Claire, I’d hate to be her right about now.
I’ve had this game in my library for a while and thought I’d give it a try, just as a game to play in my spare time between other games I’m working on.
Alas, it didn’t really go as planned, and I’m just not in the mood to give it a second chance. Maybe one day I will, but for now…this game is shelved.
- Developed by Hailstorm Games
- Published by Hailstorm Games
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FAQ
Who is this game for?
When did my interest get piqued?
When I realize it had the same vibe as Distraint.
Does Claire’s ending explain everything?
I certainly couldn’t tell you.
Explanation to Negative Feedback
Can’t stop monsters
If you put enemies into a game and don’t give us the power to attack them, then fine, but at least make it so that we can hide from them. The game gives us lockers that we can hide in so an enemy can pass by, but I only found two in the short amount of time I was playing. So maybe one per section of the hospital. Definitely not enough, as you’ll need to have the monster chase you and chase you just so you can hide in a locker until the monster passes by, just so you can get into the area you wanted in.
Such a clusterfuck that it’s honestly better to have the enemy hit you so you can go by it.
Game-stopping glitch
I was around an hour into the game when it glitched out on me. The door to the other side of the hospital had disappeared. Just in case that was supposed to happen, I loaded into my saved game and tried to go through the door that was now there.
Nope. It froze on my character so I could no longer move or do anything.
Not enough health items
If you’re going to make it so we can’t fight, it’s more than likely we’re going to get attacked. The biggest flaw in this game’s design is the lack of health items. I got maybe 6 health items in my time of playing and burned through them due to the whole concept of going through enemies instead of twiddling my thumbs waiting for them to not exist anymore.
Not the best map
Maybe the overall layout of the map isn’t so bad, as long as you’re able to interpret where you’re facing when you look at the map. But it doesn’t really tell you which places you can’t get into all the time. Some door are crossed out, but others that are blocked are still open-looking on the map. Also, I don’t think the objective was always there, but maybe it was since I didn’t realize there was a map for a hot minute.
Explanation to Positive Feedback
Creepy atmosphere
Probably one of the biggest perks of this game is the atmosphere you’re thrown into. An otherwise abandoned hospital, ever since you went to get your coffee. Closed off doors, enemies roaming certain halls.
I’m not really sure why in some areas glitches happen, but…it’s another part of the atmosphere.
Links Worth Checking Out
Nothing here yet
Gameplay
Achievements
16 achievements.
Plot
Claire is alone, lost, and hunted. The world has quickly becomes shrouded in darkness with unseen threats stalking Claire from the shadows. Aided by her dog and armed only with a flashlight, Claire must conquer her fear and find her comatose mother. However, there are others lost in the darkness seeking salvation. Claire must decide who she is going to save. With every choice she’ll begin to discover who she really is and whether she deserves to be saved herself.
Game Length
Judging by other reviewers, I’ll say around the 7 hour mark.
Replay Value
Not that I know of.
Genre(s)
Getting a cup of coffee turns into an adventure of getting back to where your mother’s room is.
You get bits of horror going back in time to your younger days–as just kind of a flashback sequence–and then things get a little awry in the hospital with lights flickering, shadows moving, monsters appearing, and overall lack of humans.
Claire Review
I wanted to like this game, because it felt very familiar to Distraint, which was a game I enjoyed.
And for the most part, pixel horror games are the only horror games I can kinda tolerate.
But at first I didn’t think I had a map, so I was constantly in and out of rooms trying to figure out where I was. When I eventually did look in the menu (I couldn’t figure out how to read the notes for a while because there was nothing to tell me how to view notes), I tried to use the map to my advantage…but it’s really awkward looking at a map in a 2D sidescroller setting.
Meaning I was still as lost as usual, but at least I had a map to look at.
Getting into some of the more irritating things the game throws at you–you can’t dodge the enemies that come at you. Claire can jump, but not over enemies. Clair can hide in the closets from them, but they are few and far between, so good luck remembering where they are and leading the enemies all the way over to them.
If you outrun the monsters, they’ll typically stay in the area where you lost them, and they don’t go anywhere else.
Which means if you have to go that way, you’re going to have to get hit.
You can pick up items that can heal you. There’s kind of an Amnesia vibe to the menu with your sanity showing as well as your health. The problem, once again, is the fact that there are very little items spread out on the floors you roam. So even if you put yourself back up to full health, you’re going to drop down to dying due to the monsters and lack of hiding areas and you’re probably going to wind up dead due to the scarcity of health items.
Cool. So I’m going to kind of get lost, but I’m definitely going to be attacked by monsters with no proper way to avoid or defeat them.
Also, you’ll need to go into rooms with lanterns to manually save your game.
Unfortunately, I never got to finish this game, because there’s a game-breaking bug I found and I really don’t feel like starting the game over from scratch. Basically, I got to the Pediatric doctor’s office and there was an enemy in there so I bailed out real fast. The game’s objective updated so I had to use a keycard on a door.
Too bad I never got the keycard, so I don’t know why the game updated in the first place.
After realizing I didn’t have the keycard, I had to go back into the other section of the hospital, except I couldn’t. There was no door there anymore. I reloaded my game and made my way back there again, and froze upon opening the door to the other side of the hospital.
Game done.
Can’t say I’m terribly upset about it.