Quick Review: Uncanny Valley

That’s an odd title for a video game that seems to be about horror…

Located far away from everything.
Like any locale about to turn into a horror movie.

Uncanny Valley was developed and published by Cowardly Creations, and made available on the Steam store on April 23rd, 2015. It’s the story of Tom, a night watchman freshly hired at a facility in the woods. What are they doing in there? None of our business, but the place looks and feels empty even during daytime. Tom settles into his new life, working at night, sleeping during the day (something I know quite a bit about). During his night shifts, he makes the mistake of exploring the facility further than he’s allowed to…

This great, big, empty building... What are its secrets?

No, Tom isn't being chased by monsters.
This is the cafeteria and he's going for an evening snack.

The devs pride themselves on including a “consequences” system to this game, which is a very interesting idea that would be fantastic in a larger title. Tom actually follows a fairly clear schedule; when he’s awake, usually in the evening/night/morning, there’s a few things he can do (such as participate to side-quests) as long as he still fulfills his job and spends some time guarding the facility. When he sleeps, you may play him through his dreams that often turn out to be nightmares. Things that happen to Tom may affect the rest of the playthrough; the store page explains, as an example, that if Tom suffers an injury to the leg while failing to escape from some monsters, he will be walking/running a bit more slowly afterwards, making it harder to escape from future threats. It’s a great idea on paper. In execution, it could be an issue.

Cassettes! How so '90s!

The game does offer a number of puzzles to solve, as well as a handful of side-quests and options for the story to move forward. If you wish to avoid spoilers, don’t read through the list of achievements, as some of them reveal decisions one can make throughout the game. There’s even collectibles in the form of cassettes and VHS tapes, if you wish to look for these. There’s even a way to listen to/watch them!

Connecting the dots to form a letter? Easy.
Having to do it without letting go? Tougher.

However, I wasn’t really impressed by the game itself. It sets up an interesting atmosphere, and it has pretty great pixel art by moments (anytime a sense of dread needs to arise from creepy environments, in dreams as an example). I got annoyed at how short the nights were, greatly reducing the number of things you could accomplish before the night watchman has to return to his apartment to sleep. I get the idea, Tom only has so much time to unravel the plot and make the bizarre discoveries, but it was very limiting. The consequences system feels like an idea with potential, but I’m worried there’s a risk of making the game unwinnable if too many negative consequences have piled up on Tom.

Whoa, what the Hell is that?

That said, if you’re curious, the game is available for 10$. You might find more enjoyment in it than I have, who knows? If you like horror and are intrigued by the concept, give it a try.