Shadow Over Isolation Demo

Lovecraft is one of the most well-regarded horror authors in literature, mainly because he had a unique way of approaching the subject of fear and terror. Thus, instead of plastering the pages of his book with hideous descriptions and gut-wrenching gore, he was using other methods to make his readers uncomfortable. As we all know, it’s much more terrifying to always be unsure of whether there’s a monster following you than to see one every few seconds.

Shadow Over Isolation is not your typical adventure game either, since it tries to avoid as many cliches as possible while providing the players with an intense experience. It plays a lot like a point & click adventure game, but the game is a lot more interactive than that, since you are allowed to move around freely and interact with the world as you see fit. The goal is to accomplish a few tasks at a time, but there’s always the option to just lay back and explore the environment to find out more about the world you have stepped into.

As mentioned before, the story is inspired by Lovecraft, but it’s not directly taken from one of his tales either. The events take place in Kapra County, Georgia, and the main character’s name is Ryan Kappel. He is visiting distant relatives, but the farm he stays at triggers a flux of nostalgia and interesting memories. This leads to him coming across a few secrets and lies that should’ve remained buried.

The gameplay resembles the one from classic adventure games, except you play from a first-person perspective instead. On top of this, you also have a unique ability at your disposal called Grey Matter mode, which allows you to enter some kind of trance and analyze the environment more carefully. It’s also a useful way to connect multiple scraps of information and put together clues in order to understand the bigger picture.

As for the graphics, Unreal Engine 4 rarely disappoints, but the artists and the designers deserve more praise in the case at hand. Every room and landscape you come across in the game is simply breathtaking, not to mention immersive. It really feels like you are in someone’s home and not just waltzing around a pile of polygons someone threw together and called it a house.

When it’s all said and done, Shadow Over Isolation shows tremendous promise, especially if you are a fan of adventure games, and even more so if you enjoy Lovecraft’s writings. The visual design is exquisite, which should help a lot with the atmosphere.