You found Anna smartphone and now you must find out what happen to her in this interactive FMV game. Piece together clues from her social media accounts, videos, emails and even photos to find out what happened and save her, or its too late?
General Gameplay
Simulacra is an interactive FMV (Full Motion Video) point and click adventure in which you must use Anna phone from the clues left on there to find out what happen to Anna. Overall Simulacra is a point and click game where detective work and puzzle solving are the key gameplay elements. The Game Visuals are presented as you are viewing a smartphone. As you would expect from viewing a smartphone, you will see the wallpaper of the phone owner, the icons for apps and text and video that you would see from a smartphone. Simulacra is presented using full motion video, audio, and text to present the game story, so there is a lot of videos of the main character, other characters and her social media profile to showcase her life. The videos are done quite well and show that the character has both a social life as well a professional life that both are in turmoil thought out her days leading to her disappearance. The game video segments do have some horror elements to them and some jump scares. As the game is rated M – For Mature, there was no nudity or any elements that gamers need to be on the watch for. The game color settings are general as you can see all of the colors of the game without any trouble. As the game does not offer any colorblind more, it is not needed for the game as the colors can be seen without any trouble. In our play testing, we did not encounter any issues with the game visuals as they were well done and without any issues. The game Audio in Simulacra is done very well. The game is all about the audio and how the audio acting, and narration of the game does a fantastic job of telling the story. The game has a lot of spoken dialog and as the game is a Mature rated title there is a lot of language but it is used as people way of speaking and not in a insulting manner to the gamer, but to showcase how daily life is for a person and the lexicon that they use to express their current state of life. As you would expect in the audio department you will hear the standard sounds that a smartphone will make, as well the videos with audio, text audio messages, phone call and everything else that you would find in a smartphone. Simulacra does a great job in this area to bring the smartphone to life in the game. Simulacra is also in 5.1 surround sound and the game sounds fantastic; however, we highly recommend using a stereo headphones to experience the game. The game has a lot of spoken dialog so expect to hear a lot of talk and in our play testing, we did not encounter any issues with the game audio. Again, as the game is rated M – For Mature, be ready to hear a lot of adult based dialog within the game. Controls in Simulacra as in a point and click style. As the game is presented in a manner of viewing a smartphone, is it all about using the left thumb stick to move the pointer to the desired apps and options to open them and explore more. There is a button for the actions and other buttons that allow you to go back and forth in the apps. The game is all about navigating a smartphone, so the controller setting is designed around this. The game is very easy to use with the standard controller and in our play testing we did not encounter any issues with the game controller settings or controls. If anything, the game controller settings are very special needs gaming friendly.
“A fun interactive game where you must discover from emails, texts, and social media what happen to Anna and why she is missing. For any horror fans that love FMV games, Simulacra is a great game to play.”
Family Friendly
When it comes to FMV style of games, they can be very hit and miss, there are a lot of elements that can make or break the game. In Simulacra, they got these elements right. Where the game shines is in the storytelling of what happen to Anna and her unbalanced life dealing with life, love, work, friends and what lead to her disappearance. The presentation in telling this story is well done where you are invested into the game, the characters and how the story develops based on your choices. What makes the game a great game is that it is not linear in its way of telling the story but more of having you make smart, and intelligent choices that you would make in real life dealing with the day to day issues that you would see in your life. This adds a more of a dynamic style of gaming where you, as Anna are making real life choices and conversations. This was a well-done element that makes Simulacra a great game. Also, the video acting also adds more of a element to the game presentation. The acting of the cast brings the game to life and they preform well enough to feel that you are seeing life in front of you through the smartphone interface. The actors are just a joy to see in their presentation and brings lots of life to the game and you feel invested into the game story. Where the game also shines is in its audio dialog. The game feels rich in giving audio clues and dialog from the other characters where it feels rich and detail in their storytelling. As the game is a horror/thriller based game the ambient noise at random times also give more life to the game and also adds to the jump scares. During our play through we were at times looking around the room at the random sounds from the game thinking that they were coming from our room and not the game. This is a great dynamic for a great horror/thriller game that adds more of the tension to the game. Overall the game is a great game for fans of the horror/thriller series and the story alone is worth the play through. We had a great time playing Simulacra and its way of storytelling is excellent to keep you invested all the way through to the end. The only complaint that we had with the game is that once the game is over that outside of going for different dialog choices there is not much to do in the game. We recommend playing the game all the way through and go back and try different choices and see the outcome. As the game is rated M- For Mature, we really felt with the content that the game is more like watching a PG-13 movie. For those that are planning to get the game, we recommend watching video of the gameplay and make the best choice for your gaming family. In our special needs game testing, we did not run into any issue with the game visuals, audio or even controls. As the game is more of a mature nature, we felt that the game content is more for gamers 13 and up to be able to play and enjoy the game.
Closing
Simulacra is a great interactive story game that will suck you into the story and wanting you to find out more about Anna disappearance. With great voice acting, video and overall gameplay, Simulacra is a great horror game for any fans of the series.
#simulacra #familygamerreview #videogamereviews #specialneedsgaming
