the suicide of rachel foster horror game

It’s as if the writers of the game didn’t quite understand how horror works, as the game never truly gets over the hump into the scary.

There is even a moment where you see bad shit going down in a VHS flashback, but then the game pulls back a bit and never gets the story ‘there’. You know by looking at everything in the game that some bad shit went down. Once you get there, the game really starts pouring it on thick. To help guide you through the game, there is a suspicious field agent named Irving, who calls you during certain moments of the game (and you can sometimes answer with branching narrative responses).Īnyway, it’s a weird, long transition to get to the point where you get to the horror.

Prior to that point in the game, you’re mostly just surviving in the hotel, turning the power on, turning the heat on, finding food - it’s like a short survival game before the horror emerges. For example, the game took about four ‘Days’ before it got to the beef of the story, where you really dig into the death of Rachel Foster. While you will certainly meet some scary times, such as getting locked in a freezer or getting a jarring/threatening phone call from a mysterious voice, the payoff seems to mostly underwhelm when compared to the effort. The actual gameplay is a bit light on execution. In actuality, these are loading areas for the next part of the game - sometimes they take forever. The developers nailed the atmosphere of the game and even going as far as to add some Shining like ‘Day’ intertitle count as you progress. It’s an incredible sense of uneasiness that makes you tighten up with every creak and ‘bang’ in the hotel. Playing off Ridley Scott’s Alien concept of jarring sounds and dim lights, the game really does a great job of making you feel like there is something waiting for you in the shadows, and whatever that might be seems to constantly watch you during the entire game.

The design of the game has you going through a dimly lit hotel trying to uncover clues and dig up some nasty facts that no one wants dug up about Foster’s suicide, especially current residents of the hotel (the hotel is empty, so there it is). The gameplay genre of The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a first-person adventure with an overbearing sense of horror weighing down on everything you do, discover, and visit. While she waits for the storm to pass, she begins to wonder about how her family was destroyed thanks to the suicide of Rachel Foster, a young lady who was tied up in some adult matters then killed herself after she couldn’t take anymore…or perceived to have killed herself. As soon as she enters the premise to pick up some belongings, she is quickly stuck in the hotel thanks to a winter storm that plows through the area. The story follows a young woman’s journey back to her family’s hotel to tie up loose ends, both in business and emotion, and finally bring closure to an unspoken and unfounded sense of brokenness. Does it succeed in its effort of a total horror package? Let’s talk.

You will feel that sense of horror looking down that PT-esque hallway for the first time. It covers some sensitive topics while leaving assumption to the player, while at the same time trying to shoehorn in horror. The Suicide of Rachel Foster is an interesting title from veterans Daedalic Entertainment.

The suicide of rachel foster horror game