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0 Escape From Umbra is the newest horror game on my list. Developed by the team WildSphere, we step into a town covered in darkness, where a little girl named Michelle must uncover what is going on. And if she can return home. The game is out now on Steam for £8.49.
Look for the light in the darkness.
Gameplay
We play a young girl named Michelle who wakes up in her room and after a very brief moment of happiness is transported to a darker world. Where she is now being hunted by a being named Umbra, why, who knows. Escape From Umbra will have you hiding away from Umbra and her minions while exploring a medium-sized town. With each holding puzzle for you to solve and threats to evade. Your only defence is a flashlight that is used to deter hunters, and aid in removing Umbra’s dark essence from items/door-ways. Using the flash function on the torch will drain the battery and some monsters might need to be flashed twice. So use it sparingly if needed. Luckily the torch does not require any batteries.
Another useful item in our disposal is the book, which provides us with a lot of hints you will need. Although some are more used later in the game. There will be additional pages that you will come to find in certain areas. I’m grateful that Escape From Umbra high-lights the locations that you can do stuff in on the map. And the actual map size isn’t too small either, but if you do get lost then finding a sleeping cat usually shows you the way.
Graphics & Audio
Escape from Umbra definitely seemed like it tried. I wouldn’t say it looks terrible; you can see with the way they designed the environments that they put some effort into what they were doing. It’s a small thing but I also did enjoy the art of the book and the font in the notes/menus. Sadly the enemy designs left something to be desired, even with Umbra herself. They felt a bit generic and lacklustre. I don’t know what I expected from the whole ‘shadow enemy’ thing but the black shadow body and red eyes felt bland and like I’d seen it before.
Where it truly shines is its ambience/music. I like the ambience as you explore the town and buildings, though there were some unnecessary ‘booms’. They sounded like an audio indicator for an enemy spotting you, but it was just part of the ambience. The ending song was really beautiful, that was my favourite part of all the audio in the game.
Longevity
Beating Escape From Umbra took me close to 3 hours of game time. Which isn’t too bad, since some of the puzzle required a little more brain power than I am used to. The game offers 28 achievements and also two different endings, which sadly I obtained the bad one. If you follow most of the map then majority of these will come naturally. I think the only one I missed was something to actually do with the cats.
Final Thoughts
The game offers some fun puzzle with more of a spooky vibe, rather than an overall horror. As most of the jump scares come from failing tasks. Escape From Umbra is extremely easy when it comes to avoiding minions or even umbra herself. And if you managed to use the lanterns every time you passed one, then you don’t have to worry about loosing progress. I’d give the game a solid Thumb Culture Silver Award. If you want a nice little game to stimulate your brain then Escape From Umbra isn’t a bad shout.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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