Reviews - Wulfston

Erie does a lot of things right, especially for a free game. It looks nice, it has a unique feel, the controls are solid. Unfortunately, it has massive flaws that really kill it's ability to be enjoyed fully.

The biggest of these flaws is one of it's core mechanics. The monster, a mutated test subject. I'll put aside whether or not it's genuinely frightening in appearance, which is a matter of opinion, and instead focus on what is clearly wrong with it. And that is that it is not frightening in action or consequence.

The monster chases the player. If the player is caught, the sole consequences are a badly animated scene where the monster MIGHT be killing the player, though it's hard to tell. The lack of sound whilst this all happens makes the whole thing seem like an animation glitch than an intentional feature, and the fact the player returns to life at their last quicksave, all items still in hand means it means nothing.

Avoiding this minor setback also manages to shatter all atmosphere the game built before it's awkwardly bad death scene. Being faster than the creature, it simply becomes an annoyance as you try to search for clues and soak in the better parts of the game; it's a reason you can't stop and actually enjoy and engage, instead kiting it around pointlessly.

The game still has some solid fun value, but it makes you work in the worst possible way to get it. Frankly, the whole experience would be improved by removing the creature and turning the game into an atmospheric horror rather than a creature feature.

Lumber Island is a game that makes you WANT to like it. At first glance, it's atmospheric, stripped down and downright eerie. Unfortunately, it can't keep up with itself.

It's main(?) antagonist has an almost comically bad model, spoiling much of the atmosphere very nearly immediately. The early puzzles, whilst simple, have no logical basis. The result is rather than timidly creeping where you need to go, you kick around the island and rapidly grow accustomed to it's "charms". The poor grammar and clearly type-text of the "handwritten" clues do a surprising ammount to shatter immersion. And the bugs, whilst not game breaking, make it hard to be afraid; flying away from a horror, and skipping through the sky make for whimsical play.

Lumber Island, ultimately, fails at it's goal. Every time I felt dread trying to take hold of me, some choppy animation or breakdown of the world would shatter my disbelief. That said? It has potential, but currently plays like a pre-alpha. Hopefully, the team either gets their game together, or adds people who have the skills in areas they so obviously don't. Like writing.