Visage Torrent is a horror game developed and published by SadSquare Studio. The game commences with this preliminary cautionary statement: “Visage poses a challenge.” It’s commonplace in this contemporary era of horror gaming to provide some preamble before the initial cinematic sequence unfolds. Openings like this furnish the player with fundamental insights into what they can anticipate before the gameplay commences. Disclosing that the game is challenging is either a method of preparing us for the forthcoming events or an overly insistent assertion of the game’s expectations.
As the game initiates, we are introduced to a somber first-person cinematic scene. A woman weeps nearby. Darkness envelops the periphery. There is a firearm on the table. The player seizes the weapon. The chamber is loaded. We are incapable of preventing them (preventing ourselves). We observe there are individuals in the room with us. They are bound to chairs. They sob, plead, and shift in their seats. The player rises and elevates the firearm.
One facet of horror gaming that frequently remains unspoken is the sensation of enigma. To be unaware of what has occurred, what will transpire, or who someone is. These are established and proven methods of the genre and are crucial to instigating fear in players. Even if we are cognizant of what has occurred, we may not precisely know why. When the actual game begins, we are no closer to comprehending why the events in the cinematic scene unfolded. We are isolated in a residence and must now explore it.
The primary objective of Visage is to delve into the enigma of the dwelling in which the game unfolds and unravel the ominous history that has afflicted its walls and its former occupants. What swiftly becomes evident is the convoluted arrangement of the residence. Although not entirely abstract, there are anomalies within its design that counterbalance the otherwise conventional appearance of a 1980s home. It’s the type of level design that seemingly pursues one objective: the uncanny valley, a sensation that something is recognizable yet concurrently unfamiliar. At times, rooms feel confined, soulless, or even adversarial.
Through the utilization of unpredictable occurrences, triggered frights that unveil segments of each narrative, lengthy corridors leading to claustrophobic and dimly lit chambers, peculiar geometry, and uncertainty regarding what will unfold next at any given juncture, is Visage genuinely frightening? It’s within the realm of acceptability to question whether a game intended to be a horror experience possesses the capability to unsettle an individual. Like many of its forerunners, Visage exhibits a firm grasp on the concept of terror. The timing of horrifying events remains unpredictable. While the abrupt extinguishing of lights or sudden closure of doors is occasionally jolting, these relatively minor occurrences don’t contribute significantly to the fear factor, except by impacting your sanity gauge.
In summary, Visage transcends the role of merely filling a P.T.-shaped void. It serves as tangible evidence that there is still substantial potential in horror gaming. It’s regrettable, however, that the deliberate pace of the game necessitates traversing back and forth to resolve puzzles, resulting in a sluggish rather than methodical experience. The sporadic flickering of lights and the forceful slamming of doors remain integral to the overarching terror of the game but lose some of their terror-inducing impact as the game advances.
Visage PC/System Requirements
- OS: WINDOWS 7, 8, 8.1, 10
- Processor: Intel Core i3
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950
- DirectX: Version 10
- Storage: 10 GB available space
