Recent reviews by Doc End Game

Honestly could use improvements but overall it is a solid game and I was on edge the whole time. The graphics are not made for a 3440 x 1440 resolution. The screen was cutoff around the edges and weird behavior happened when leaving a location where when I would go left or right the scene location would pop to the opposite said and there would be a big black bar. Maybe that is supposed to happen but it was annoying to me. For the most part the game mechanics are solid. I only encountered a few instances where if you were not lined up exactly right you wouldn't be able to interact with necessary objects or doors. The story and the concept though is terrific and I think they can certainly find success with a sequel.

Absolutely the funniest and saddest game I have ever played. The developers and artists did an amazing job. The game mechanics are flawless and the story is engrossing every step of the way. There is a lot of dark humor centered around dark subject matter. They tackle subjects such as child abuse, child neglect, spousal abuse, drug abuse, and many others that are honestly difficult to address and they do it very well. You can connect with the characters and especially with Little Misfortune.

Sadly, this is perhaps the worst ghost investigation game I have played. The premise and promise by the developers was amazing. Yet, the ball was dropped in many ways. Some of the clues do not always lead you to the objects you need for the exorcism. The stories some times make absolutely no sense. The assets used feel like assets you could get for free or buy from the game engine's marketplace. What is even worse is that the developer studio has stated they have no intention on fixing any issues or updating the game after it was released. If you do choose to get this game I would not pick it up unless it is on a discount of 75% or more. This honestly felt like a cash grab with the rising interest of ghost investigation games, especially when they have no intention to support or improve on their product.

The best Backrooms game I have played yet. Sure, it could be improved on but for a single developer in Early Access, the developer has a solid game and I am excited to see the finished product. You can't beat that the developer is also engaged with his community and has big plans for the future so even when it is fully released we can expect more content to be added on. I mean, the developer set it up where he could add on infinitely from the hub so I cannot wait to see where he goes with it.

9 Childs St is a first-person indie horror game centered around atmosphere and narrative to propel the player into a dark tale. You take on the persona of a 9 year old by the name of Armin. Armin has become obsessed with the elderly neighbor across the street who seems to have disappeared. On this particular night, Armin notices a light on in the home and decides he must know what has happened so he sneaks out to investigate. Armed with his ball cap, a flashlight, and an ounce of courage, Armin leaves a note for his parents before heading to the neighbors house to discover the truth.

There have been several videos made by different content creators claiming that the developers, N4bA and SsmA, were inspired by the true events of Anatoly Moskvin. Although there are similarities between the narrative and the events of Anatoly Moskvin, I reached out to the developer who specifically stated there was no inspiration to the video game and that they were not aware of Anatoly Moskvin until after the games release. Regardless of whether the game was or was not inspired by Anatoly Moskvin, it is hard to ignore the parallels, which can add to the horror aspect of the game. If you are interested in knowing more about the events of Anatoly Moskvin, I have included a link in the description. Aside from this one hint behind the story of the game, we do not want to give away any spoilers should you choose to play.

The overall Core Mechanics of the game work as expected with no bugs encountered. There were no innovative mechanics introduced but the mechanics used were solid. No unexpected behaviors between player and the environment, menus, AI, or internal economy.

The game world was well-thought out and planned. The cultural context matched that of a middle-class family in a suburban neighborhood of western culture. A majority of players in Western Cultures may be able to find it easy to immerse themselves into the role of Armin as a result. There was no culling, clipping, z-fighting, or screen tearing in the environment further ensuring immersion during gameplay. Nothing breaks immersion faster than the environment not acting as expected and objects clipping through walls or fighting for priority in the same space.

The style of artwork compliments the atmosphere appropriately, most notably the children that you encounter in the home, which come off looking like they have plastic skin and honestly fits the narrative.. The audio, such as sound effects and voice overs, are level and consistent. Unfortunately, there is only one conversation with a child in the home that the reverb effects used breaks the immersion. I am certain the intention is to create a voice that sounds like a spirit but it came off sounding heavily distorted and because it is the only voice over conversation it is a central part to the audio immersion.

Character Development is a mix of good and bad. Not many games put the player in the point of view of a child. The developers did very well with the camera height placement and model proportions. You do feel as if you are seeing things from the point of a pre-teen. The clothing, symbolic objects, and names are appropriate of children. Where things take a turn is when you analyze the Character Depth. Due to the fact that the video game is short, an average of 45 minutes gameplay, the developers did not build in-depth character backgrounds and stories for the children. Improvements can certainly be made upon the background lore for Armin, the elderly man, and the children in the home. The character dimensionality could also be improved as all characters exhibit a zero-dimension personality. Yet, within the confines of the gameplay time the developers did strike a balance that works. The voice and language, not meaning the audio voice overs but the language the characters use, particularly Armin, fit the expectation of a middle-class pre-teen.

The storytelling and narrative also has positive and negative aspects. The story and narrative are credible and coherent but have little dramatic meaningfulness. In other words, the story and narrative do little to draw the player into caring about their situation or that of the other characters they meet. The narrative does support the story and the story was unique enough that it did not feel repetitive. However, the gameplay tension was not as strong as it could have been and about three quarters of the way through all tension is broken by the narrative during the voice over with the one child you speak to directly.

The user interface is easy to navigate, intuitive, and user-friendly. The main view being from the perspective of a child is shown appropriately by the field of vision from the first-person point of view. The shell menu allows you to start a new game, load the current game, control master volume, change look sensitivity, choose between two languages, and remove black stripes at top and bottom. Unfortunately, if you want to remove the black bars to have a more immersive experience this causes a conflict with the text that is displayed on the screen as the dialog. The text disappears into the game and a translucent block of color should have been used behind the dialog to make it readable at all times. The controls are typical for a game like this. The developers implemented tutorials at appropriate times and there was no obscure or abnormal key bindings making it easy to pickup and play even if there was no tutorials.

In this short of a game the challenges are well thought out and complement the story and narrative. The actions in the gameplay are typical and expected in order to complete the challenges presented to the player.

The game balance does fall a bit flat. No player skill is necessary and no meaningful choices are presented to the player. The difficulty level stays consistent with no choices provided to the player to make it more or less difficult. More puzzles that engage the players skill and additional choices in dialog that could impact the outcome would improve the balance.

This particular short indie horror game only has one level technically, the house you set out to investigate. Overall, the level design is well-thought out. The only drawback was the feeling of reward or consequence. The developers missed the mark of ensuring the player feels the outcome may be favorable or unfavorable because of the players choices. The player encounters a moment in the narrative where you feel your choice may have consequences but that is immediately removed by the response the player receives from the one child you speak with.

Overall, 9 Child’s Street, does provide a short and entertaining horror experience. The developers were able to provide an engaging atmosphere and interesting story. Despite areas of improvements with the narrative, puzzles, player choices, and game balance, we give the game a solid 7 out of 10 overall and believe it is certainly worth playing through once if you enjoy horror games. I can promise you this, the ending is definitely a surprise you won’t see coming.

There are a lot of things to love about this game and it certainly has filled the hole SimCity left behind.