THE TOWN OF LIGHT
Haunting horror, bad port
Renée doesn’t run. The weight of her memories presses upon her shoulders, slowing her footfalls as she steps carefully over bricks and bed frames in the ruins of the asylum – her asylum. You won’t care, not once the story kicks in. (I wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere, either.)
The Town Of Light is a slow-burn horror that reveals itself via a selection of flashbacks, 1 medical records, and the ubiquitous diary entries. It delivers its story without a solitary jump scare, and if you think this can’t possibly be scary, you’re wrong. TTOL’s tale is horrifying, and worse still, it’s founded on fact.
There’s a handful of puzzles – nothing particularly cerebral – and a peculiar branching story that enables you to play out up to four scenarios that get you to the same point, albeit in slightly different ways. 2 It’s not long, and there’s not much of an oh-it-all-makes-sense now conclusion either, but Renée’s melancholy tale is one you’ll feel compelled to keep playing regardless.
Regrettably, the console port isn’t a great one. TTOL was noted for its stunning visuals on PC, but there seems to be less detail in the rendering on PS4 and the contrast between light and dark is lower, leaving the game’s gorgeously grim backdrops oddly flat. Oh, and the character models? They feel like they’ve been ripped out of a PS2 game. The horror you feel on seeing them isn’t just because of what they are doing.
TTOL brims with playable pathos, painting a vivid and oft-times painful account of suffering that’s skilfully aided by its score and pace. It’s such a shame the visuals end up spoiling an otherwise harrowing experience. Vikki Blake