The Mansion

Survival horror is a pretty tricky genre to approach, because such games are much tougher to get right than they appear at first. In essence, simple jump scares and loud noises are not enough to properly scare the players, because the atmosphere should actually be the main component. Thus, it’s sometimes not even necessary to show any gore or monsters on screen if the atmosphere has the right ingredients.

The Mansion is a fairly simple survival horror game played from a first-person perspective and with an emphasis on exploration, puzzle solving and a bit of action. Thus, the goal is to search the mansion for a revolver and use it to shoot the monster that roams it. There’s nothing else to worry about, so this is clearly not the type of game that sticks with you for years to come.

The atmosphere is quite unimpressive as well, given the fact that the only things that should theoretically make you feel scared are the environmental noises and the occasional rendezvous with the creature. Other than that, there’s barely any story, so it’s very difficult to empathize with the character or feel any kind of real terror when you are provided with no information at all.

Although the mansion is theoretically randomly-generated, it’s pretty difficult to tell most of the time, because the rooms look almost the same in every case. This makes exploration a pain and a chore, which is exactly the opposite of what you want in a game such as this one. Moreover, the monster is not that scary once you see it, although it can pass through furniture and ruin the whole mood.

As for the graphics, they are actually quite decent, at least when it comes to the quality of the objects you find in the game and the general level design. However, everything looks the same in many regards, so the effect lasts for only a few minutes. The sound effects are not bad either, but don’t expect Amnesia-level immersion in this regard.

Even if it lacks complexity and depth, The Mansion can still keep you engaged if this is your first horror game and you are very easily scared. However, veterans of the genre can see right through the shallow level design and weak atmosphere from the first few minutes of gameplay.