Crow Country - What the hell did I just play?
Crow Country - What the hell did I just play?
I was looking around the PlayStation store for something new to play when I stumbled upon a newly released demo for a game called Crow Country.
It sparked some vague memory of an article I read, about an upcoming PS1 era low-poly surreal horror. That’s roundabout exactly what I like, so I downloaded it and went in blindish.
Crow Country is a brooding indie about a woman who visits an abandoned theme park to find its missing owner, Edward Crow. It seems that the further we explore this rusty old park, the more we unravel the mystery of his abrupt disappearance.
The demo is a good length, giving you enough of an understanding of its mechanics, and just enough lore to make me chomp at the bit for more.
The atmosphere they’ve created is incredible, the blocky graphics are almost childish in appearance, which makes it all the more unnerving when things start hunting you.
The soundtrack is infectious, the dozy synths create a soundscape reminiscent of games of old, but it also manages to help Crow Country forge its own identity.
Combat-wise, you’ll be shooting and chucking grenades to topple your foe. The perspective is isometric so you can only see so far ahead, which adds a great deal of tension - you don’t want to make too much distance between your enemy or you won’t be able to see them.
This did have its learning curve though, it’s a perspective I don’t think I’ve ever encountered in a game before. Once I was up to speed, though, the combat became incredibly satisfying, and I was decapitating the deranged folk in no time.
I don’t want to spoil what it is you’ll be fighting, as the enemy was a chilling surprise, but what I will tell you is that they do something that great character design does - they lend themselves to world building, and make me want to learn the story behind them.
It’s not classic survival horror without puzzles, and there’s a huge amount of them, even in the demo. We’re teased with puzzles that can’t be solved yet, but those that are completable are fun, intuitive, and require a fair few neurons to figure out.
The game is expected to be released in full on 9th May 2024, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it to unravel the mystery of Edward Crow and his bizarre playground.
I’d strongly recommend giving the demo a playthrough between now and May, you can grab it on the PlayStation store as well as Steam.
Report back with your thoughts on it in the comments below, and please, put me out of my misery, where the hell does the solution ‘2106’ come into play??
I’ve also written an article about a bunch of other indies with genius game mechanics here!
