Maid of Sker (Musically Inclined Survival Horror)
Ohhh man. Ohhh noooo. Back in the gaming business, freaks. Sad because I got this one so long ago but RL stuff was holding me down. Anyway, so I can review games again, which take awhile, and first-person survival horror has always been a genre of choice of this guy, so Maid of Sker is the perfect rerebirth of the gaming review stuff on here. Strangely this particular title, based on a novel of nearly the same name and some Welsh folklore stuff, appears to have been misjudged by many a critic. That is, however, until I finally had time to play it. Summary, you should buy this one, probably.
The key with any game of this type is does it tell a good story? Game mechanics need only be basic; click on this, click on that, the story does the rest. Expecting more out of this genre is foolhardy. Maid of Sker certainly provides little novelty for the genre in this regard, but its story is deep and mysterious, which is the core essence of survival horror. Of particular interest is the focus on sound in the game as an element of tension and plot-building. Sightings or jumpscares from dangerous cult freaks, for example, is indicated via spooky classical sounds, and the plot revolves around music, with a special weapon you can use to hinder cult maniacs, wispy ghosts singing their sorry as they disappear into the ether, and other such niceties. As such, this is exactly what you should expect. Dense gameplay from survival horror is silly, it’s about the story, and Maid of Sker easily succeeds in this regard, though perhaps its thematic approach with not-so-inconspicuous nods to Lovecraft leaves only a tad to be desired.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Maid of Sker
Wales Interactive (developer and publisher)
4.3 / 5
