Afterfall: Insanity Review

Dark, intriguing and blood scary at times.

These are a few of the ways in which i would describe my time playing Afterfall: Insanity, a post-apocalyptic hack and slash horror game. The game, designed by Nicolas Games has echoes of both Fallout and Metro 2033. Afterfall tries to pull you in with its strange and compelling storyline and its endless dark tunnels.

Whilst it may not be setting a new level of standards for horror games, fans of the genre should take notice. the overall execution is solid and the game is multi-facited, meaning there is enough depth for the player to become intrigued in the location and storyline whilst not getting bored over time.

Afterfall is set deep within the earth in an underground bunker called “Glory”. Their idea is not so refreshing but it’s nice to see a developers take on a fallout style beginning.  The world above has been destroyed by the years of nuclear fallout from global wars and radiation is everywhere.

As mentioned before, the premise at the start seems to be very similar to Fallout 3, but instead focusing on the lives of the inhabitants beneath the surface, as opposed to the lives of people on the surface. It draws stark parallels also with Metro 2033, which focuses on humanities banishment to the depths of the earth.

You play as Dr Albert Tokaj, the resident psychiatrist in the shelter. You spend the first few of your days treating and reasoning with patients and trying to hold down a relationship with your girlfriend Katarina. You do all this whilst having frequent nightmares and anxiety attacks. One morning you are called into a a meeting with the leader of the shelter, the mysteriously named ‘Colonel’. You are told to go and check out some of the strange happenings on the lower levels of the shelter. As you find out residents are acting as strange as the Colonel thinks. They’re attacking guards and shouting nonsensical things at random people, especially you. Pretty soon you learn that the craziness is caused by an infection from a leak in the filtration system. It’s causing citizens of the shelter to become black thirsty mutants and attack anyone on sight.

Now, stories of infection and disease outbreak are a dime a dozen, and Afterfall doesn’t really do much to differentiate itself in that regard. While the introduction of the surface world and the tease of other possible civilisations outside the bunker are refreshing, it’s still fairly plain. Additionally, there were some cut scenes early on that go completely unexplained. While I won’t describe any in detail, it should be mentioned that these scenes, while very few, are never referenced later. It feels like a branch in the story that abruptly ends before it even begins.

However, I will say that towards the middle of the game, the plot really starts to find its voice and pace. Some characters become more fleshed out, some become more mysterious, and it all leads to a climactic cliff-hanger that surprisingly had my jaw on the floor.

Like many games in the horror genre, Afterfall: Insanity is about walking down long, creepy tunnels and hallways, fighting off monsters with limited supplies and weaponry, and solving puzzles in breaks between the action.

For the most part, these activities are simple and enjoyable. Unfortunately, it’s the simplicity that ends up taking away from what could’ve been a more diverse combat system.  You’ll spend your time hacking away at mutants and monsters with an assortment of pipes, hammers, and monkey wrenches that you find lying around the bunker. In addition to a basic set of melee weapons at your disposal, you can find much more useful firearms scattered throughout the levels. Pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles are the main contenders here.

As mentioned prior, the combat is basic. When the monster swings at you, it’s best to block their attack. You do so with a swift right-click of the mouse. When they leave themselves open post-swing, you mash that attack button. You can swing quick and with less power while wielding smaller weapons, or you can draw back your giant fire ax and swing for the fences on that mutant.

If you knock an opponent to his knees instead of fully killing him, you can swing once more for a finishing move. Unlike most games that have an assortment of final, bone crushing kills, there is only one finishing move in this game, which has your character mercilessly bashing in the skull of his victim. It’s bloody, gruesome, and satisfying.

After the 50th time, however, it gets old. While it’s fun in the beginning, the combat never varies throughout the game.  You’ll still be hacking the same mutants , over and over, just in different locations. When i say it gets boring, it truly gets very boring. But if you like this kind of genre, don’t be too put off!

The puzzles, on the other hand, feel evenly spaced out, offering a much needed break from the terror of skulking through hallways, trigger at the ready. While some puzzles were more frustrating to figure out than others, I never found myself hopelessly stuck in a rut.

What Afterfall does right, among many things, is the environmental tone. From the moment I made my first descent into complete and utter darkness, I could feel my heart rate increasing. You’ll depend heavily on the pathetically dim stream of light pouring out of the flashlight onto the cracked steel walls ahead.

To the right, the sound of pitter- patter, possibly footsteps, just meters away, inches closer with each step. The quiet footsteps turn into a frightening sprint, followed by a piercing scream of insanity.

That’s what one of the best moments in Afterfall feels like. While these instances are not constant throughout the gameplay, they are extremely effective as substantial heart rate amplifiers.

What is constant, however, is the downright supreme lighting in Afterfall. From the shafts of light that pour in from the windows, to the beams and lens flares that bounce off the metallic walls, the game is lit very, very well.

However, not everything is executed as well as the lighting system. The animated cut scenes, while usually commendable, are sometimes jerky and unappealing. The cinematography and diversity of camera angles is outstanding at times, but there are occasions where the game will let the lens focus run wild, generating some disorientating sequences. The character models look good, but it’s not a rarity to see a lack of sync between the moving of lips and the output of voice, as it’s sometimes staggered.

As for the voice acting, it ranges from sub-par to appreciable, but nothing ground-breaking or overly impressive.

There’s no getting around it, I have some complaints with Afterfall. One or two early scenes go completely unexplained; the two boss fights don’t really make total sense, and changes that the characters experience can be confusing and hard to follow.

But, I still had a good time with it.

Afterfall: Insanity gives fans of gritty, horror-action games a whole helping of what they enjoy. Despite its issues with a simplistic combat system and sometimes unintentionally comical cut scenes, the game is otherwise considerably solid.

IF you like horror games, the don’t miss out on Afterfall: Insanity. For its few downfalls I really did enjoy this game.

Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.