Claire is a survival/horror game in which you play as Claire, and you’re trying to figure out what is going on around you as you figure out puzzles and run away from the things that go bump in the night.
General Gameplay
The game is a 2.5D side scrolling game in which you have to explore your surroundings and run from the monsters that will chase you throughout the game. You will have to solve puzzles as you go as well, to keep your health and mental state normal. This game is survival/horror to its core, which is good thing.
Audio
The game theme is more 8-bit, so with keeping that style of the look and feel, the game has minimal sounds. There are the screams and grunts of the monsters that are in the game and other minor noises that help you with audio clues. There is no audio dialogue in the game. The game is not in surround sound, however, keeping with the theme of the game, that is not a bad thing. We do have to point out that during our playtest, the monsters sounds did scare our young ones… so parents, please supervise your young ones playing this title.
Visuals
8-bit to its core, is that a bad thing for a game like this? No; if anything, it adds an old-school charm to the game that is reminiscent of the old console days. Set in a darker atmosphere, you have to use either your lighter or a flashlight to light up the area that you are exploring. Keep in mind that your flashlight does run on batteries and you will have to find more batteries to keep it charged. The monsters are also scary (yes, even for an 8-bit style game), and everything else from the background to player model is identifiable in the game without any issues. The backgrounds also do a great job making you feel that you are part of the surroundings, and believe it or not, when you are being chased by the “monsters”, they do look creepy and add more to the horror of the game. In our play-through, some of our younger gamers found the graphics scary while others thought they were normal; so parents, again, please supervise your children when they are playing this title.
Claire: Extended Cut is one of those scary, survival/horror games that will get you sucked in and scare you at the same time!
Controls
Claire: Extended Cut controls work well for this type of game. There is a three-button setup that you can change in the menu options at any time; we suggest you experiment with the different setups and see what works best for you. The buttons are action, jump and run, as well the shoulder buttons are used to go into the inventory menus as well view your map, notes, and items. In a game that is designed to be survival/horror it is critical for the controls to be on point, and the developers did a great job making sure that you are not fumbling around with the controls and dying in the game. Due to the M rating of the game, we did not test the game controls with our younger or special needs gamers in our gaming family, however, our older gamers did not run into any issues with the game controls.
Delivery
Claire: Extended Cut does a great job of scaring the pants off you! This is how a survival/horror game should be. From the beginning of the game to the end, you are always in a sense of danger, as the monsters can follow you from room to room, and they are randomly generated. Yes, you read that correctly! The game itself is no cakewalk; it is hard, but not to the point of game-breaking. The mixture of scare sounds and background ambient noises also helps the game to be scarier, as death can be around the corner. There are save points and items to help you restore your life and mental stability, but they are far and few in between. If you are looking for a good survival/horror game then this title will not disappoint you one bit (no pun intended). As with all games, we test the game to see if it will be a good fit for the whole entire family, and with our normal game play through we decided to leave out our special needs and younger gamers because of the scare factor. With that being said, everyone else with whom we tested the game loved it and they had a blast playing. There were some frustrating parts at first, but once they got a hold of the core mechanics of the game, it was smooth-sailing from that point on.
Family Friendly
Being a survival/horror game, Claire: Extended Cut is not meant for the whole family. That said, Claire: Extended Cut is a fantastic game for those that do love the survival/horror style of gameplay. I personally am not a horror fan, but this game made me interested in playing it through to see what happened next. The game sucks you right in and makes you feel that you are a part of the story – a rarity in games of this type, however, as a survival/horror game it may not be suited for all of the gaming family. In our play test, our younger gamers were too scared of the sounds and graphics in the game. Our teen gamers liked the challenge, and our older gamers liked the story and challenge that the game delivered. As we review games that are suitable for all family members to play, we do reviews on games that, at times, may not be for all and we can say that Claire: Extended Cut is meant for the older audience (from teens and up). Is this a game that should be passed up? No. Do not allow the rating and subject matter turn you off from this game. However, if your gaming family consists of mostly pre-teens and younger, then we would not recommend this title for them. For the older children and adults, this is a great game to play. We did a podcast on this game and about how having a good balance of games for all family members is a healthy thing. You can hear it here.
Closing
Clair: Extended Cut is a great survival/horror game that will feed that horror itch that you need in gaming. Not for all family members to play, but a great game for the older family gamers. Just remember that the next time you go to see what those things are that go bump in the night.
