SILVER CHAINS
This one could be shockingly good
“THEIR TANGLED BODIES CAST EERIE SHADOWS AROUND THE ROOM.”
An old chair sits alone in a dark room, lit by the light of the moon. The sound of rain, muffled by old, thick Victorian walls, patters somewhere off-screen, in the gloom. Nothing is really happening. There’s no monster. We can’t see anything moving. But it’s absolutely terrifying.
Old is always scary, and the early-20th-century architecture of Silver Chain’s (haunted) house has us on edge from the off. But there’s more here than a clever use of our fear of the dark.
The setup is as classic as the jump scares lurking in the shadows. You, or rather your hapless alter ego Peter, awake in the mansion with no memory of how you got there. A vague recollection of an accident persists but you put it out of your mind and focus on what’s important; you’re not alone and you need to escape the house.
HOUSE RULES
Played in first person there are a number of puzzles and surprises between you and freedom. An early, simple challenge involves finding a pair of scissors so you can cut away a curtain of hanging dolls, some headless; their tangled bodies cast eerie shadows around the room. A bit of exploring and a snip later, and Peter’s free. But instant joy reseeds into trepidation as you realise you’ve only made it into the broader confines of the house.
Clearly developer Cracked Heads understands the true stars of its game are the creaky floorboards and torn-wallpapered walls of its creepy house. Created in Unreal Engine 4, it looks fantastic. Photoreal rooms tread well-worn, carpeted ground, from dusty bedrooms to tiled bathrooms cracked by time. But it’s the stillness of some scenes, such as a kitchen table set for breakfast and left abandoned, that’s spine-chilling.
The game isn’t scared of breaking its atmosphere with old-fashioned jump scares either. Exploring one corridor, and put off by a locked door, a clock’s even, regular ticking breaks the silence. Following the sound, moving slowly into the darkness, it’s hard not to feel uneasy… then a child runs out of the shadows and we jump into next week.
As you search for a way out, Peter will uncover the mysteries of the house, many of which are connected to a wider story and terrible events that have plagued this unnerving place. Most odd of all, our protagonist discovers evidence that suggests he’s been in this house before.