Fatigue Demo

Atmosphere is something pretty difficult to obtain in a movie or a video game, because it’s not a singular element that can be added at any time. In fact, it is a combination of elements that work together to achieve a certain mood, such as music, graphics, voice acting and more. Many have managed to get the mixture right, but even more have failed to create something memorable.

Fatigue is a top-down puzzle game with horror elements, in which you have to solve a murder case and survive a constant bombardment of germs and infections. The whole game is designed to be dark and unforgiving when it comes to the difficulty level, but you can still survive if you have patience. On the other hand, it’s a very early build, which means that there are many inconsistencies and annoyances.

The story puts you in the role of a detective by the name of John Foley, who was just fired by his superior for incompetence. However, he decides to take a vacation at a hotel where a murder took place a while ago, in order to conduct his own personal investigation. Things get unusual after that, and it becomes apparent that John suffers from some kind of disease.

The most interesting thing about the game is the stats system, because your character needs sleep, food and a few other things in order to perform adequately. In fact, he can drop dead if you forget to eat for too long, or if you avoid sleeping. On the other hand, you are constantly forced to run between your bed and the buffet, which leaves very little time to do any actual investigating.

As for the graphics and every other technical detail, the game is actually impressive, especially when it comes to the atmosphere created by all these working together. The graphics are almost black and white, and the music is incredibly spooky and depressing. The environmental sound effects are great, making that whole hotel seem like a soul-crushing place.

In the end, Fatigue is a very intriguing project, and it would be wonderful to see more of it in the future. Hence, every horror and mystery fan should give this a try, if only to be captivated by the great atmosphere.