To borrow a tired Xitterism: The Venn diagram between ‘games that have reference points outside of other games’ and ‘games I’m likely to get excited about’ is a circle. For the benefit of people who’ve discovered the one weird trick that therapists hate and improved their mental health tenfold by deleting the bad place, here’s an incredibly cool thread I stumbled upon this morning where indie developers share non-game influences on their projects.
In recent years, the unstoppable craving for an old-school survival horror revival has been growing within me. It seems I’m not the only one feeling that way, as various indie developers expanded on some of my favorite aspects of the genre, with excellent games like developers Jasper Byrne’s Lone Survivor and rose-engine’s Signalis. Now Crow Country joins the list by offering a true-to-form classic survival horror adventure that draws inspiration from and pays tribute to PS1-era titles, all while doing its own original thing.
The game takes players back to 1990 Atlanta, Georgia, and it starts when protagonist Mara Forest breaks into the eponymous Crow Country abandoned theme park. Her job is to find the owner Edward Crow, due to his daughter filing a missing persons report. As Mara delves deeper into the creepy locale, she discovers a plethora of terrible monsters roaming the park, putting anyone that approaches the place in danger. Determined to discover the secret hiding behind these creatures and Edward’s disappearance, she pushes forward. Throughout the game, she meets a variety of characters that found themselves drawn to the place. While their reasons for being there differ, their motivations are the same: investigating the monsters that roam the park and the cause and consequences of their appearance.
Image via SFB Games
I really enjoyed the story in Crow Country. The central mystery is engaging and unique, and it keeps things simple and easy to follow. The environmental storytelling is also very effective, with the park having plenty of files that go into the history and creation of the place. One of the things I appreciated the most about the story is how the narrative is confident enough to not overexplain how and why everything happens, leaving just enough unanswered and ambiguous. After all, desperately trying to seek answers for things we don’t understand can lead to unforeseen consequences.
The setting of a theme park is ideal for a horror game, and I thought that Crow Country effectively uses this concept to its full potential. Using a creepy theme park as the setting for a horror game allows the layout to feel like the Spencer Mansion in the original Resident Evil without the puzzles feeling out of place. Furthermore, Crow Country expands on the concept of a location like the Lakeside Amusement Park in Silent Hill 3, showing different flavors of horror with the contrast between the run-down public facing areas and the fenced-off staff rooms and corridors. While its main fairytale area is supposed to be charming, the decay and abandonment has rendered it eerie and unwelcoming. Its tacky haunted mansion-style zone wouldn’t really scare anyone under normal circumstances, but given the situation I felt like I was being effectively gaslit into doubting whether what was threatening me was a part of the fictional spectacle or if I was truly in danger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFFvZgDsUOI
The gameplay loop in Crow Country will be very familiar to those that have played any early Silent Hill and Resident Evil entries. The park is divided in different sized “rooms” and areas, similar to Resident Evil, while the inventory system veers closer to Silent Hill. Mara carries all her weapons and items all the time, reducing frustration and making puzzles more about the experience than backtracking to safe rooms. The game uses a limited camera angle that players can freely rotate. Not being able to see clearly made the game pretty frightening in my experience. This coupled with some weird things that start happen as the plot moves forward, I found myself always on edge. Even after I cleared up a room full of enemies, I felt like I couldn’t trust myself.
As with all PS1 survival horror games, combat is de-emphasized in Crow Country. Aiming weapons is slow and locks you in place, while shooting enemies from up close deals more damage but puts you at risk of being hit. Mara starts with a pistol and can find a shotgun, a magnum, and a flamethrower, as well as being able to use grenades to deal with various enemies at once. While the guns only offer different damage values, I really enjoyed the flamethrower as an AoE weapon, as well as how the pistol also serves as a tool for solving some puzzles or interacting with boxes and bottles, creating an interesting item economy.
Image via SFB GamesImage via SFB GamesImage via SFB GamesImage via SFB Games
The visual direction for Crow Country is one of the strongest suits of the game. It captures that low-fi feel that games like the original Resident Evil had, while keeping things modern and crisp. Mara is very well animated, and the chunky 3D character models mesh very well with the environments. The enemies are extremely freaky looking and uncanny. Finding a new unspeakable horror in Crow Country is always awfully refreshing. In fact, I would often leave rooms as fast as possible when finding new enemies to try and gather myself before counting my bullets and healing items, deciding if I wanted to tackle whatever I just saw. (Often opting to just bail.) The soundtrack of the game was composed by Ockeroid, and it is equally as fantastic as the visuals. One of the reasons I was so tense while playing is thanks to the oppressive and chilling soundtrack, which also gets a chance to be playful and breathe at times.
It took me approximately 6-7 hours to beat the game. And, even though it felt like the right length, I still wanted to spend more time in the park. After completing it, I spent a few hours trying to find as many secrets as I could and completing some of the optional content that unlocks after seeing the ending. The only blemish I found in an otherwise spotless experience was being unable to unlock one of the weapon upgrades available in the game after completing the required challenge. Fortunately, this is something that a patch would easily fix.
Crow Country is one of those games that answer all of my needs for an old-school survival horror title. The game isn’t shy about its inspirations and it is a clear homage to PS1 survival horror games. While it is a somewhat short experience, Crow Country shows that sometimes less is more. And I want more of this.
Crow Country comes out on May 10, 2024 for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.
Tangle Tower was a weird and cute point and click murder mystery set in a big weird tower full of colourful characters, so what better way for the devs to fill time before the sequel comes out than by making a creepy retro survival horror set in a regional theme park? Crow Country is like if Resident Evil was made out of Duplo: more chunky, less threatening, and easier than playing with a fully motorised K'Nex ferris wheel, but darn it, it's still a good time.
It’s no stretch to say that the original PlayStation is where the survival horror genre came into its own. Many players in the late 90s spent nights huddled in front of a CRT television, sweaty palms grasping a DualShock as their heart raced, dreading what might lurk in the next room. That nostalgic feeling is what small independent developer SFB Games aims to recreate with their original PlayStation-inspired horror adventure, Crow Country.
“Crow Country is a classic style survival horror, very much inspired by games from the PlayStation One era, which is our favorite or my favorite era of gaming,” says Adam Vian, the creative director, lead developer, and designer.
Closed for the season(s)
It’s 1990, and the Crow Country amusement park just outside Atlanta abruptly shuttered two years ago. The former owner, Edward Crow, has been missing all that time. Special agent Mara Forest visits the abandoned park to solve this mystery.
I asked Adam about the inspirations behind the game’s setting. “I’m a big urban exploring fan; I watch a lot of it online,” he says. “They’ve been to all kinds of amazing places, slightly beautiful, sad places that are empty but have left behind stories. It’s so fascinating. Crow Country is about the yearning to look behind the scenes at a theme park. Get off the rides and look behind the animatronics. Go in staff-only doors and look at their machines, the control panels, and all the stuff you’re not normally supposed to see in this amazing network of tunnels. And it’s quite creepy and dark because they’re not designed to be seen by the public. But they’re amazing.”
Everything old is new again
So, what about the original PlayStation era of survival horror inspired Adam to make a game in that vein?
“I think it’s mostly about how sophisticated the graphics were,” he says. “It was complex enough to show human characters but not yet photorealistic. Once you go too far past that generation, you’re too close to photorealism for your imagination to need to do any work. Some things aren’t quite clear, you can use more stylization. And it’s more engaging for that reason. For horror, it’s all about leaving that gap of ‘I’m not quite sure what I’m looking at.’ And it’s scarier than if I was looking at a high-resolution image.”
Modern conveniences
SFB Games had to weigh whether modern gaming conveniences should be eschewed to get that retro feel down just right.
“I would say the big one we have avoided is auto-saving checkpoints,” says Adam. “Almost everything you play now will auto-save and give you checkpoints. One of my favorite traditions in horror games is the save room. You can rest, reflect, and calm down for a moment while you save your game. The save room loses its power if you’re not threatened with losing progress. So you have to respect that old school system.”
“We’ve got both traditional and modern controls simultaneously, so you can use the D-pad for tank and the analog stick for modern. When I play, I will occasionally find myself touching the D-pad to rotate Mara a little bit or to make her move back a little bit — two things that you can’t necessarily do with modern controls. So, if you’re choosing to play tank, only you are making it slightly hard on yourself, and that’s fine. Maybe that’s the challenge you want.”
Regarding challenges, I asked what sort of puzzles players can look forward to solving because one of the hallmarks of classic survival horror is (sometimes very out-of-place) puzzles. “I have tried quite a bit to tell a story with the world and the details, so a lot of it will line up with relevant story details. I also wanted variety so every puzzle would be different. You’ve got a puzzle in the arcade where you play the arcade games, but the actual logic of why you need to play them is not so realistic. I also wanted some puzzles that were part of the horror, so a couple of the puzzles in Crow Country might make you uncomfortable and go, ‘This is horrible,’ or ‘I don’t want to touch that thing. I don’t wanna go near it.’”
Surprises all around
What else in the game are the developers excited for the players to experience? For Adam, it’s the soundscape.
“The soundtrack was composed by Ockeroid, who created the most beautiful [original PlayStation]-esque soundtrack. It’s beautiful, sometimes very horrible, and kind of moving and dark sometimes. There are also various upgrades, secret ammo, optional guns, and things you’d expect to see in a game like this. There’s a secret way to increase your running speed. There’s a secret way to make your med kits heal you more. But they’re quite hidden, so you’ve got to look hard for them.”
“Even if you’re not a diehard horror fan, you should check it out,” says Tom. “You could approach it in exploration mode, turning it into a spooky, tense puzzle game adventure. With no risk, just a thick, spooky atmosphere around you. I think you’ll find something to enjoy here.”
Players can look forward to experiencing the horror when Crow Country launches on PS5 & PS4 on May 9.
It’s no stretch to say that the original PlayStation is where the survival horror genre came into its own. Many players in the late 90s spent nights huddled in front of a CRT television, sweaty palms grasping a DualShock as their heart raced, dreading what might lurk in the next room. That nostalgic feeling is what small independent developer SFB Games aims to recreate with their original PlayStation-inspired horror adventure, Crow Country.
“Crow Country is a classic style survival horror, very much inspired by games from the PlayStation One era, which is our favorite or my favorite era of gaming,” says Adam Vian, the creative director, lead developer, and designer.
Closed for the season(s)
It’s 1990, and the Crow Country amusement park just outside Atlanta abruptly shuttered two years ago. The former owner, Edward Crow, has been missing all that time. Special agent Mara Forest visits the abandoned park to solve this mystery.
I asked Adam about the inspirations behind the game’s setting. “I’m a big urban exploring fan; I watch a lot of it online,” he says. “They’ve been to all kinds of amazing places, slightly beautiful, sad places that are empty but have left behind stories. It’s so fascinating. Crow Country is about the yearning to look behind the scenes at a theme park. Get off the rides and look behind the animatronics. Go in staff-only doors and look at their machines, the control panels, and all the stuff you’re not normally supposed to see in this amazing network of tunnels. And it’s quite creepy and dark because they’re not designed to be seen by the public. But they’re amazing.”
Everything old is new again
So, what about the original PlayStation era of survival horror inspired Adam to make a game in that vein?
“I think it’s mostly about how sophisticated the graphics were,” he says. “It was complex enough to show human characters but not yet photorealistic. Once you go too far past that generation, you’re too close to photorealism for your imagination to need to do any work. Some things aren’t quite clear, you can use more stylization. And it’s more engaging for that reason. For horror, it’s all about leaving that gap of ‘I’m not quite sure what I’m looking at.’ And it’s scarier than if I was looking at a high-resolution image.”
Modern conveniences
SFB Games had to weigh whether modern gaming conveniences should be eschewed to get that retro feel down just right.
“I would say the big one we have avoided is auto-saving checkpoints,” says Adam. “Almost everything you play now will auto-save and give you checkpoints. One of my favorite traditions in horror games is the save room. You can rest, reflect, and calm down for a moment while you save your game. The save room loses its power if you’re not threatened with losing progress. So you have to respect that old school system.”
“We’ve got both traditional and modern controls simultaneously, so you can use the D-pad for tank and the analog stick for modern. When I play, I will occasionally find myself touching the D-pad to rotate Mara a little bit or to make her move back a little bit — two things that you can’t necessarily do with modern controls. So, if you’re choosing to play tank, only you are making it slightly hard on yourself, and that’s fine. Maybe that’s the challenge you want.”
Regarding challenges, I asked what sort of puzzles players can look forward to solving because one of the hallmarks of classic survival horror is (sometimes very out-of-place) puzzles. “I have tried quite a bit to tell a story with the world and the details, so a lot of it will line up with relevant story details. I also wanted variety so every puzzle would be different. You’ve got a puzzle in the arcade where you play the arcade games, but the actual logic of why you need to play them is not so realistic. I also wanted some puzzles that were part of the horror, so a couple of the puzzles in Crow Country might make you uncomfortable and go, ‘This is horrible,’ or ‘I don’t want to touch that thing. I don’t wanna go near it.’”
Surprises all around
What else in the game are the developers excited for the players to experience? For Adam, it’s the soundscape.
“The soundtrack was composed by Ockeroid, who created the most beautiful [original PlayStation]-esque soundtrack. It’s beautiful, sometimes very horrible, and kind of moving and dark sometimes. There are also various upgrades, secret ammo, optional guns, and things you’d expect to see in a game like this. There’s a secret way to increase your running speed. There’s a secret way to make your med kits heal you more. But they’re quite hidden, so you’ve got to look hard for them.”
“Even if you’re not a diehard horror fan, you should check it out,” says Tom. “You could approach it in exploration mode, turning it into a spooky, tense puzzle game adventure. With no risk, just a thick, spooky atmosphere around you. I think you’ll find something to enjoy here.”
Players can look forward to experiencing the horror when Crow Country launches on PS5 & PS4 on May 9.
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