Daymare: 1998 was an interesting title in its own way: it was the story of a group of developers trying to convince Capcom to let them remake Resident Evil 2 and eventually becoming an independent studio. The game itself had some problems, but everything worked and it was a small miracle that it managed to reach the market, a sign of strong determination on the part of the members of Invader Studios, the development team.
Today, four years later, the sequel has been published that promises to improve the original from every point of view, thanks to a more consistent production and the greater experience of the team. The only thing we have to do is discover with the review of Daymare 1994: Sandcastle if the mission was successful.
History
As the title suggests, Daymare 1994: Sandcastle is a prequel, set four years before the original. The player assumes the role of Dalila Reyes, a member of the H.A.D.E.S. unit, creator of the D.I.D. (Data Sharing Device), a device also seen in Daymare 1998, and a Gulf War veteran with some personal problems. The protagonist is called on an extraction mission at a secret Area 51 base, the classic briefcase recovery with the attached scientist, and will end up involved in something much bigger and decidedly more horrifying than initially expected. What is that energy that reanimates the corpses in the base? In fact, why is the base full of corpses? During the briefing they obviously didn't tell him everything...
Despite a certain naivety, a narrative level Daymare 1994: Sandcastle works, establishing convincing connections with the previous chapter, through, for example, the presence of Radek or with several easily recognizable and very tasty references present in the final part.
The story of Kings is a little more confusing, some narrative twists leave you quite bewildered, particularly from the second part of the game, but in general you remain involved in the events told, thanks also to a more cohesive and coherent environment in comparison. with the first episode, which is the backdrop for the entire story.
Speaking of game, during the adventure Delilah must examine objects with her scanner to find useful information for the mission, she must solve simple puzzles (much less challenging than those in the first Daymare) to open some doors, hack devices, etc. In true Resident Evil style, we are looking for additional ammunition, first aid kits and refills for Frost Grip, a weapon we will talk about later, and terminals to save the game or update Frost Grip itself, as well as documents to read that will help you. better understand history. All to have a better chance of surviving, obviously. In short, in Daymare 1994: Sandcastle we do what is usually done in a survival horror, so much so that it seems like a very traditional title from this point of view. Of course, you often have to fight too.
The combat system of Daymare 1994: Sandcastle
The biggest problem with Daymare 1994: Sandcastle is definitely the combat system which, in our opinion, represents a decisive step back from the previous chapter... if you play with a controller. With a mouse and keyboard, however, it works more than well, to the point that you might think it was created with PC gamers in mind and then adapted to others, without much success. Let's try to explain it, but first let's connect a controller to the PC. Delilah has quite slow movements and does not have any particular evasive movement. He can basically just take a step back and, if necessary, run. Her enemies, at least the ones encountered most frequently, when they approach her do not hit her, but instead grab her, consuming her health bar, triggering a QTE that requires repeatedly pressing a button to free themselves from her. . The largest of hers, however, kill her instantly. It is easy to imagine that, when you are attacked by one or two enemies, it is not that difficult to achieve it using one of the two firearms supplied for the entire game (the classic shotgun and machine gun combination), or the Frost Grip. , a special weapon that allows you to freeze your opponents and then calmly kill them when they are statues, which can be upgraded in various ways during the adventure.
The problems begin when the enemies are many and start coming from multiple directions, because our heroine often reacts too slowly and ends up overwhelmed without being able to do anything, scripted animation after scripted animation, to the player's greatest frustration. Also keep in mind that hostile creatures, bodies reanimated by a strange electromagnetic charge, are very fast and can teleport, so it is not easy to hit on the fly. They also don't make any noise to tell us they're coming, other than a small roar when they're created. Some moments are definitely frustrating, particularly when large floating beasts begin to appear that create other creatures, teleport and kill with a single shot, approaching us in complete silence. Additionally, the designers decided that it was appropriate to create situations where you are attacked from the front and from behind at the same time; the worst because they are sudden and practically inevitable. In short, in Daymare 1994 you end up dying often and for all the wrong reasons, except... let's unplug the controller and use the mouse and keyboard to play.
Delilah becomes another character: the mouse guarantees adequate reactivity to hit creatures on the fly. Not only that, because she allows you to turn around quickly, escaping some attacks that were a source of frustration with the controller. Running becomes more reactive and agile, thanks to the greater speed of movement. You still get caught, but less frequently, and you can also manage confrontations where there are many enemies, which do not necessarily end in continuous deaths waiting to have memorized everyone's movements to avoid them. Additionally, the machine gun also becomes more useful, which with the controller is a bit complicated to use, also because it takes a lot of shots to take down an enemy. The essence is that the gameplay changes so much depending on the control device used, that you could almost give Daymare 1994 two different degrees, very distant from each other, without fear of being wrong.
The problem is that the mouse and keyboard are only available if you play on PC, while the console versions don't give you the luxury of choice (in any case, it's not very common for console owners to buy a mouse and a keyboard). keyboard). So in the latter you are forced to play the frustrating version of the game. This difference is reflected throughout the experience and is especially important in the advanced stages, where the enemies become many, multiplying the potential moments of frustration. In particular the final boss, facing the controller can cause absurd suffering, also because every time it grabs the player it forces them to repeat a good part of the battle, where with the mouse and keyboard they can be tamed after a reasonable number of attempts. Finally, consider that Daymare 1994: Sandcastle is a title with a very rigid and linear structure, in which the player must adapt to situations. By the way, most fights are unavoidable and there are no preventive strategies that can help, such as destroying corpses that can be reanimated. In one of the first confrontations the game suggests the possibility of fleeing in case of danger, but it is a moment left to itself and in the rest of the adventure it is never possible to do so.
Scattered considerations
For the rest, we are faced with a title that, as has already been said, interprets the genre Survival Horror in a decidedly conservative way, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, all things considered. For example, aside from resources, there's not much else to discover around the base, other than a few alien heads to destroy, which act as collectibles. The environment itself is well built, with different places to visit, but in keeping with a structure of this type. There is less variety than Daymare: 1998, but the level of detail is greater and Daymare 1994: Sandcastle also offers some nice moments, demonstrating good use of the Unreal Engine.
The 3D models are richer than the previous chapter and, taking into account the level of production of the game, which is not exactly stellar, they stand out a lot. The lighting system deserves special mention. We are facing a very dark game, sometimes too dark. From this arises avery tense atmosphere, it is not very compatible with the action game, but it is still functional for the experience. Reyes is equipped with a flashlight, which unfortunately does not illuminate much but, at least, never runs out. It's a shame about some unexceptional elements, such as the generally terrible animations of the interlude sequences, which clash a bit with the game's narrative ambitions.
Conclusions
Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop Price 29,99 € Holygamerz.com 6.0 Readers (24) 7.8 your voteDaymare 1994: Sandcastle changes a lot depending on the control device used: with the controller it is frustrating beyond measure, while with the mouse and keyboard it becomes a non-essential experience, but it is still functional and pleasant. We would like to have the possibility of assigning a double vote, in cases like this, but since it is not possible we have opted for a kind of average, knowing that with a mouse and keyboard the experience improves drastically, since it is still a good survival. horror game that deserves to be played, especially if you liked Daymare 1998. However, with the controller, the game should be avoided without too many regrets, unless a patch arrives that transforms everything.
PRO
- A step forward in world-building, while still remaining highly derivative
- Interesting story, although with a certain naivety.
- With mouse and keyboard the combat works quite well
AGAINST
- With the controller the combat system becomes frustrating
- Terrible scene animations
- Very rigid game structure.
