Claire

[Ross Scott]

Genre: Horror

Year released: 2014

Ross's rating: Unrated

Link to game:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/252830/Claire/

Free to play: No

GaaS: Unknown

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[TheMG42]

Claire takes the "Silent Hill" and "Outlast" style games and adapts it to a 2D, side-scrolling, pixel art style. The game's overall art direction is well done, especially for pixel art. The environments are very dark and horrifying. You are given a flashlight and a lighter to help navigate through the levels, but you can only see a few feet in front of your character, which adds to the unnerving and scary environment the game creates. The devs ability to render hanging bodies, monsters, sinew and other scary or horrifying elements using pixel art is well done.

 

There are no combat mechanics in the game, so your options are either run and/or hide. Monster encounters can effect Claire's health as well as he mental fortitude. If it gets too low, she begins losing health and will eventually die. Certain health items can restore her mental state, as well as resting at a lantern in save rooms.

 

The game also has some puzzle elements that were pretty straight forward; the puzzle revolving around the 5 stages of grief was well done.

 

I personally wasn't a big fan of the tedious, meandering hallways that made up the levels. You do have to explore these hallways to find rooms that contain side quests, health items or mainline story items. You are given a map, but not much else in terms on wayfinding.

 

The game has multiple endings that are contingent on how many other people you're able to help throughout the game.

 

My overall play time was about 2 hours and 45 minutes, which is fine with me. Any longer and the game would've become pretty monotonous.

 

Overall, Claire has some great art direction that helps create a truly scary and horrifying game but the constant meandering and back tracking through rooms and hallways became a bit repetitive and immersion breaking.

 

Overall, I'd give this game a rating of Love/Hate

Edited December 8, 2019 by TheMG42 (see edit history)