The survival horror genre is currently going in other directions, especially through the use of the camera, with more first-person games, but this does not mean, in any case, that some do not opt for a classic style.
Alisa is one of those examples. Arisen as a project on KickStarter with more than 28,000 euros of collection in mid-2020, it is a Carper Croes project that precisely comes to be a tribute to the boom that was once the first Resident Evil on PlayStation … But taking as a reference also the darker version of Alice in Wonderland , that Alice from 1988 by Jan Švankmajer. The result? A most disturbing mix.
Yes, it could pass for a PlayStation video game
That 32-bit aesthetic is intentional, far from the later Resident Evil remake on GameCube. In addition, it preserves all the essential pillars of that 1996 classic, such as the camera with the most cinematic fixed planes, the tank-type control or the presence of puzzles and little ammunition for the monsters.
There are no zombies here, but there are puppets . In fact, as soon as Alisa leaves her room, in which she was sleeping, she sees a puppet that turns its head like the first zombie from Capcom’s Resident Evil. And its appearance is ugly, of course. And disturbing. Everything we will see is, except for the design of the mansion.
It could perfectly pass through a game of that time by an experienced studio, the only thing that shocks the appearance of the protagonist herself and the rest of the enemies, with a not so polished and exaggeratedly retro design in comparison. It is still in development and it shows, especially by the detection of collisions, with an effect for the bullets against the enemies that can be greatly improved.
However, there is no lack of improvements over the control experienced in survival horror games of the mid-nineties, such as being able to switch between two weapons without having to go to inventory , make a 180-degree turn or know at all times if the bullet will hit the monster thanks to a warning.
Alisa applies interesting changes to the formula
Alisa does not modify a priori that style so established of that time, except for certain details that manage to give it a lot of personality . And here part of the blame lies with the puppet Pol, our private seller of this terrifying dollhouse. Because he will give us access to weapons, ammunition, first aid kits, suits …
No, the enemies will not drop objects, except for certain coins like typical wheels of a gear. Yes, we can sometimes find ammunition in a room, but it will be quite scarce and visits to Pol will be common to buy more equipment or heal wounds. In this sense, it is striking that even Alisa’s own suit is not merely an aesthetic element, but that it will influence certain advantages, such as recharging faster, increasing her defense …
In the demo for Steam there are only two available, the one that comes by default and one completely dark, as well as two weapons (a pistol and a Wilson M1 rifle), having to manage the equipment from the closet located in the same room as Pol. But what does Alisa paint in this house? It is not explained in this demo, but she has come to that old Victorian mansion looking for a criminal, until she was caught by those haunting-looking humanoids.
For now, where this work by Casper Croes clearly stands out is in relation to the exploration of said mansion and the solving of puzzles , despite the fact that the riddles it gives us in its first 30 minutes do not reach the level of the piano in the first Silent Hill, of course. It will be necessary to see how it evolves.
- Platforms : Steam | He also got funding to go out on consoles
- Multiplayer : no
- Developer : Casper Croes
- Company : Casper Croes
- Released : May 31, 2021
- Price : to be confirmed
