Following Freeware – February 2015 releases
Steve’s Selections
Ghostscape 3D
In your career as a professional ghost hunter, you have met your fair share of scepticism. One particularly vocal sceptic is a local reporter who specialises in disproving the occult, and has often publicly ridiculed your beliefs. So it was with some surprise that you received his invitation to come out to see something you have never seen before. Whilst you suspected a setup to discredit you further, you couldn’t take the risk of missing out on the paranormal find of the millennium. But once inside the remote house you have been called to, you might wish you had turned him down. There is no sign of the man himself, but there are plenty of signs that he and his colleagues have met a gruesome fate.
In Ghostscape 3D, Psionic games have created an exercise in horror. Presented in a first-person view, the graphics use a photorealistic 3D rendering. The house is in a bad state of repair, and has also clearly been the site of some horrific events. Blood stains the walls, sometimes with disturbing messages written in it, and bodies are hidden around the place. The décor does not exactly improve the look, with paintings of skulls with glowing eyes and hideous monsters. The overall presentation is a slideshow format, but with a sweeping camera transition between locations. Audio is mostly kept to sound effects, such as the creak of a door or the scraping sound of a barrel dragged across the floor. There is also a constant disturbing whispering throughout. This is not the only voice-work, as a series of tapes can be found recording the experiences of the reporter in recent days.
This is not a game for the young and faint-hearted. The setting alone, especially with the demonic whispering, is disturbing enough, but there is plenty more horror to be found. The game also resorts to the occasional jump scare, though these are well-spaced and inserted at appropriate junctures. With the door sealing behind you once you enter, you will need to explore the house to find an alternative way out. Control is simple point-and-click, with the cursor changing shape and offering a description when over a hotspot. These include switches and valves scattered around the house which have to be operated, the latter requiring a tool. You will acquire a handful of other inventory items too, most with fairly clear uses. There are five bloodstained notes and five cassette tapes hidden in the building as well. The tapes simply provide backstory, but the former also provide clues to various combination locks. There are also a number of optional collectibles, a text-only epilogue becoming available if you collect them all.
Ghostscape 3D can be played online at JayisGames.
Little Briar Rose
When the Princess Little Briar Rose was born, all the fairies were invited to her baptism. All but one, that is, for no such invitation was extended to the wicked fairy. This proved a fateful oversight, as this fairy took offense at the snub and brought down a terrible curse on the child: she would not live long, as she would prick her finger on a spindle and drift into death. The other fairies did what they could to mitigate the curse, but could only turn it into a sleeping curse. Now Little Briar Rose, and the kingdom around her, is trapped in a magical sleep surrounded by a forest of thorns. Only the kiss of her one true love can wake her and save the kingdom. Many a prince has tried to pass through the forest of thorns, home to all manner of magical creatures, and many have failed. Will the latest to travel down this road succeed?
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