Chinese development company Pollard Studios LLC and publisher Wired Productions and Gamera Games are bringing the latest first-person cinematic, psychological thriller game based in 1984, in East Germany. Everything is not quite as it seems, and needless to say, I was hooked and wanted some more, as the demo was not enough to sink my teeth into.

The demo was short and sweet as you jump into the boots of Daniel McGovern who is a roaming agent for Leviathan’s ‘Thought Bureau’. There is not too much discussed in the demo but you can see the company is an absolute joke and brainwashing people to think work is normal and that having a life outside of work is forbidden.

You need to make sure you are keeping track of what is happening in the demo or you will get left behind super quick as a bit is going on narrative-wise. You get a whole lot of interesting dialogue and a small glimpse of the monster before the demo ends which has made me keen for more of this title.

The controls so far have been quite simplistic and I’m interested to see in the full version if there is any kind of combat involved in the title as most of it is just movement with W, A, S and D and then clicking and holding shift to run away from the monster. I would actually love to see no combat and make it more of a tight storyline that immerses you into his mind. I’m not sure if it’s part of the game or just the demo but the running seems more like a brisk walk with a major limp, glitch or intentional, only time will tell.

I was super astounded by the audio portions of this title. The music with that dark thriller feel that kept you on your toes mixed with the voice acting was impressive. I love it when you are playing a game and you can hear the emotion in the character’s voices, not just some generic voice; it really adds another level to the game.

You could hear in the main character’s voice that he was hurting and scared with a little bit of confusion mixed in there, adding such humanity to Daniel’s personality. The cutscenes had some super gritty thriller music that made you sit back in your chair and just enjoy what was going on at the time. I’m so keen to put more time into this title and see how much of this story will unravel.

I was quite surprised at how meticulous the graphics looked in this title. I didn’t know what to expect walking into the game but I was pleasantly surprised how detailed it looked. It was a realistic-looking title with what I can describe as a super dark glow and ominous hues to everything which made the game that much better.

The attention to detail put into things like the monster that is chasing you down to the environmental aspects and other character models were top-notch and something you would expect from a triple title and for a little bit of controversy looks better than most of the triple titles I’ve played recently.

I’m excited to see what the developers have in store for the rest of this title. The small little snippet we got given in the demo was enough to make me want more. I love titles that don’t feel like something you’ve played before and this game is uniquely original and makes you want to shut off from the world and follow its twisting and turning trails. I can’t wait to see what is in store.

Written by: Hayden Nelson