DEMO ALERT - Organ Quarter Pre-Alpha demo is worth a look for Silent Hill fans
DEMO ALERT is a new feature we're going to implement at VR Game Rankings. Anytime we find a demo that we think is worth a look, we'll try to post these "demo alert" articles, so players will know that something cool is available for a free look. This doesn't mean these games are necessarily must buy titles or anything along those lines, but we think the demos are certainly worth a look, especially for fans of the given genre. Our first demo alert is Organ Quarter Pre-Alpha demo on Steam. If you're a fan of survival horror in VR, you probably want to download this and run it through it's paces.
A while back Outer Brain Studios did a Kickstarter in an effort to fund development on a new survival horror game that could remind gamers of Silent Hill or Resident Evil, except this game was going to take full and total advantage of roomscale, as well as tracked controllers. At least, this is what the kickstarter advertised. The studio received a little over 7K from 163 backers to help bring Organ Quarter to life. Obviously, that's not a huge windfall of money for the development of this game, so you have to go into this knowing that this is an extremely indie looking title, by an enthusiastic indie developer.
The developers have specifically mentioned Silent Hill and Resident Evil as their primary inspirations, and it's obvious from the very beginning that the game has a Silent Hill flavor. At this early stage, I'd say that's the biggest thing this game has going for it. The creature designs are unsettling, which is exactly what you want from a Silent Hill type game. The biggest problem with what I've played so far, is that the environmental graphics are so simple and basic, that I think a large number of players will be immediately turned off by the game. The screenshots you see above, actually make the game look better than it actually does if you can believe that. This certainly isn't going to win any graphics of the year awards. The extremely simplistic graphics didn't bother me too much, but I'm the type that can enjoy games with a more retro, low-end flavor. I enjoyed my time with this demo, but I know other players won't necessarily be as forgiving.
It's unfortunate, because I think Outer Brain Studios is trying to do something interesting here. I'm not sure if the whole thing will come together, but at least they are absolutely going for that type of survival horror game feel. Whatever the case, the demo is still worth checking out if you like survival horror, and especially if you enjoy that Silent Hill vibe. The full game will hit Steam on October 19th.
