Song of Horror takes some getting used to, and it has some pains along the way, but those who stick through will find themselves enthralled by this tension filled fright fest.

By Scuttle Gamez

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The Game:

Song of Horror is an episodic anthology of horror stories involving nightmares, darkness, and otherworldly terrors haunting a wide and diverse cast of characters to play as.

Episode One sees you take on the role of Daniel, a recovering alcoholic and divorcee who stumbles into a situation far beyond his mortal ken. No spoilers, but Daniel quickly becomes unplayable, and four new characters can take the stage.

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Speaking of characters, they’re one of the main gimmicks of this game. They can die. And if they do, they’re out for good. You drop all their items on the ground, all the progress you’ve made is saved, and a new character can come out and pick up where your fallen protagonist left off. But should they all die, you’re sunk and will need to restart the entire episode.

The game controls best on a controller, not mouse and keyboard. each character has a light, which is unlimited and can be directed with the right thumb-stick, while walking is controlled by the left.

You can run, there are various locations to hide in when needed, and players will need to go it slow and keep a keen ear for anything spooky or dangerous as one slip up will cost you your life.

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Besides all of that, the game is focused on collecting items of importance around a level, combining them if needed, and using them where they are needed. For example, early on in the level you come across a cold fireplace. If you find some wood, accelerator, and matches you can relight it though, which you’ll need to do for the story.

The Mixed:

I was frustrated starting out in Song of Horror. The controls are not very smooth, and you’ll probably fight with them a bit here and there. Also, due to the unforgiving nature of the game, you might even end up losing a character due to not understanding or being able to pull off a challenge.

Losing characters bothered me too, a lot. I like that there are multiple narratives to follow and how each reacts differently to what is going on. But, it really sucks to become attached to a character to lose them in the last moment due to pure chance. Seriously, my deaths were never epic or due to user error. Every time I lost someone it was something that was mostly unforeseeable.

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The Bad:

Anything I could say here would be nitpicking. So, I’ll just move right on to the verdict!

The Verdict:

Song of Horror is at times a frustrating experience, but a worthwhile one. It’s a slow and tension filled horror title in a landscape of fast action and jump scares. I ended my time with Episode One looking forward to the next, though only after a break and cool down period to ease the tension in my neck.

Song of Horror released Today, October 31st, on Steam with its first and second episodes up for play.