Picture this, it’s 1898 and you are relaxing by the fire in your Welsh cottage and you receive a letter from your girlfriend. A simple request, journey to her family’s lovely Hotel on Sker Island and bring her home. Slightly nervous as you have never met her family, you pack your things and catch the next train out. I mean after all, what’s the worst that could happen? They turn out to be controlled by a cult named the ‘Quiet Ones’, who have brutally murdered everyone during the hotel’s grand reopening. Reopening?.. How mysterious. What are the odds of that! Well thanks to Welsh Interactive, the odds are 100% likely for it to happen and you are the lucky one to go through it!

Maid of Sker, release in 2020, has recently received its next-gen update with enhanced visuals and additional content. Based on a novel of the same name, this survival horror is based on Welsh folklore from the fictional island of Sker. Although classed as a horror, I would lean more towards an atmospheric thriller with horror elements.

The main game is heavily based on stealth and heavily reliant on sound cues, through standard speakers the game is great but with headphones, it’s an entirely different experience. The enemies are blind and you will need to manage your breathing and placement in the room to successfully navigate the Sker hotel and live. There is light combat mechanics but these are rare, the ultimate goal is to outsmart and out maneuver your way through the story.

Having to manually hold your breath after sprinting or standing near smoke becomes stressful at the best of times and trying to learn where that creaking floorboard is will become second nature. Checkpoints are also far and few between, the save system from the likes of the original resident evil has been revamped with phonograms instead of typewriters. You can lose an agonising amount of progress if you haven’t found one in a while and meet your demise before managing to save. There is a story to follow but without extra exploration, you can miss a large portion of the back story that details the families’ descent into madness.

I must say this game is absolutely dripping with atmosphere and engrossing ambiance, especially when you switch it to performance mode. The overgrown foliage taking over the outside of the dilapidated hotel played off the sunlight beautifully. The dust particles dancing in the twilight are equally as breathtaking, however, the darkness can become irritatingly overwhelming at later stages of the game.

I can understand the darkness being an element that goes hand in hand with horror but I had to turn the brightness to maximum, just to vaguely see an outline of the room. Another overwhelming feature is actually the sound design, there were some instances where someone was walking on the other side of the room and the steps were as if he was actually inside my eardrums.

I do feel that one of the most crucial components to a horror game is the music and this is the only section of the game that never faults. There is a haunting yet beautiful lullaby named Sua Gân and is a monumental theme for the game. The background music kept my heart beating faster in the more intense scenes and guided me through the quieter section while never making me truly feel at ease. The storyline is based around creating a symphony to counteract the evils that have corrupted the inhabitants of the hotel and it influences the music as you progress.

Once you have crawled your way through the campaign, which is roughly 5-10 hours depending on how much collectibles sidetrack you. There is a new addition that almost completely flips the table on the stealth-centric experience you have had so far. Four challenge modes have been added into the game which puts you on the offensive against brand new enemies as you fight your way through 4 randomised stages ultimately leading to a boss fight. The weapons are stock standard but do the job with an axe, double-barrel shotgun, pistol, and rifle. Each one gives a satisfying kick and each one is a viable option too. It may not be infinitely replayable but it provides a good sandbox each run, I do feel like it was a feature that should have been in the game from the start though.

For a seasoned veteran in the horror genre, Maid of Sker is a worthy addition to the collection and is a great entry point to those that aren’t as versed. Even more so with a difficulty option I have never seen before called “Safe Mode” which literally turns off all enemies in the campaign and turns the game into a mystery thriller. The atmosphere stays the same and some collectables are deleted but it will let you freely roam the hotel and piece together the story without the fear of being jumped by a faceless man.

Written by: Shane Fletcher