"Signalis" is a survival adventure with pixel graphics that sees you shooting, puzzling and battling with your own inner demons while stranded on an alien planet. — Photo: rose-engine/dpa
BERLIN: Back in 1999, games like "Silent Hill" set a benchmark for the survival horror genre with its atmospheric focus. Now, almost a quarter of a century later, "Signalis" picks up this thread again.
Players slip into the role of the technician Elster, who is stranded on an alien planet after her spaceship crash lands. While searching for her missing co-pilot, she comes across an underground labour camp.
It’s built like a labyrinth and androids, zombies and other threats can lurk around every corner. Luckily you can defeat them by simple shooting them rather than needing complicated combos.
Despite the futuristic backdrop, many things in this game have a retro look. For example, conventional pistols are used as weapons and the clues for the many puzzles are given using analog technology such as video cassettes or radios. The same applies to the dark pixel optics.
Inspired by classic PlayStation 1 games, "Signalis" comes with a top-down perspective, which changes to a similarly angular, mysterious-looking first-person view during puzzles or cutscenes.
Whether as a trip into an earlier video game world or simply as an exciting survival adventure, "Signalis" achieves both. In addition, there is a psychological horror story that is not for the faint-hearted.
The game, which has gone down as one of the best releases of 2022 among many reviewers, is available for PCs, the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch and costs €20/US$20 (RM39 in Malaysia). It’s also included in Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. – dpa
