An oppressive, crushing bass fills the soundscape as I step into the huge, luxurious mansion of an influential Hollywood producer. A robotic vacuum cleaner repeatedly bangs towards the wall, reverberating via the artwork gallery. A automotive begins a panicked beeping as I move it by on the way in which to a storage storeroom. Lifeless Take’s impeccable sound work molds your expertise with all of the tender care of a surgeon’s scalpel – indicators of a group that is aware of how one can pull off horror.
It’s a celebration on the uber-rich Hollywood producer Duke Cain’s mansion, to rejoice the start of manufacturing of his upcoming challenge, ‘The Final Voyage’. Invited is the lead star, Vinny Monroe. His pal Chase Lowry, nonetheless, is aware of one thing about Duke that Vinny doesn’t. Chase reveals up on the mansion, solely to search out the place frighteningly empty regardless of the strewn confetti. The place is Vinny?
Lifeless Take capabilities as a traditional horror journey – you stroll round fixing puzzles to open up increasingly more areas to stroll round in and remedy puzzles in, and so forth. The mansion’s penchant for symbols, locked rooms, and merchandise puzzles reminds certainly one of Resident Evil, however concern not – or reasonably, concern not as a lot – as a result of there’s no zombies or threatening stalkers to chase you round.
As an alternative, Lifeless Take’s horror is rooted at nighttime facet of Hollywood fame. The axis of the sport’s horror is the producer Duke Cain, who simply brings to thoughts real-life producer and intercourse offender Harvey Weinstein. Like him, Cain is a person who could make and break careers at a whim. He calls for perfection from his artists, he manipulates them like dolls, and he all the time will get what he desires.
Individuals with that a lot management are terrifying, and regardless of Lifeless Take’s leap scares, it’s the menace of Duke Cain that scared me probably the most. His affect is pervasive – you overhear him in movies, hearken to audio messages from him, learn his notes, and study his historical past. Hollywood, it seems, could be horror in itself.
A lot of Lifeless Take consists of ordinary merchandise puzzles, however there’s a particular hook to it too: video splicing. Though the time period implies you’ll be doing precise splicing of video clips, it really is depicted as an AI that does every thing by itself – so long as you’ll be able to determine two movies which are suitable with one another for the method.
Finally, it’s simply one other form of merchandise puzzle, actually, besides the gadgets are movies. Splicing them leads to a brand new video, which provides to the lore and results in a agency knocking on the theater door, resulting in story progress. The idea proved to be a bit underwhelming, though it did pose among the trickiest riddles within the recreation for me.
Though Lifeless Take is extra about its ambiance and story than something, it does toss in a movie production-inspired puzzle that I loved lots. I gained’t spoil the way it goes, however suffice to say, it was probably the most impressed a part of the sport to me, and I might hardly thoughts enjoying extra puzzles of its nature.
Lifeless Take presents an authentic theme – and a brand new style for Surgent Studios – with shocking assurance. It simply slots into the gathering of high-quality horror adventures, even when it loses steam in the direction of the top, the place its most fascinating threads and implications get tossed apart for a comparatively milquetoast conclusion. The elements of this recreation actually outshine the sum of them.
It’s not as provocative as is likely to be anticipated from the subject, nevertheless it’s a wonderful effort from Surgent Studios, with engrossing video performing by all actors concerned. I can’t think about its straightforward to make a number of movies of individuals speaking that glue you to the display, however Surgent Studios actually has a expertise for it.
Lifeless Take is a simple suggestion for followers of scare-and-puzzle video games, together with followers of Resident Evil who want a break from being chased by a monstrosity. Right here, the monstrosity is cerebral, haunting you with questions of “Did he actually?” and “Would he have…?” It’d promise greater than it delivers, nevertheless it’s authentic sufficient to be price experiencing as soon as.
Developer: Surgent Studios
Nation of Origin: United Kingdom
Writer: Pocketpair Publishing
Launch Date: July 31, 2025 (PC)
The PC model of the sport was performed for this assessment of Lifeless Take (Steam, Epic Retailer).
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