All links will be at the end of the review
Game Details
Time Spent Playing: 1 hour
Developers: Duck Reaction
Publisher: Perp Games
Graphics/Art Style: Realistic 3D
Camera Perspective: 1st person
Rating: M
Recommended For: Horror lovers who like jump scares and demons.
Overall Experience
Perceptum is a unique horror game where you play as medium who hears things when she closes her eyes and walks around with a small mirror, to see things that go bump in the night.
Controls
The overall experience felt very clunky and confusing. I struggled with opening doors and even forgot how to close my eyes at one point. Walking around the rooms while holding up a small mirror was a strange yet unique experience, and I think the mirror mechanic has potential. However, it felt weird to use, which made exploring more frustrating than it needed to be.
Gameplay
The pacing felt very slow and inconsistent, largely because I struggled to understand the game's core gameplay loop. I got stuck in the first room I explored, because I wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to do, or in what order I was supposed to do it in. From what I could gather, I needed to close my eyes in a dark room to trigger something, or turn on that annoying radio and then close my eyes to make something happen. I never really understood the sequence of events, which left me feeling confused and frustrated.
I spent so much time trying to figure out what the game wanted me to do that when something finally happened, my reaction was basically, "Okay..." rather than feeling scared or excited. The blinking animation also felt weird and unnecessary in my opinion, and I think removing it could help make the experience feel smoother.
The mechanic where you close your eyes and the room changes was interesting in concept, but the way it was implemented felt jarring and confusing. Unfortunately, I had a really hard time getting immersed in the game because I was too busy trying to figure out what to do next.
The jump scares were easily the most fun and interesting part of the game for me. They were effective, but it's difficult to enjoy the scares when the gameplay leading up to them feels frustrating. When you're struggling to move around, find clues, and understand what you're supposed to do, the experience becomes more irritating than scary.
The ending was jarring as well, and by that point, I didn't really want to continue playing. While it was a cool way to end the demo, I think the overall experience would benefit from clearer guidance and smoother pacing. Anyway, I think you'll understand my experience better if you watch my playthrough on YouTube!
Performance
I'm glad my laptop was able to handle the game on medium settings during my playthrough. Performance wasn't something I had to worry about, so at least that didn't add to my frustrations!
⭐ Star Ratings
Music: N/A
I ended up adding my own background music.
Audio Design: ⭐
Please change the radio sound effects because they hurt my ears! I'd love to hear softer sounds that are still creepy and unsettling without being so irritating to listen to.
Gameplay: ⭐
Slow, confusing, and frustrating, with the jump scares being the main highlight. The scares were fun, but the clunky gameplay and unclear objectives made it difficult to enjoy the overall experience.
Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐
I got stuck in the first room for most of my playthrough because I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do next. I struggled to understand the gameplay loop, which made progressing through the demo more confusing than challenging.
Performance: ⭐⭐⭐
No performance issues to note. My laptop handled the game well on medium settings.
Level Design/Character Design: ⭐
You play as an elderly woman, which is refreshing! I think we need more elderly main characters in media. However, there wasn't much about her character design that stood out to me or made her memorable. The same goes for the demons and the rooms I explored.
What will stick with me, though, is that annoying radio. That thing will haunt my dreams! I'll definitely remember the jump scares, too.
AI-Generated Content Disclosure
How we do use AI:
Occasionally, to generate tools within the Unreal Editor (level design utilities for example) and small part the code (Blueprint nodes or components for example)
For deeper research on specific topics
For debugging and project analysis, to help identify the source of problems that would otherwise be too difficult to track down
For first-pass translations used in internal playtests
How we do NOT use AI:
All in-game visuals come exclusively from purchased assets or free 3D scans, and are very often reworked by hand to fit our gameplay and level design intentions. Environments, lighting, characters, animations, and gameplay interactions are all created by us.
All sound is produced without AI, using Wwise, with particular attention given to spatialization.
Voices are either edited from royalty-free video sources or created by us directly. This allows us to avoid using AI, while keeping our scope realistic.
Every translation is reviewed and corrected by professional translators, so that the text and the intent of the game are properly respected.
We want to be fully transparent with our community about how we use AI in the development of our game.
Total Stars: 9/21 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Unique Features Discovered
Walking around while holding up a small mirror to explore your surroundings.
Rooms changing when you close your eyes, creating a unique and potentially unsettling gameplay mechanic.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
The jump scares genuinely got me!
You play as an elderly woman, which is a refreshing change
High-quality graphics with impressive visual detail.
Cons:
Slow, confusing, and frustrating gameplay.
The radio sounds were irritating and took away from the horror atmosphere.
Character and level designs felt bland and lacked memorable details.
Suggestions for Improvement
Refine the radio sound effects: Make them softer while keeping them creepy and unsettling. The goal should be to create an eerie atmosphere without making the sounds uncomfortable to listen to.
Experiment with more creative character and level design: Consider incorporating bolder colors, distinctive fonts, more personality in character designs, and creepy voices or other audio cues to make the world and its inhabitants more memorable.
Introduce a tutorial in the first bedroom: Use this space to teach players the core gameplay loop, including how to use the mirror, close their eyes, and interact with their surroundings. This would help players understand what they're supposed to do before introducing more complex or frightening encounters.
Summary:
Overall, this horror demo has some interesting ideas, especially the mirror mechanic, the rooms changing when you close your eyes, and the jump scares that genuinely got me. I also appreciate getting to play as an elderly woman, which is a refreshing change of pace! However, I struggled to enjoy the experience because the clunky controls, confusing gameplay loop, slow pacing, and irritating radio sounds made it difficult to get immersed in the horror. While the graphics were high quality, I wish the character and level designs had more personality and memorable details. I think this demo has potential, but clearer guidance for players, smoother gameplay, improved audio, and more creative environmental design could go a long way toward making it a much more enjoyable and frightening experience. For now, the jump scares are what I'll remember most, along with that radio that will probably haunt my dreams!
Enjoy my content? Consider gifting me an energy drink to help support me! ☕
Are you an indie game developer who needs help with branding, marketing, and/or short-form video content? If so, please fill out my Project Inquiry Form to get started!
Project Inquiry Form
Links:
Check out the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4124340/Perceptum/
Check out my playthrough here: