| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 4 | 8.50 |
| Overall | 8.50 |
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In this day and age having something that truly surprises the masses is rare. This is especially true with gaming where we know months to years in advance when a game is coming. Nearly every game convention has been covered, the mystery of games of old is mostly gone. Out of nowhere this past Tuesday during the Sony game conference they showed a short trailer of a scary playable demo for a new game from a new studio called P.T. They said it was playable now on the PS Store, that was all that was said. So like many others I decided to try it out, I love horror games so why not. What we got is one of the most magical gaming experiences of the year and absolutely one of the scariest. In case you don't know yet, it turns out that P.T. was a playable teaser for a brand new Silent Hill game developed by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro. This is a dream match up and is exactly what Silent Hill needs. It is crazy that Kojima was able to release a playable teaser and no one knew what it was. There were no leaks, it was something the community had to work together to figure out to see the final reveal of what game you were playing. This is a brilliant marketing tactic, but most importantly the actual teaser is amazing on its own right. P.T. is a first person horror adventure game (demo...thing?) which takes place entirely in a two hallways and one bathroom. At the end of the hall is a small basement with a door that loops you back to the start of the hallway. You repeat this over and over again. That is it. Within this TINY game space what Kojima and company are able to do is nothing short of brilliant. The story is set up with a simple radio broadcast, pictures are set around the house showing a happy couple. Beer bottles litter the floor, someone was getting drunk. There is a locked door that you pass by first. You loop, this time there is something in that locked door, it starts banging. Sound is used to incredible effect, if you have a great headset use it as the sound experience is as important as the visuals. You go deeper and you see a picture on the floor, written on it is R3, giving you a hint at the only real action you can perform, looking at objects. This is all done naturally through the gameplay, there are no prompts, no tutorials, simple clues that give you hints on what to do. The deeper you go the more terrifying the experience becomes. It feels like the most demented haunted house you have ever experienced. Thinking this was a tech demo of sorts I figured it would be over in 20 minutes and there would be no real gameplay, holy crap was I wrong. There are puzzles to solve, mostly by being observant and noticing changes from loop to loop. The problem is trying to pay attention to subtle changes when everything around you is so nerve wrecking scary is not easy. For the first hour or so you experience a wide range of crazy kinds of scares. Jump scares, random noises, disgusting imagery, and plain old "what the hell is this?". Maybe it is the first person view, the photo realistic graphics or how minimalist it is; I just know I was more afraid of this demo than the very scary Outlast from earlier this year. There will be a point where you reach the final infinite loop as it is now called. This is where P.T. either falls apart or proves to be genius, maybe both. To actually "beat" P.T. the player most perform some sequence of events so obtuse that even though many have beaten it, the community still does not know how the true pattern to beating the game. Kojima stated he expected the solution would take a whole week before someone solved the puzzle. Guess they didn't realize gamers would accidentally stumble on the solution. I spent a good 7-8 hours in this final loop going insane trying to escape this madhouse. I had watched videos of those who did defeat it, I replicated those steps, it did not work. During this loop there are hauntings,well after the 200th time wandering the same hallway the ghost stops being scary. And so this perfect horror experience is ruined by random game design. Except something magical happened, it became a puzzle game that the community as a whole needed to solve. Streams were popping up all over, this segment which was driving people crazy was also gathering so much attention that streams would get audiences of 100 people or so. Those who were too afraid to play it themselves would watch others and join in on trying to solve the final loop. I spent hours at night streaming my game while other players would share hints they were reading on the web. I am not joking when I say this was the best online experience I have had on the PS4. This is what game streaming was made for, this felt next gen. Eventually I beat the game and I could not wait to jump back in to try to formulate a pattern. Along with those viewers we came up with a pattern that practically worked all the time for me, but we still did not know half the solution, there was still some randomness to it. I have watched others stream to help them solve the loop. I am on forums trying to figure out how what the solution truly is, not solve it by accident.I know it may not be fair to judge a game on community events that wont be the same for others. If you try it now you can basically solve it by following the guides that are out now, so your experience would be much different than mine when there was no guide, when playing the game was like exploring a new frontier. I am in awe at what Kojima is consistently able to do. His understanding of game design is on a level others would dream to be at. He uses every aspect of a device, inputs you would never even think of using cause normally game design is set in box of cliches, Kojima is always thinking outside that box. I think of all these minimalist games that are coming out on steam and I see "games" that try to be something that games are not. P.T. is as simple as the most artsy game on steam but the focus always remains on the game play experience of the player. You are not killing things, you are not a dude bro, you are not solving block puzzles, you are not leveling up, and it is LITERALLY a linear hallway. Yet it never forgets that it is a GAME, the player is in complete control of solving the puzzles, it makes sure that the actions of the player matter in significant ways. So many are looking for new gaming experiences that break the mold, well this is it. I think P.T. is one of the finest most original pieces of gaming I have had the pleasure of playing in recent years. Scoring this game seems odd but if I were to score it based on my enjoyment level along I say 8.5. |
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Posted by Dvader Fri, 15 Aug 2014 06:50:48
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robio (6m)
Except that I don't see anything you described in your review that is more interesting than the community reaction to Fez or, say, what I've heard about Amnesia.
It sounds great, though. Good review.
Is it PS4 only?
I don't know what the actual game will be since teasers are not the same as demos or even game trailers but this new concept of playable game teaser is a fantastic idea. I'm now back to being interested in the Silent Hill franchise thanks to Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro, and this 'P.T.'.
It IS pretty neat but obviously the finished game can't be like this. I can't wait to really see the proper game and see what it will really play like.
It may have SH4 like first person segments.