Village Of Secrets And Superstition
I live in London, yet know a few people who always comment – “I don’t know how you stand it. It’s so terrifying.” Yet for me, it’s the small places that scare me the most, and the smallest of them all are the most minute of villages.
Yes, I know they are beautiful and tranquil places where everyone knows your name and you can leave the back door open. But, as I know from games and films, villages are places of secrets, cults, and midsummer murders. Village of the Curse sums it up nicely – you’ll quickly understand why this place isn’t the best if you’re looking for a nice country pub lunch.
Village of the Curse is a first-person horror experience from developer Leakage Games. The story puts you in the shoes of an investigative journalist who explores a village after learning it has been abandoned and that there have been reports of some strange goings-on there. As you enter the village, her fears are proven right as things start to get strange, with witches, magic, and jump scares galore. By the end of the game, she uncovers what happened to the village and its dark fate.
The story is mostly told through environmental storytelling and its visuals, rather than lengthy cutscenes or dialogue between characters. It’s a narrative that works well enough, but there are no surprises or story beats that I haven’t heard or seen a thousand times before. That’s okay, but I felt there wasn’t really anything new here. There are some small sequences where you are transported away from the village into a dream-like world, and those work very well, but the rest fail to ever excite.
Exploring A Village Frozen In Time
It’s worth noting that this is a low-budget game with a low price tag, so expectations should be kept in check regarding what it can and can’t do. Played in the first person, you set off in the dark with only a torch to help you navigate the countryside before reaching the village. Here, you can find notes scattered around that give you instructions on what to do, as well as warnings about what to avoid.
As you enter buildings, the jump scares begin, with ghostly apparitions suddenly appearing or rushing straight through you. You might walk into a house, look around for a moment, and then find the entire room has rearranged itself in a flash. Then there is the witch, who serves as the game’s main villain and provides some of the more frightening moments.
When The Fear Begins To Fade
Don’t worry though – there isn’t any combat in Village of the Curse, and there is no way for you to die. Once you realise that fairly early on, the fear factor starts to disappear, unlike in other horror games where your virtual life always feels at risk. Gameplay is mostly about exploration, although there is some item gathering to do in order to unlock new areas.
For example, you are tasked with finding three crosses hidden around different parts of the village. This means a lot of exploring, but because you can only carry one cross at a time, there is also quite a bit of backtracking, which becomes slightly annoying.
It’s a short experience that you could comfortably finish in under an hour, which fits with its low-budget price point. Achievement hunters should also take note, as it’s an easy way to bank a cool 1000G, all in little to no time; at least if that’s your thing.
A Budget Horror With Fleeting Frights
Visually, Village of the Curse has a couple of nice effects whenever it becomes more dream-like, transporting you into an ethereal world for brief moments. But the overall presentation wouldn’t look out of place on an Xbox 360. The buildings and interiors are fairly generic, while the ghosts themselves aren’t especially frightening and feel rather basic.
Audio-wise, the soundtrack does a alright job with its unsettling horror drones that help build tension. The sound effects are probably the strongest part of the presentation, in fact, creating plenty of eerie creaks and unsettling noises that keep you on edge.
A Familiar Trip Into Horror
There are so many horror games on Xbox at the moment. And that isn’t a bad thing, especially for those who love the genre. There are also plenty of games with a similar production scope and budget to Village of the Curse. But even taking that into account, I still think you need something to help your game stand out from the crowd. Something that is lacking here.
Village of the Curse tells a perfectly fine story that treads familiar ground, with gameplay that works well enough without ever doing anything particularly unique. Players looking for a quick horror fix and some easy achievement gathering, will probably find exactly what they’re after here. The problem is, they won’t find much else.
Important Links
The Cheapest Horror Game On Xbox And PlayStation – Dare You Enter Village of the Curse? – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-cheapest-horror-game-on-xbox-and-playstation-dare-you-enter-village-of-the-curse/
Buy from the Xbox Store, Optimised for Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/village-of-the-curse-xbox-series-xs/9NRTL40W00SL/0010
Buy an Xbox One version – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/village-of-the-curse/9N1DVPR9JQFS/0010
