Introduction
When deciding which horror game should launch my first “Let’s Play” video, alongside a gaming review, the choices were overwhelming. Type in “Best Horror Games” or “List of Scariest Games” into any web browser and the results kicked back will encompass many pages worth of titles. So what exactly was my criteria for selection? Did I research other horror game review articles until I found the highest rated one? Did I watch endless horror game playthroughs until I stumbled across one that seemed truly terrifying? That all seemed a bit too complicated, so instead, I pulled up current sales and picked the most discounted one I could find. The final result was Don’t Be Afraid, normally $10, but costing me only a couple bucks on sale.
Though I ended up playing on the Nintendo Switch, it is also available via Steam, Play Station, and Xbox. As of writing this, there is a DLC available for free on Steam called The First Toy. Self-labeled as an “adventure horror” game, it could be considered “stealth horror”, played in first person and it does contain a few simple puzzles. Hydra, a gaming company based in Poland, provides this summary of their game:
“Don’t Be Afraid is an adventure horror game that allows you to personate a boy, kidnapped by a psychopath. You have to survive, escape and find out how you were kidnapped. Exploring the gigantic, mysterious house of your torturer, you will soon reveal many secrets hidden inside it’s walls…”
Spoilers are sure to follow within the rest of this article, so consider this to be fair warning if you continue reading. Without further ado, let’s examine both the horror and gameplay elements of the game that will lead up to our ultimate Scare Me Please rating.
Horror Elements
As this is the first article in our game review series, I’ll briefly list the six elements of horror being examined during gameplay: disempowerment, isolation, tension, uncertainty, lingering fear, and the protagonist.
By taking on the roll of a young kid that’s just woken up in a locked, dungeon-like room with the memory that a deranged man kidnapped and put you there is an amazing start to the game. Immediately, you feel helpless as you have no idea where you are, and being the size of a child, seem very small in the dark environment you’re thrust into. The mechanics of the game provide no option of fighting enemies, so you’re aware quite early on that you must use stealth and quick thinking to escape whatever challenges arise. Combine this with the extinguishable candles that you use to make your way around in the dark and the unease, especially within the first area of the game, reaches such a high level that I actually had to pause a few times to remind myself it was only a game.
The feeling of disempowerment was excellently done, until you notice your surroundings. There are literally weapons scattered everywhere. Axes, knives, tools… if there’s something small and sharp that could be used for protection, it was in the game somewhere. By the third occurrence I actually wrote in my notes, “Why are there so many weapons/tools laying around… just pick one up dammit!”. This availability of protection, whether you’re playing as kid or not, took away a lot of the fear element for me as it just wasn’t realistic.
No other friendly NPC is encountered in the game, nor does the setting betray any glimpse into the world outside of the dungeon that you, as the main character, find yourself in. Along the way you discover multiple tapes left behind from another victim who wants to help you escape. This interaction takes away the feeling of isolation and uncertainty the game had initially done an excellent job of building. Though parts of the later game did illicit quite a few jumps and screams from me, I’ll say there’s no other part of the game that scared me quite as badly as the first 30 minutes did. A lot of this is due to not quite seeing the “monsters” yet (it made my imagination go into overtime with possibilities), though I will have to say that some of the stealth levels, especially the final clown one, do a great job of creating anxiety while you navigate around the obstacles.
Gameplay Elements
Controls were straightforward, if not a bit tedious, though this may be attributed to the difficulty of bringing a computer game to a console. Thankfully the game allows you to fully adjust the x and y axis, making the find/click portion a bit easier, though still not as smooth as using a mouse would be. I also was not a fan of only having an auto-save feature; this is fine to have, but please include a normal save option as well. Because of this, I ended up having to redo quite a bit of the game as I wasn’t always able to play through to a save screen.
Though the setting is a bit contradictory (at one point the game implies you’re in a basement, then later it seems to be an abandoned school) it ultimately does an excellent job of setting the mood. Again, I can’t speak for the computer version of the game, but the console version was hit or miss in regards to graphics. For example, some of the corpses/mannequins were so incredibly detailed, I had to close my eyes as I sprinted past them, sure they’d come to life specifically to chase me. Other times, the detail was so poor, they almost appeared blurry; I also noticed this for various textures, wood in particular.
Inconsistency prevailed within the quality of the audio as well; some sections were extremely realistic, while other sections of audio were so poor you could hear the soundtrack on loop. This was particularly evident during one of the stealth sections and was a major source of frustration for me as it lost all scare value to be replaced with irritation instead. To summarize the problem, you need to get past a hostile character while avoiding detection. There are multiple sections like this in the game (four to be exact), but the one with “Lydia” was designed quite poorly. Her footsteps never faded nor did her voice change volume to indicate when you could move, so you’re just stuck waiting for what seems like an eternity to creep along this section. This problem didn’t seem to be evident with any of the other stealth sections, only hers. It was also within this section she says approximately two lines that I could hear “click” every time it replayed itself.
Though there was minimal character development (having played through the game a few times now, I still find no attachment/interest in any of the characters), I will say the plot was unique in that you’re playing as a helpless kid versus the typical adult. There was only one main inconsistency to the storyline; it is reiterated multiple time throughout the game that the antagonist only targets children, yet during gameplay you see countless adult corpses throughout each level. Why were there so many? How long has he been at this? Were they all originally kids that were kidnapped? Did the psychopath kill them all once they reached a certain age? None of this is explained, making it more of a “gore for the sake of gore” type of attribute.
The only other section that struck me as odd was the “Before Kidnapping” scenes. Not only is the dialogue unbelievable (really, your mom is gonna tell you to eat candy and then go to bed?), but I feel as though it adds nothing to the story. You get kidnapped trying to go to a friend’s house, but why? Some of the story context alludes to him already knowing you (in fact, he kills your parents during one ending) and yet it seems as though you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite this, I did replay the game twice trying to get different endings (there are three) and this was actually fun to do as there are many choices throughout gameplay that lead to a different ending or accomplishment.
Conclusion
Ultimately, I don’t regret buying or playing through Don’t Be Afraid. They really did an excellent job with the various puzzles you had to solve, especially the ones that require you to read the notes lying around or pay attention to the environment in order to progress. I also cannot praise their introductory/tutorial level highly enough; the use of tutorial pictures on the walls were unique and helped the story progress without the distraction of a full-blown tutorial. That whole opening scene caused my heart rate to spike more than the rest of the game combined (except maybe the clown chase level… I did scream a lot during that part). If I could summarize the problem areas of the game in one word, it would be “inconstistency”. If the same effort were put into all of the game it would be absolutely amazing and as it is, I look forward to what other games Hydra adds to the horror genre.
Final Scare Me Please score: Just pick up a damn weapon, out of 100
Scare Me Please 