Review pixelcrypt 2/5 · Nov 3, 2024
A mixed bag survival horror in an Egyptian tomb
Shadows of Duat is a pretty interesting game. I really love the concept: an entire survival horror game trapped in a dark, musty underground tomb. The execution though… a bit of a mixed bag.
The first 1/2 - 2/3 of the game is pretty excellent. It’s very viscerally challenging in a way most survival horror games aren’t - there traps …
Shadows of Duat is a pretty interesting game. I really love the concept: an entire survival horror game trapped in a dark, musty underground tomb. The execution though… a bit of a mixed bag.
The first 1/2 - 2/3 of the game is pretty excellent. It’s very viscerally challenging in a way most survival horror games aren’t - there traps everywhere, enemies, tough to navigate tombs and puzzles… it just feels so oppressive in a GREAT way.
But there’s little bothersome things that started to add up.. the map system is very rudimentary and inconsistent. I had a total of 4 game ending bugs (clipping out of bounds and one section that shut down my entire computer three times). But what really sucked the life out of the back half is the puzzle designs,
It doesn’t help that there’s zero walkthroughs for this game. The dev was helpful on the discussion board but it seems I’m one of the only people in the world to have made it as far as I did (judging by steam achievements). I just really stopped enjoying the challenges the game was giving me and was kinda begging it to just end.
When one of the final puzzles bugged out (I spent 15 minutes successfully activating an elevator, only to have the elevator bug out and not work)… I called it quits. It just needed more playtesting, and the back half could’ve all just been cut out in my opinion. So ya it’s a hard game to rate for me.
I liked it though, it’s rough around the edges but the majority of it is a unique spin on the genre and I’m excited to see this dev grow and learn.