REVIEW: Outbreak: Endless Nightmares

Retro games are a huge hit in the gaming industry. This is because they remind us of simpler times, when games were straightforward and straight to the point. To tap into that feeling of comfort and familiarity, we often play older games.

Outbreak: Endless NightmaresIt falls under the second category; it's a game which wants to be reminiscent of games likeSilent HillOriginalResident EvilTitles--except for those games, you know.Good. Instead of transporting players back in time to survival horror,Outbreak: Endless NightmaresInstead, it is a cheap imitation that has nothing to offer the genre and fails to function at the same level as the 1990s-era games that it imitates.

Endless Nightmares is the latest entry to the Indie Horror Outbreak series. It mixes its throwback formula with roguelike elements. Players are sent through random rooms in an attempt to escape the... well, it's not clear what they are looking for. The title opens with four screens of text that dump exposition at the players and then send them out to die.

Endless Nightmaresallows players to kill enemy soldiers, navigate through rooms of increasing difficulty, upgrade their weapons, and survive. This game has a very simple gameplay that is almost foolproof. However, it's full of innovation and a lot of fun. The elements feel chaotic here. Even the simple random rooms are not engaging. Despite layout changes, every room looks the same. This odyssey will see you shuffle past the exact same couch, gaze at the same wallpaper, and even open the same doors for as long as it lasts. It's never boring.

Although the game is not roguelike, there are some exceptions. They don't seem to add anything to the formula. This game is a close-replica of Resident Evil's inventory system. It even includes items that were ripped from other horror games of the 90s. It is difficult to believe how this game can use items such as green and red herbs, and displays like the Resident Evilheartbeat monitor. But even that is nothing compared to the game's obsession with weapon degradation.

Yes.Endless NightmaresWeapons become less useful the more you use them. Most guns can only take 15 shots to get rid of their weapons before they are completely useless.And stillYou can place it in your inventory. You can break down these guns to make parts that can be used for future broken weapons. However, the game does not always provide you with a backup weapon because of its random nature. In many instances, I found myself in an unprotected room with zombies and a puzzle to solve. This scenario could have been thrilling and heart-pounding if there had been a stronger game.Endless NightmaresIt is a tedious task to endure due to its inconsistent AI and incoherent movement mechanics.

Players will find the gameplay to be no worse if the game doesn't make you feel guilty about your choices. Endless Nightmareslooks and controls like an old-school horror game. It features semi-fixed camera angles and tank controls, which is not conducive to repetitive gameplay in roguelike titles. It's one thing for people to pay homage and emulate a certain style of game, but it's quite another to make those mechanics fun and enjoyable to use. Endless Nightmares doesn't make it to the final cut. It doesn't even make it to the audition. You can only aim your laser weapons in five directions, so you don't know if your shot will connect. The game allows you to switch between first and third-person cameras, but if your camera is in the first person, it will push you into third person. There are many confusing gameplay options.

Even the way you run is slow. After spawning into a courtyard populated by spirits who give you advice in unhelpful and cryptic ways, you enter the main building where you can modify your loadout. The game doesn't tell you that you have to go up to the third level to interact with the piano (?) To start your next run. Although there is a joke about my method being off-key, I don't really have the energy.

Outbreak: Endless Nightmares not only is an offensively bad roguelike, but it is also an insulting and borderline plagiarized imitation of games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Although the idea of a survival horror Roguelike is solid, this game shows what happens when good ideas are misplaced. Dead Drop Studios is a small company, but their passion for the genre is evident. Endless Nightmaresis a small-budget survival/horror game that has a poor reputation in the gaming industry. The only thing that is scary about Endless Nightmares is the act of playing it.