This is the first game by TGA Company who have been lucky enough to get the game through the Steam Greenlight process. You Deserve is a first person horror game where you play as Amy Cooper, a teenager who's found herself stuck and lost within an unknown world.
After watching the trailer for this game, the Blast Process team were very excited to play thisas we are big fans of the horror genre. We went into this game knowing nothing about it bar what we had seen in the trailer, and this alone had made us excited to try out something new.
Have you ever felt lost? Have you ever been to sleep and not known if you've woke up? The game begins by setting an air of mystery. Waking up, standing above a chair with rope on the floors leads me to think I was previously tied there. The character believes they are asleep, but everything feels so real.
The tutorial sections are nicely displayed on the walls in game as you go past something that you might need to know.
There is light atmospheric noise in the background, but the lack of music gives the game an eerie feel. This is nice to see as often a sound track can detract from the horror. The lack of music makes this feel all the more real.
From the start there are spooky moments such as a red handprint mysteriously appearing on a painting.
This starts as a puzzle game with needing to find hidden objects to proceed to the next area. The developers have paced the game well with not too much backtracking involved.
Early into the game we are given evidence of an unhappy child who has been bullied at school in the form of letters from parents to the headmasters, and psychological reports. This immediately suggests that it may have been the player that was doing the bullying. This is a bold move as this is a subject not often discussed within games.
The save points within the game are good. A visual indicator used for showing the save areas is nicely done in an unobtrusive way. The game saves automatically without the need for interaction bar walking through the display of shimmering particles.
It isn't long into the game play before the first spooky happening occurs. You wouldn't think that a loan teddy sitting on the floor would be described as creepy, but this game certainly makes it appear as such.
Many weird things happen at an early stage in the game. It draws you in and makes you want to find out more and keep playing.
The animations and textures are very good and make great use of the unity engine. The game makes you aware that you are not alone without fully showing you what or who is sharing the space in which you are exploring.
The puzzles are interesting without being too obscure. Unexpected jump scares are well timed, enough to keep you interested but not too much to make them stale.
The speed the character moves has a nice suspenseful walk, however, can run when needed with no penalty, such as a stamina bar, when you want to quickly investigate branching paths.
The lighting is very well done with atmospheric shadows being cast around the environment.
The first puzzle I experienced some difficulty with involved trying to move boxes in a slowly flooding room. Unfortunately the game didn't give a clear indication about what to do here, however, with some careful investigation of the room we managed to find the required item and progressed with the game after a mere 3 deaths!
Each new location that is entered continues to have a creepy feel. From early in the game the locations are varied with the same level of detail being given to each.
This game actually gave me goose-pimples!
As we continue we see more puzzles that make you think. This pairs well with the scary moments to give a nice balance to the game.
Moving from the school environment we next found ourselves outside. The character is allowed access to move around a vast area which is unlike many games which tie you in to moving a specific route. Walking down dark paths at night is certain to make you jump though!
The scariness of the game certainly intensifies as the game progresses.
The level design is great, everything within a level leading back to each other to close the gaps.
To sum up the game; great graphics, a good level of challenge mixed with free exploration of a new environment, atmospheric sound design all leading to a captivating first offering from TGA Company.
You Deserve is out now on Steam for £5.94 on offer until August 26th, be sure to check it out!
