Visage – Early Access REVIEW

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As of right now, in Early Access, Visage has the first (of four) chapters available. The game leans more towards the psychological horror. There are almost no jump scares, but the ones that are present are well executed and well built up. The atmosphere is heavy and creepy, and playing this game in the dark with headphones was a really creepy experience, I haven’t felt such anxiety playing a horror game in a very long time.

The story is hit or miss, honestly, there’s nothing new here, at least in the chapter that is up for playing. The story is very cliché and predictable. There is no note reading or anything of the sort, the story is told through the environment and by some cutscenes.

I do not know if the other chapters will all build up on this story and maybe turn it into something more original and enjoyable, but I do hope so. I always say the main thing for me in horror games is the story, but the atmosphere, scenery, and ambiance are so well executed, that honestly, I give it a pass in this case. Just hoping I will be happier with the full game’s story.

There are not many puzzles, most of that is the typical go here and trigger this scene so that you can go there and trigger that scene, rinse and repeat. Some of the “go there” parts can be puzzle-y, but never in a frustrating way, and sometimes in very interesting (and creepy) ways.

There is also no combat in the game,

 Honestly, I don’t think it needs it anyway.

The visuals are top notch. Some of them are so realistic, I could take a screenshot and show it to someone and probably might be able to trick them into believing it was an actual photo. Seriously impressed.

Audio is amazing as well, except for an odd number of times where the ambience music has a weird loop gap (fade out, fade back in). It’s distracting since the music is trying to create tension. In the beginning I had some times where I thought “oh, ok, the danger is gone”, just to have the music fade back in, “oh, nevermind”. Sound effects are really good, and the noises that populate the otherwise silent house are just spine tingling. A lot of real good attention to detail went into making all the ambient noises as realistic as possible, and I really appreciate that.

Controls are, honestly, a bit weird. It took me a little while to get used to them. Key bindings are weird and don’t make a lot of sense sometimes, and I didn’t find any way to remap the keys, so it would be nice to have that option in the final game.

Very, very looking forward to being able to play the full game. Get it now if you are a fan of Silent Hill, P.T. and House of Leaves.

P.S.: Nice easter eggs.

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