DAYMARE 1994 SANDCASTLE PREVIEW – SURVIVAL HORROR GETS AN COOL IMPROVEMENT(PC)
Daymare 1994 Sandcastle is a prequel to Invader Studios Daymare 1998. It’s a survival horror and Resident Evil-themed movie. This demo preview shows a marked improvement over the original’s solid but flawed foundation.
From a demo, it’s difficult to see if Daymare 1994 Sandcastle can improve upon the atmospheric but dull gameplay of Daymare 1998. After only 30 minutes of combat and exploration, I was captivated by the game’s initial feel. This is a clear indication of Invader Studios’ survival horror prequel.
This preview will include new characters, locations, equipment, and other details. Unfortunately, the demo is too short to cover all of it.
Daymare 1994 Sandcastle can be played as a demo during Steam’s Next Fest, February 21-28. S.
STORY – READ EVERYTHING ABOUT IT
Daymare. 1994 Sandcastle is set four years prior to the events in the original. This means that playable protagonists Liev and Sam are gone, while Dalila Reyes, H.A.D.E.S operative, is now in. Although it is not clear if Dalila is the only character playable, she is the only one in the demo. There is a very little story and character development. We only know that Dalila is searching for Foster, her unit commander. Although he survived the Section 8 commando assault, there is no context for any of this information. Only tape recordings and documents are available. This is a classic survival horror technique that Resident Evil fans should appreciate. It’s not clear if the voice acting has improved since the original’s borderline-satiric delivery.
GAMEPLAY – THE ICE-COLD KILLER
These electrifying enemies are new, as are the combat strategies you must use to defeat them. The Shambling Romero zombies may make a comeback in the full game. However, the demo only pits Dalila against the faster creatures. This makes combat more intense and scary. If you want to increase your heart rate, I recommend using headphones. Although it’s not the most dangerous part of gaming, I found myself panicking when multiple creatures ran towards me. I find this very rare when I play third-person action games, so it’s not something that happens often.
Another addition is the “Post-Mortem Gift”, which new enemies produce when they are killed. This electromagnetic charge travels to new hosts, making them harder to defeat. Frost Grip equipment is here to help. Frost Grip equipment can be used to spray enemies and then blast them with a shotgun, machine gun or another weapon. If Dalila is grabbed by one of the creepy creatures, she can release a blast using the Frost Grip to defend herself. I had a hard time aligning my shots so I ended up doing it multiple times. It was so much fun to fail at combat.
This new freezing mechanism is more effective than traditional methods because it only uses a small number of resources. It can also be used for solving environmental puzzles. To continue my exploration, I had to set fires and cool off the pipes. It’s a fantastic tool that shows Invader Studio is not content with re-creating survival horror games of the 90s. Despite this, the puzzles can be difficult to solve. This approach is something I personally love, but it’s not for everyone. This is not The Witness level problem-solving. The confusion around what you are actually working towards could be a problem for some. It took me less time to solve the two puzzles in this demo than I did the original.
A boss fight was absent from this demo. This is a common feature in demos of this length, but the original boss fight was notoriously slow and poorly designed. This is a good sign that the problem has not been repeated. Instead, you can choose to impress with standard combat and exploration elements.
GRAPHICS AND AUDIO – BIG IMAGINGS
The demo’s visuals impressed me right away. While the environments are decent in Nightmare: 1988 they are much better here. The characters are the most notable improvement in graphics. The faces had a strange smoothness to the odd polygonal models they had in the original. This resulted in a more frightening design than many of the creatures. Although it remains to be determined if the cutscenes will hold up, Dalila Reyes is a promising example.
As I mentioned above, headphones are recommended for the demo. This is a more intense and isolating experience, which really helps to sell the terrifying nature of facing the enemy. Although the ping function is extremely useful in finding key items and resources it can sometimes be quite loud when compared to other audio. It’s a small price to be paid for more efficient exploration. I’m glad to see this new feature.
