How did I miss this one? Whilst randomly browsing the special offer page on GOG in mid-March, I spotted a very interesting-looking game from 2021 called “Lamentum”. It had been reduced to £3.49, the system requirements were low and it was in the “survival horror” category. And, yes, despite the 2D graphics, this is very much a classic 1990s-style survival horror game at heart. I had to check it out, and I’m glad I did 🙂
This review may contain SPOILERS. The game itself contains FLASHING IMAGES (lighting). Click on each screenshot to see a larger version.
Set in 19th century Germany, you play as a man called Victor whose beloved wife Alissa has fallen gravely ill. Once it seems like conventional medicine can no longer help her, Victor seeks out the help of the mysterious Count Steinrot and – along with Alissa – travels to his creepy mansion in the middle of nowhere in the hope of finding a cure…
“I merely unshackled myself from the bonds of convention and mediocrity“. Oh yes, prepare for EXPERIMENTS!
One of the first things that I will say about this game is that, some mild moments of frustration aside, it was a lot better than I expected. This genuinely feels like playing a 1990s survival horror game, but with some subtle modern touches. The pixel art is done really well (especially the adorable reloading animation for the guns) and it has a cool gothic Lovecraftian atmosphere to it as well. Best of all, you can disable limited saving – and I would strongly recommend this for a first playthrough on “normal”.
The basic gameplay is pretty much what you’d expect. You have a limited inventory, there is optional limited saving, there are monsters you can either fight or flee from, there are lots of places to explore and lots of puzzles to solve. One interesting new mechanic is that, when monsters are nearby, Victor can only sprint for a limited amount of time before needing to catch his breath. Yes, it makes monster encounters scary – but being able to flee monsters is a central part of survival horror, so expect some mild frustration.
As well as this, the isometric 2D perspective also allows for some faster-paced and more “videogame-y” set-pieces than a traditional fixed camera would, such as having to dodge relatively fast-moving hazards. This makes the game more dynamic and most of these parts are good, but the “spikes and pushers” segment in the garden may cause some frustration. On the plus side, you can also assign weapons and items to hot-keys as well, which also makes the game a bit more dynamic.
Fortunately, there is a save point shortly before you find THIS segment. You did disable limited saving, right?
“Lamentum” (2021) also gets the pacing of classic survival horror right as well 🙂 Whilst there are certainly frantic moments where you’ll be dodging monsters or fighting for your life, there’s also a lot of weirdly relaxing and atmospheric slow-paced exploration as well. Seriously, the “quiet moments” are like half of what makes a game feel like survival horror, and this game nails it perfectly 🙂
As for the horror elements, they’re like a fascinating mixture of “Resident Evil” (1996), “Silent Hill” (1999) and “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” (2010). There’s a really good mixture between suspenseful monster horror, psychological horror segments, Lovecraftian cosmic horror, tragic/depressing horror, gothic horror, occult horror and the occasional jump scare. Whilst this game isn’t ultra-terrifying, some moments certainly caught me off-guard and it can be at least moderately frightening at times.
And, yes, I should have expected an “otherworld” to show up every now and then, but I didn’t and it freaked me out LOL!
One fascinating thing about this game is that, despite being set in the 19th century (when revolvers existed), all of the weapons are from the 18th century or earlier. As well as several close-range melee weapons – which require good timing and “hit and run” tactics to avoid taking damage whilst using them – all of the guns are single-shot flintlocks, blunderbusses and muskets. And, yes, you have to manually reload these – completed with an adorable little “ramrod” animation – between every shot. Ammunition is very scarce early in the game but, if you search well enough, you’ll have at least twenty bullets for the final boss battle.
Not only are the animations good and the 2D pixel art both charming and detailed, but all of this allows for a surprisingly large game-world on such a low budget. The mansion has sprawling gardens as well as several floors and wings, plus a few “otherworld” areas and this really cool graveyard near the end of the game. Also, there’s a lot of optional extra stuff as well. By the end of the game, I had a key which I didn’t actually need to use once and several unused puzzle items as well.
Seriously, this graveyard is such a cool location 🙂 Those poor Kickstarter backers though! So many of their names are on the headstones…
And the puzzles are fairly decent. Whilst I’m not really a puzzle fan, and I had to check a walkthrough a couple of times, there are enough clues that you can usually work out what you are supposed to do. I didn’t hate the puzzles in this game. The puzzles are moderately challenging, but fair – and I would strongly advise you to keep a pen and paper next to your computer to note down the clues as well. Seriously, take notes! Because I don’t think that the game does it for you.
Like in a lot of modern survival horror games, there’s a much better level of monster variety than in the classics from the 1990s – with all sorts of weird eldritch horrors, as well as some fairly gnarly bosses to fight. Oooh! And a Grim Reaper-style monster inspired by the ones from “Blood” (1997) 🙂 The bosses are easier than you might think though – except for the final boss. The final battle is an old-school 1990s-style “puzzle-based fight”, which I’m not going to spoil, other than saying that running diagonally across the main corridor can help you get out of the boss’ “limited sprint bar range” sometimes.
The sound design is excellent – not only the monster noises but also the amazing save room music which is it’s own thing, but also instantly evocative of the RPD lobby music in the original “Resident Evil 2” (1998) – seriously, the nostalgia I felt when I first heard it! There’s no voice-acting in this game, but this actually works in its favour since I imagine that low-budget voice-acting would ruin the game’s atmosphere.
In terms of length, this is a medium-length game by modern standards. Whilst I only officially logged 4-5 hours with it, this doesn’t count the number of times I had to load saved games after dying. In practice, I probably spent more like 6-8 hours with this game. Whilst there isn’t a “new game plus”, there are four endings and – as mentioned earlier – some optional areas and puzzles you might miss on your first playthrough.
All in all, despite some mild moments of frustration, this game is better than I expected 🙂 Don’t let the 2D graphics put you off, this game genuinely feels like playing an old-school “Resident Evil” or “Silent Hill” game in the best possible way 🙂
If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get four and a half.
