Episodic format requires, it is impossible to comment on the entire adventure, which will not be completed until next March. But two out of five episodes are still available on this launch day, which already gives us a good idea of the game. The red thread seems to be a mysterious and dangerous music box, while each episode seems destined to make us visit a different place. The first leads us to search a mansion, while the second uses an antique store as the main setting. The scenario seems to skillfully link the different places and characters, the antique dealer being, for example, the person who sent the music box to the owner of the mansion. But before discovering all this, the game offers us a little prelude as a tutorial. We start by choosing one of three difficulty modes, cleverly named MR James, Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft, in reference to the authors who clearly inspired the developers. Then comes a message advising us to play with the controller and the helmet, in order to reinforce the immersion... and the effectiveness of the jumpscares.The distressing atmosphere at will, the Presence with its unpredictable behavior and the precisely dosed soundtrack ensure regular freaks and jumps.
The prologue places us in the shoes of Daniel Noyer, an employee of the publishing house Wake Publishing charged by his superior to go and hear from Sebastian P. Husher, a successful author who has not given any sign of life for a few years. days. Daniel therefore goes to the Husher mansion, searches the different rooms and ends up discovering a strange door surrounded by disturbing black marks. He enters and the door closes behind him... before purely and simply disappearing from the wall that supported it a few moments before. So here we are now with two missing on our hands, and the adventure can finally really begin. The player must then choose among four characters which he prefers to embody. Whether it's Sophie, Daniel's ex-wife, Alexander, the writer's servant, Etienne, Daniel's supervisor, or Alina, who works for the security company installed an alarm at the mansion, all these would-be heroes have a good reason to visit the mansion.ALONE IN THE DARK
When you arrive in the house, you inevitably think of Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil. Not only because of the disturbing building, but also because of the camera system used. As a tribute to the 90s, Song of Horror essentially offers us fixed shots, in which we can more or less freely move our character. This principle is clearly dated and, here as elsewhere, it goes hand in hand with fairly stiff movements and a little frustration due to the impossibility of controlling the virtual camera. Fortunately, we get used to it (again) quickly, and this system allows developers to keep full control over the staging. In addition, the game correctly manages the changes of scenes, and therefore of angles, the character having no tendency to turn around without being desired (hello Heavy Rain...) In a classic way, the stick left allows you to move the hero, while the right stick is used to direct your gaze. The interactive zones are indicated by small, very discreet white diamonds, which never ruin the atmosphere and the immersion.
Each character has a specific light source (candle, lighter, flashlight...) but always inexhaustible. So don't hesitate to leave it on all the time, the play of light and shadow being very well done. In general, the graphics are of very good quality. Whether it's the extremely detailed decorations, the judiciously chosen colors or the special effects, there is nothing to complain about. Only the frozen character of the faces of the heroes swears a little in 2019. Crucial point for a horror game: the soundtrack turns out to be perfectly up to par. Lugubrious music, creaks, murmurs, tears, and other disturbing cries are perfectly dosed. Despite its status as a "little independent game", Song of Horror even allows itself some welcome refinements, such as the management of physics on fabrics when closely observing an object in the inventory.
A NOT VERY REASSURING PRESENCE...
As in a traditional adventure game, you will indeed have to collect objects, combine them, and use them in certain places in order to unlock different paths and situations. We are also entitled to some puzzles typical of the genre, which will ask you to heat up a few neurons to restore this or that mechanism. But make no mistake, the heart of the gameplay remains that of a survival horror. The survival aspect is also particularly well rendered since unlike other titles of the genre, there is no question of pulling out a gun to shoot creatures that are ultimately very deadly. The threat, called "the Presence", is much more pernicious here. It is signaled by the appearance of threatening black swirls and can take many forms. And your goal is to avoid it as much as possible. In particular, you will have to listen at the doors before entering certain rooms, and refrain from turning the handle if you pick up strange noises. Sometimes a QTE will ask you to press a key frantically to push back a door through which the Presence is trying to enter. Often, you will have to hide under a table or in a cupboard to let her pass, then regain your composure by pressing the triggers in time with your heartbeat. The game naturally offers us a small dose of jumpscares, but some are very subtle. You will thus be able to see for a moment a ghostly silhouette behind you, or a emaciated hand discreetly closing a door in your path.The real "game over" therefore only occurs if one fails with all the characters. You then have to start all over again, but in the end it's not too painful since you already know where to go and what to do, which avoids wasting too much time.
The staging is successful, and that's also down to the unscripted nature of the Presence, which reacts to your actions and can therefore be anywhere at any time. The most interesting aspect of the game comes from the permanent death system. If your hero gets caught by the Presence, you will never see him again and will have to send another of the characters on his trail. He can then recover the inventory that has fallen to the ground and resume the investigation. We then take advantage of a new look at the different interactive zones. For example, Alexander will perfectly identify a book written in Russian or suitcases belonging to him, whereas these elements left Sophie rather cautious before. The real "game over" therefore only occurs if one fails with all the characters. You then have to start all over again, but in the end it's not too painful since you already know where to go and what to do, which avoids wasting too much time. This system is therefore strict but fair, and it has the merit of screenplay consistency. The developers promise us in the long term the presence of sixteen different characters, spread over the different episodes. And it is finally this format which constitutes the main defect of the game for the moment, since one cannot be certain of the quality of the shutters to come.
