When Horror Games Lack Heart: A Deep Dive Into Lazy Development

[Gh0sT]

I’ve seen this game getting a lot of attention lately, but sadly, nobody seems to notice that it’s actually not that great. Don’t get me wrong, the jumpscares are effective, and it has that "dark" vibe. The slow walking mechanic does make it feel a bit more immersive, especially from an indie dev perspective. However, the game is poorly optimized, and all the assets are bought—nothing was actually created by the devs themselves. They’re using Unreal Engine (probably version 5.4), which is a fantastic engine if you know how to use it. I’ve been using it for 5-6 years now, so I’m familiar with it. The horror logic and much of the gameplay come from an asset called "Horror Engine," which already has all the core mechanics in place. This is fine for a first game if you’re still learning, but the map assets are also purchased, so nothing is really original. In my opinion, this approach hurts the indie game scene and makes it harder for smaller studios to stand out. The game feels like going to McDonald's and ordering four cheeseburgers—they all taste the same and look identical. When you look at all three or four games this studio has released in such a short amount of time, they’re practically the same game with different maps and characters, and it shows a lack of effort and creativity.

[Rongkong Coma]

My thoughts and frustratiob on this game is not the price .... wich is OK for around 50 Minutes of gameplay ... and not the technical issue.
A movie in cinemas is about 16 Euro and 2 hours of time.
So this game is Ok for 7 Euro for 50 Minutes.
The visuals and sounds are amazing in Youtube-Videos wich I saw.
I did not bought the game so far.
It looks really like in real interiors of egypt pyramids.
Not this old school Hammer-Movies ... wich are cult and fun and better than the new ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ The Mummy movies with Fraser.
All is OK and this cool setting of an Egypt game like this is funny and unusual.

What frustrates the most is:

The programmer did not have a single conversation with the community.
I know ... no one can answer on each post in the forums.
But in this forum there is not a single on .... not ONE SINGLE POST HERE ... that is answered.
It is ... we sell a game ... bring out a patch and that was it ... and no conversation to the community ... as long as the honey (money) flows it is OK.
Who cares about the customer!?

This is how Cash-Grab works.

Each Unreal Engine game works with controller.
I have Handicap with mouse games in my later age.
So Controller-Gameplay is a blessing for me.
My question about controller gameplay ... and if it is possible in the future ... is unanswered.
No Yes and no No and no Maybe .... NOTHING.

I never had this massive Community-Negation from a programmer before.
Also I am very frustrated about how such a good setting and Idea like this in egypt setting game is created and left alone.
I will wait for a real sale I guess.

[goopah]

I have no problems with the use of purchased assets unless the game is over $20. Not everyone is an artist or 3D modeler. Sure, you could hire those people, but then you're looking at a game that costs over $20.

For 7 bucks, it's all about what you do with those purchased assets. If the experience is good, it's 7 bucks well spent. I haven't bought the game yet. Just looking through the comments for anything that would keep me from buying.