didn't have a Pulitzer standard narrative either, it was satisfying, competent and tied in nicely with the gameplay.
Decay: The Mare manages that some of the time, occasionally falling victim to overly long sentences, grammatical errors (what are really bad) and instances where the writing doesn't fit its purpose. Examples include newspaper clippings which don't read like news stories in their structure and a short story which is so obviously a puzzle clue that it's painful. There are moments of experimentation with the odd dialogue tree and player decision, but they're never deep enough, or utilized enough, to create meaningful impact. And the partial inclusion of voice acting is at odds with the quieter and steady approach to horror.
However, even its narrative shortcomings and slight production hiccups, Decay: The Mare still has it where it counts, creating a brilliantly paced horror game with a rare covert feeling of terror that any fan of the genre should play.
Developers: Shining Gate Software
Platforms: Mac, PC
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Decay: The Mare For Macbeth
In this age of viral videos and instant gratification internet entertainment, it's not all that surprising that the majority of horror video games aim to entice the 'YouTube' crowd. This typically involves the game being nothing but a series of loud jump scares designed to startle the player (see Five Nights At Freddy's). Atmosphere and tension have given way to the 'quiet, quiet, bang' model of horror, and it's not all that exciting.
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It's with some optimism then that Shining Gate Software's Decay: The Mare Northgard - himminbrjotir, clan of the ox for mac. attempts to avoid this style of gameplay in favour of a more cerebral experience. Moreover, it pulls the horror game back to what is arguably one of its oldest roots: the point-and-click adventure game.
For those unaware the original Decay game was released as a four-part instalment on the Xbox 360 as part of their Indie Games label. It was a standard point-and-click game that had you exploring rooms and solving puzzles while also suffused with a somewhat surreal and unsettling atmosphere.
Decay: The Mare continues in very much the same vein as something of a spiritual successor rather than a direct sequel. You play as the not so subtly named Sam Eldrich, a drug addict who places himself in a rehabilitation centre in an attempt to get clean. However, shortly after checking himself in, things get strange. It's a fairly classic set up, although one that's been neglected for a good number of years. Decay has much more in common with Silent Hill and films like Eraserhead and Jacob's Ladder that it does the usual horror inspirations.
Split over three short episodes, the game has you exploring the centre as you attempt to piece together what's going on. Cue plenty of rather creepy moments, as strange hairless creatures stalk around your peripheral vision or casually walk by just as you turn around. It's a credit to Shining Gate that they frequently restrain themselves from pulling on the jump scares. The game would be ripe for a number of loud bangs and creatures jumping out but the developers, thankfully, play it low key.
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This also has the added benefit of meaning when the game does go for the scare, it's a much bigger pay-off. One particular moment, which I won't spoil, occurs halfway through a puzzle and is a great 'got you' moment in a game that otherwise focuses on drawing you in with its unnerving atmosphere.
Most of this atmosphere is down to the terrific score by Johannes Rae. It's a solid mix of typical spooky atmospherics along with some genuinely melancholy piano scores that do just as much to create the game's tone as the visuals do.
In fact they arguably manage to resonant much more than the somewhat scattered story ever does. Without entering in spoiler territory, the first two episodes of Decay: The Mare set up some interesting mystery that's then simply shattered by the revelations in the final episode.
The original Decay did a similar trick, with many of the 'threats' you encountered being viewed in a completely different light once you realized who or what they were. The Mare attempts to do a similar trick, with the reveals trying to ape what Silent Hill 2 did during its climax. Sadly, Decay's simply come out of nowhere and feel like the developer was grasping at straws for the most 'out there' twist, and in doing so ruining a lot of the intrigue and horror that they'd built up prior to this.
Gameplay-wise, the puzzles are fairly simple affairs but Shining Gate do manage to blend them into the game world effectively enough. One of the benefits of having most of your game take place in a surreal dream state is that you can get away with as many bizarre puzzles as you'd want. Some of the latter conundrums do come across as an attempt to pad out the game's length, which altogether, should take no more than four hours.
Areas are small enough that it's fairly difficult to get lost, despite not possessing a map and occasionally succumbing to the game's bizarre perspective issues. Presumably as a result of the game's small budget, you'll sometimes have your character leave a room through a door, only to be facing the direction he's just left from, leading to several cases of doubling back on yourself as your figure out which way your character is facing.
All that being said, it's thanks to that small budget that Shining Gate Software focus on atmosphere and tension, rather than on sudden shocks and silly mechanics. With a stronger script, and perhaps some more interesting puzzles, Decay could very well live up to its aims as a low-budget Silent Hill attempt.
All that being said, if you're after something a little more unusual from your horror, you could do much worse than Decay: The Mare.
Decay: The Mare was released on February 13th for PC, Mac and Xbox 360.
Decay The Mare Walkthrough
This review is based on the PC version.
© 2015 LudoLogic
Split over three short episodes, the game has you exploring the centre as you attempt to piece together what's going on. Cue plenty of rather creepy moments, as strange hairless creatures stalk around your peripheral vision or casually walk by just as you turn around. It's a credit to Shining Gate that they frequently restrain themselves from pulling on the jump scares. The game would be ripe for a number of loud bangs and creatures jumping out but the developers, thankfully, play it low key.
Prison Architect - Psych Ward: Warden's Edition - Get the game for download to your hard disk immediately! Prison Architect - Psych Ward: Warden's Edition and many other game downloads. Psych Ward: Warden's Edition adds padded cells along with a bundle of new objects, floors, and wall types to customize your prison. Now you can easily build a dedicated wing for the criminally insane. Prison Architect: Psych Ward: Warden's Edition - Your prison will be more lively than ever with the arrival of the criminally insane. Prison architect - psych ward: wardens edition download for mac.
This also has the added benefit of meaning when the game does go for the scare, it's a much bigger pay-off. One particular moment, which I won't spoil, occurs halfway through a puzzle and is a great 'got you' moment in a game that otherwise focuses on drawing you in with its unnerving atmosphere.
Most of this atmosphere is down to the terrific score by Johannes Rae. It's a solid mix of typical spooky atmospherics along with some genuinely melancholy piano scores that do just as much to create the game's tone as the visuals do.
In fact they arguably manage to resonant much more than the somewhat scattered story ever does. Without entering in spoiler territory, the first two episodes of Decay: The Mare set up some interesting mystery that's then simply shattered by the revelations in the final episode.
The original Decay did a similar trick, with many of the 'threats' you encountered being viewed in a completely different light once you realized who or what they were. The Mare attempts to do a similar trick, with the reveals trying to ape what Silent Hill 2 did during its climax. Sadly, Decay's simply come out of nowhere and feel like the developer was grasping at straws for the most 'out there' twist, and in doing so ruining a lot of the intrigue and horror that they'd built up prior to this.
Gameplay-wise, the puzzles are fairly simple affairs but Shining Gate do manage to blend them into the game world effectively enough. One of the benefits of having most of your game take place in a surreal dream state is that you can get away with as many bizarre puzzles as you'd want. Some of the latter conundrums do come across as an attempt to pad out the game's length, which altogether, should take no more than four hours.
Areas are small enough that it's fairly difficult to get lost, despite not possessing a map and occasionally succumbing to the game's bizarre perspective issues. Presumably as a result of the game's small budget, you'll sometimes have your character leave a room through a door, only to be facing the direction he's just left from, leading to several cases of doubling back on yourself as your figure out which way your character is facing.
All that being said, it's thanks to that small budget that Shining Gate Software focus on atmosphere and tension, rather than on sudden shocks and silly mechanics. With a stronger script, and perhaps some more interesting puzzles, Decay could very well live up to its aims as a low-budget Silent Hill attempt.
All that being said, if you're after something a little more unusual from your horror, you could do much worse than Decay: The Mare.
Decay: The Mare was released on February 13th for PC, Mac and Xbox 360.
Decay The Mare Walkthrough
This review is based on the PC version.
© 2015 LudoLogic
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