Uncanny Valley Review

 

Developed by: Cowardly Creations
Published by: Cowardly Creations
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 (also available on Vita, Xbox One, and PC)

Uncanny Valley is 16-bit survival horror action adventure puzzle solving game. At first glance it looks like you’re playing an old NES title but the game feels and plays more like a Resident Evil game. You start the game as a guy named Tom who seems to be having night terrors…or is it something more? Once the nightmare is over Tom sets off on a journey to a new life where he is to become the new night watchman for an abandoned robotics facility. What could go wrong?

Game play for Uncanny Valley is also reminiscent of the old 16-bit games as you can only use the directional pad to move. This is fine since the controls are still very responsive. You start your new job and is given a new uniform with a flashlight. You are told you to patrol the facility and its four floors. The game uses a day/night cycle with a time limit as well: you can only explore for what seems like maybe 5 minutes or so and then are told your shift is over. You can either head back to your room or keep exploring to look for more goodies like video tapes that will tell a bit more of the story. However, you will eventually collapse from exhaustion and enter into another night terror. The puzzles are little tricky as the game does take into account you will have to play the game multiple times to get it right. Even knowing that there are so many things that can trigger different endings it seems.

The graphics are very sharp and perfect for the story the creator is trying to tell. Most of the game is set at night and you have a flashlight to light your way. This really sets the mood as you don’t know what’s in front of you half the time. The sound design fits well with the game to keeps you in the mood at all times, from being chased in your nightmares or the eerie crawl with just your flashlight through the empty facility. There’s many a times where the music will get intense and you’ll be like “What’s coming for me, I have to run for my life!”

Overall I would recommend this as a must buy as there’s so much more this game has to offer than I have seen so far. From start to end I had a good time.