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The game’s art style aims for the horror of the real; while some supernatural elements are present, you will mostly be dealing with locales that could be present in the real world, and that you would certainly not want to spend a night in. Like horror games of the genre, the backgrounds are fully detailed with each item lying around telling its own story. The theme of an abandoned place is throughout the game, and even things that have little to do with the main plot can be the scariest since it makes your imagination fill in the gaps. Expect plenty of dark corners, some even too dark to see at first.
You will meet a handful of characters in your adventure, and they are rendered in full 3D and even voice acted. There is nothing more important in a horror themed game than immersion, and these aspects truly sell the experience.
Story-wise, the game starts with a frantic cutscene that sets the tone for the rest of the story. Everything happens in a first-person view, as the main character is escaping from an unseen force in a dilapidated building. She’s running for dear life on a rather long hallway, every door locked shut with no real way out other than the elevator at the end. She reaches it and frantically presses the call button, looking back to whatever it is that chases her. The elevator finally arrives, the doors opening slowly. She enters backward, her eyes locked on the darkness of the hallway, and steps back. Little did she know, the elevator hadn’t actually arrived, and she fell through the shaft to her demise.
This was, of course, all a dream. The main character wakes up, dizzy from the experience, and turns on the TV. There she notices a news report about an incident that happened in an abandoned asylum that looks eerily similar to the one from her dream. Deciding to know the truth, she sets off to know what connection she has to that place.
The gameplay follows the Hidden Object formula, with other puzzles sprinkled around for flavor. Many of the puzzles are interconnected, meaning you might need to search from room to room to get the object that lets you advance on a particular brain teaser. Now, once you have everything, you still need to know how to use it. Many of these puzzles come down to logic, keeping the tone of realism that we spoke of before.
The main course of the game is of course finding items detailed on a list. While there are other puzzles mentioned before, you won’t be doing them as often as in the lists minigame. Keep that in mind and your eyes sharp since you will be scanning the beautiful scenery of the game many times.
There are moments, however, where you might get stuck, particularly if you chose the “Expert” difficulty setting. The game does have plenty of safety measures in these cases, especially if you want to avoid frustration and just move on with the story. One of them is the hint button, with the shape of an alchemy symbol; press on it and it will show you what to interact with next. It takes a long time to recharge, but use it sparingly and you will always have it handy when in need.
For particularly difficult puzzles, however, you might want to not even bother with them. Well, you have the option to skip them, actually. Much like the hint button, you will have to wait for the meter on the skip button to be filled before you can use it. This is great since it gives you the time to actually try the puzzle for yourself.
There are moments, however, where you might get stuck, particularly if you chose the “Expert” difficulty setting. The game does have plenty of safety measures in these cases, especially if you want to avoid frustration and just move on with the story. One of them is the hint button, with the shape of an alchemy symbol; press on it and it will show you what to interact with next. It takes a long time to recharge, but use it sparingly and you will always have it handy when in need.
For particularly difficult puzzles, however, you might want to not even bother with them. Well, you have the option to skip them, actually. Much like the hint button, you will have to wait for the meter on the skip button to be filled before you can use it. This is great since it gives you the time to actually try the puzzle for yourself.
Abandoned: Chestnut Lodge Asylum Review is a very immersive title filled with frights and excitement. If you want the thrill of uncovering a mystery or to simply be told an interesting story, Abandoned truly delivers on all fronts. If you’re brave enough, come explore and find the truth behind it all.
If you enjoy these free games, you will love this list of our 10 Best Hidden Object Games!
