Reversing the Trend of Lacklustre Adaptations
It’s fair to say that movies based on famous video games didn’t have the greatest of starts.
We all remember the live-action Super Mario Bros. movie starring Bob Hoskins in 1993, which lives in infamy for all the wrong reasons. Then came low-budget adaptations like BloodRayne, Max Payne, and Street Fighter.
However, lately, the trend has been much more successful with TV shows like Fallout and The Last of Us becoming critically acclaimed.
Switch things around though, and games made from movies have often been far more successful, with GoldenEye 007 being the crème de la crème. Now, we have a new game titled Incantation, based on the 2022 found-footage horror movie of the same name. Let’s see how it fares.
Confession time: I haven’t actually seen the film on which the game is based, but it did receive some nice reviews. Softstar Entertainment is the team bringing us this title; they are a Taiwanese games company whose most recent release was The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication. Incantation is a first-person horror game set in the same village as the film, dealing with much of the same subject matter.
A Mystery Rooted in Mother Buddha
Incantation starts with a mother driving through the countryside with a policeman, following a lead regarding her daughter who went missing six years ago. After a devastating crash, she finds herself in Chen Village, a place that seems plagued by a strange illness and controlled by a mysterious cult known as Mother Buddha. As she explores, she discovers that the villagers have gone mad, consumed by fear and highly dangerous. Can she find her daughter and stop this evil entity?
I was totally hooked by this narrative. Trying to work out the mystery behind the supernatural events in the village is highly engaging. At the same time, some moments and themes are very familiar to the horror genre. Villagers gone mad and violent? Check. A room full of mannequins that move when you’re not looking? Check. Puzzles to solve while stuck in a time loop? Check. I am not criticising these mechanics or the storytelling, as there is something quite refreshing about replaying these old favourites, but they are far from newI also thought the dialogue and writing were approached with a serious mindset and proved very effective at times.
Stealth and Survival
The gameplay takes place in the first person, and you will spend a lot of your time simply walking and running. For a large portion of the game, there isn’t much to do apart from moving from A to B. However, there are some clever environmental puzzles and a few action-based sequences. When I say ‘action’, I mostly mean stealth. If an enemy suddenly grabs you, a Quick Time Event triggers, requiring you to bash a few buttons to break free. There is a health system represented by the screen turning red when you take damage, but I couldn’t see any healing items; instead, your health simply regenerates after a while to clear the screen.
The Frustration of Evasion
There are a couple of instances that act as boss battles. For example, in one sequence, a man chases you with a baton, and it becomes a case of crouching, hiding, and slowly making your way towards the exit. In another section, you must flip three switches to escape while being actively hunted by mannequins. The most annoying part of this particular section is that if they catch you, it means instant death.
These evasion sequences aren’t the best showcase for Incantation; instead, the exploration and puzzle-solving do a much better job of highlighting what it has to offer. There are jump scares scattered throughout, and while some are effective, others fall flat. However, considering the sheer amount of horror games I have played this year alone, it might just be that I am growing immune to the frights.
Incantation does an impressive job with its visuals, particularly the character models. The locations themselves are good as well, although a few of them do bleed into one another stylistically. I liked the lighting, and there are some great, creepy touches, like a villager with a pot on his head who always seems to be following you. I went upstairs in one building, looked out of the window, and there he was again. It is a really nice touch!
The audio is equally impressive, featuring a creepy soundtrack, fully voiced performances, and some great sound effects.
A Solid Horror Trip
Incantation does a good job of drawing inspiration from its cinematic source material, and you certainly don’t need to have seen the film to enjoy the game. That being said, something about the story feels a bit rushed, especially in the beginning, and particularly in terms of character development and setup. There are a lot of familiar tropes present too, along with some great elements, even if the overall experience feels a little average.
If you love your horror games, Incantation is definitely worth a shot. However, if you are new to the genre, there might be better starting points.
Important Links
A Haunted Village Awaits In Incantation – https://www.thexboxhub.com/a-haunted-village-awaits-in-incantation/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/incantation/9n3q5rdr4scn
