Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 'Deep Sleep' (2024) - Horror Video Game Review

I was pleasantly surprised when I decided to check out episodic horror game; Poppy Playtime late last year. I had expected something like Five Nights At Freddy's but more basic. Instead it was the opposite, feeling like that game if it had been expanded upon to be more than just a single room puzzler. Both Chapter 1 'A Tight Squeeze' and Chapter 2 'Fly in a Web' were quite light on genuine horror moments, I would even go as far to say they are relatively child friendly. That isn't the case for Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 'Deep Sleep' - this chapter heightens the terror to make an experience that I would not recommend for those who don't enjoy horror. Of course, unavoidable spoilers for what has come before.

Chapter 2 ended with self aware doll Poppy Playtime deciding you were too useful to let go, and so at the last moment diverted the train that was transporting you to the surface, to instead send you deeper into the nightmarish facility, inadvertently causing the train to crash in the process. The third chapter begins with chapter antagonist - CatNap, picking up your unconscious body and discarding it in the trash compactor room. Regaining consciousness at the last moment, you escape the room, and soon get in contact with new character; Ollie, who communicates via a telephone device you collect. He tasks you with powering up a huge machine to divert the hallucinogenic red gas that is blocking the way deeper into the vast underground complex. To do this, you must head into Playcare - the giant biodome orphanage, that also happens to be the stalking ground of the lethal CatNap.

With each subsequent chapter being more expensive to buy, I really hoped the game would increase to match the price rise. That again is the case here, where Chapter 1 was around an hour long, and Chapter 2 around two hours in length, by the time the end credits for Chapter 3 appeared, I had been playing for around four hours. It is more of the same, you explore maze-like levels in first person, solving puzzles, while avoiding the chapter specific enemies who instant kill you should they get a hold of you. The game is at its most unique with the biodome setting, a vast area that is designed to look like it is outside, despite being very very deep below the surface. The central hub area here is made to look like a small town, with various buildings that you travel to as you attempt to reroute the power. Your adventure takes you to a variety of locations, from a school, to caverns, and offices. The horror is in abundance here, with much of it suggested rather than shown in detail. There was something really quite unsettling exploring dormitories and nurseries that featured blood stained bunk beds and cots.
To help assist you, as per previous chapters, new abilities for your grab-hand device are given. You get an upgraded grab-hand that lets you stretch out the hands further, and get two additional upgrades for it - one that allows you to use jump pads, and one that fires flares to light up dark areas. I spent much of my time here cursing how dark the game world was, especially when at the midway point your torch is destroyed. This was a problem of my own making, as I completely forgot I had a flare gun attachment that would have been very useful at giving light to the sometimes pitch black areas! The gun can also be used to protect against the pint-sized enemies that appear in the terrible Playhouse section. Terrible as in horror filled, not terrible as in badly made. Again, forgetting I had the flare gun made that part of the game a whole lot harder.

I was pleased that there is quite a lot of lore revealed during this chapter. You get information about the event that led to the initial disaster in the 90s (that you were seemingly the sole survivor of), and also get a good idea of your ultimate goal in the facility, with the hinted at main antagonist - 'The Prototype', making more of an appearance. The big bad of Chapter 2 was a constant presence, constantly interacting with you. CatNap has a far more hands off approach and barely even appears until the final half of the game. Puzzles were simple, but involved enough to feel satisfying to solve, mainly revolving around moving batteries about, and setting up relays to power up doors. The chapter culminates with a big boss battle, which was basically Five Nights At Freddy's, having you needing to monitor a series of corridors that something was trying to advance down. The hands-off approach of  the chapter antagonist was balanced with a few other enemies, a teacher robot that only moves on you when you aren't looking at it, and a horde of tiny robotic animals. These were both neat and effective enemies to face. Often these take the form of chase sequences. There were quite a few of these sections, though strangely, the checkpoints for these were never just before them, but several rooms before. This led to a pointless minute or so walk to get to the section that you previously died in each time (should you fail). Added to the horror mix are nightmare sequences (a result of the hallucinogenic red gas lingering around). These parts gave some variation, adding rather than detracting from the overall experience.

Each chapter of Poppy Playtime has both increased in length, and increased in horror. It was a pleasure to have the best looking area of the game yet with Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 'Deep Sleep', and I appreciated how survival horror like this felt, even if you are only in actual danger during set events, rather than constantly. I loved the lore here. The dark locations, and not knowing where to go during chase sequences occasionally frustrated, but myself forgetting I had a flare gun was no doubt the cause of some of these frustrations. As I say at the end of each chapter review; I can't wait to pick up the next chapter and get further into the Hell of Playtime Co.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows: Attack on Titan Collab 'Beyond the Walls' (2025) - Video Game Mission Review

From the very first instalment, I have been a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed series of video games. I have played through all the mainlines, and a chunk of side games, and each time a new one comes out I eagerly lap it up. For those not in the know, each game takes place in a different historical time period, they have been everywhere, from Greece, to Italy, to England, France and more. This year was Assassin's Creed Shadows, which takes place in feudal Japan in the 16th Century. I have currently sunk around 76 hours, but it hasn't been one of my favourites, with an unfocussed main storyline that frequently has me forgetting what I'm meant to be doing.
All that preamble is to say, unexpectedly, there was a collaboration with anime Attack on Titan. This might seem like an odd fit, but it isn't the first time a strange collab has occurred, just look at the Stranger Things/Far Cry 6 crossover from 2022. The crossover was sadly limited time, and realising that I only had a day left to try it before it was removed from the game, last night (at time of typing), I quickly headed on to check the crossover mission out.

The mission is called 'Beyond the Walls', and the game draws attention to it by highlighting it on the map the first time you go on post addition. It begins with you finding the corpse of an Attack on Titan Survey Corps member, on the body are orders that reveal the Survey Corps were on a mission to capture a defector named Gautwin, and that they had located him at a nearby castle. Heading to the castle, you rescue another Corps member, and together you head into the basement where she reveals the defector has the power to change into a 'Titan'. Naoe and Yasuke assume this power is being exaggerated when told it literally changes a person into a giant monster. Separated from Yasuke and the Survey Corps member, Naoe heads on her own deeper into the cave system.

The first part of the mission proper sees Naoe heading through a series of dark caverns. These were not much different from cave levels in the rest of the game, unexciting, but I do love the more tightly focussed levels in Assassin's Creed games. Aside from overheard conversations from guards, the game doesn't properly crossover until Naoe arrives at the giant crystal pillar cave. This area is similar to the one in the show, a cavernous room full of hundreds of crystal pillars rising up from the void. The section here is mainly parkour based, enemies positioned in ways that meant you always got the (sometimes literal) jump on them. I enjoyed this, and it always felt obvious where the bonus chests were located. The actual rewards were a bit dull. The trailer for the crossover was all about the armour sets for the characters, but it turns out all the cool stuff has to be paid for. Instead, you get a bunch of different flags, and a Titan statue for use back in your home base.

The second half of the mission has you play as Yasuke, and is much shorter. The first part has him fighting a boss and his minions, while the second half has him fleeing from a Titan. That sounds cooler than it actually is, as you only hear the monster, I couldn't actually see it chasing me unfortunately. With that done its all over, with one last choice to decide how the mission ends.

I'm glad I wasn't expecting too much as this was merely adequate. It was a fun and silly crossover, and I did enjoy how it was integrated into the more realistic main game, but the actual mission was a bit underwhelming. I loved Naoe's section, the crystal caves were a lot of fun to get through. Yasuke's was more of a let down, it would have been cool to actually get to fight a Titan, rather than only have it appear on screen during a single cutscene. The rewards were fine, I'm not going to complain about free stuff, and you do get a unique weapon for both characters as a mission reward, but it felt a bit misleading that the armour sets were so front and centre in the trailer when these are only available to buy from the shop. For how attractive the rest of the game is, this mission was a bit bland looking.
The mission was free, and a cool little bonus. While it sucks it is only there for a limited time, I'm glad I got to try it, even if it was a little underwhelming.

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System Shock (2023) - Sci-fi Horror Video Game Review (Playstation 5)

As much as I tried back in the day, I just could never get into PC gaming. I have long heard of System Shock, not only one of the first immersive sims to be created, back in 1994, not only was it the pre-cursor for Bioshock (which shares much of its DNA), but it's A.I antagonist SHODAN, regularly features highly in the top video game antagonists of all time lists. In 2023, a remake was finally released, rather than reimagine the game for a modern day audience, this remake instead remains very faithful to the original game. Due to that, while I loved my time with this, it also could be quite frustrating with the sometimes outdated mechanics it presents.

In 2072, in a dystopian cyberpunk future, a nameless hacker is caught while trying to steal the designs for a military-grade neural implant from the all powerful TriOptimum Corporation. They are taken to Citadel Station, owned by the corporation, and it is there that an executive offers the hacker a deal. The executive is Edward Diago, and he states that he wants the station's A.I; SHODAN to have its ethical constraints removed and control of it handed to Diago, likely for shady means. This is something that the hacker is able to easily do, and in exchange they are promised they will be given the neural implants they had originally tried to steal the plans for. Sometime later, the hacker awakens in the medical bay of the space station, having been fitted with the implants. It soon becomes clear something terrible has happened, the removal of SHODAN's constraints has made it fully self-aware, and also unfortunately, completely mad. The A.I has decided it is a God, and that humanity must worship it. It has reprogrammed all the robots aboard the station to be lethally hostile, and the crew have suffered fates worse than death in many cases. Those not killed immediately have either been transformed against their will into brainwashed cyborgs, or experimented on with mutagens that has mutated them into mindless monsters. Contacted by Rebecca Lansing (a counter-terrorism consultant), she promises the hacker that in exchange for their assistance in stopping SHODAN, they will be exonerated for their crimes.

The immersive sim label is a relatively new one, think games that take place within logically built worlds where most of the objects can be interacted with in some way. System Shock is a first person adventure game that sees the player working their way through the vast maze-like levels of the space station while thwarting SHODAN's many sinister plans for human domination. Despite being a remake, the game is presented faithfully to the original, the textures are old-school in look, though with a modern engine that gives the game world a wonderful look. It is also balls to the wall hard. At the onset of the game you are presented with four different difficulty sliders. I opted to have objectives, puzzles, and cyberspace on an easier mode, while I made the fateful and unchangeable decision to leave the combat on normal.
The game plays much like Bioshock, though an earlier version that isn't as smooth to play.
Each level of the space station is a huge meandering maze that is very easy to get lost in. To me, it felt like if Bioshock had been created with the sensibilities of original Doom in mind. The eight or so floors are all giant and took a long time to work through. Having expected an 8 or 9 hour experience, I was rocking around 20 hours by the time the end credits appeared. Each floor followed a familiar format for me, I would search out the medical bay (which would grant you resurrection should you die), and the charger for the energy weapons. While you have access to guns, ammo is never in too plentiful a supply, equalled with a limited sized inventory and you would need to be clever with item management, with not enough space to be able to carry all the different weapons you would find. Something that was impressive to me was the state of the game world. Enemies once killed stay dead and don't respawn. When new enemies do appear, they come into the world in a logical way, arriving on lifts from beneath the floor. Even cooler, if you do die and resurrect, any damage you have done to enemies remains, so piece by piece you can slowly take out the ever increasing amounts of robots, cyborgs, and mutants without feeling you are not making any progress. There is also a useful quick save function. For boss fights and later areas of the game the resurrection doesn't work. Thankfully, boss fights can be quite easy with the right assortment of power-ups and weapons. Even with objectives set to easy, it wasn't always clear exactly what you should be doing, so I had a lot of moments where I felt almost aimless in my travels, though this added to the feeling of exploration rather than frustrated.

I loved playing through this, but I would be lying if I didn't find it as frustrating as Hell at times. Even with virtually infinite lives and a static game world, I found the amount of enemies, and the lack of too much ammo and health to be a pain. I sometimes felt that it would have been more enjoyable if I had just stuck the combat onto easy also. The space station is vast and a little bland at times, but it is designed in a logical way that I so love with immersive sims. It is littered with audio diaries and the occasional written message, with the former fully voiced. SHODAN is a constant presence, her corrupted and distorted threats and over confidence made her be a memorable antagonist, I can see why people have placed her so high on those lists.
Splitting up the adventuring, there are also slight puzzles to solve, I'm glad I put these on easy as I could see them getting boring if much more complicated, even more different are the cyberspace sections. Typically used to open locked doorways, cyberspace places you in hallucinogenic flying stages where you blast computer programs that appear as shooter type flying enemies. I have heard complaints about these parts, but I found them a nice break from the endless adventuring in the game proper.

I am very glad I finally got to play System Shock and see some of the origins of the immersive sim. The game does feel dated even with its modern benefits applied to it, and it can be frustrating more often than not, but the feel of being trapped onboard a hostile space station was well realised, and the story, while basic, had a great and memorable antagonist. System Shock 2 is meant to be even better, and with that having had a modern remaster, it will be the next game I play.

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Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 'Fly in a Web' (2022-24) - Horror Video Game Review

In a rare break from watching mainly horror films for review, I decided to spend this weekend (at time of typing) exclusively playing horror video games. Having had an unexpectedly fun time with Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1, I decided to pick up the second chapter; Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 'Fly in a Web', due to it being in a sale for around £4. I wasn't sure if it would be value for money despite the low price, and it was that which put me off buying the more expensive Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 & 4. Would this second episode carry on the surprising fun the first offered? This was the Playstation 5 version of the game which released in 2024, and, obviously, spoilers for Chapter 1 to follow.

The first chapter concluded with you defeating the monstrous Huggy Wuggy and making it to the area that had been highlighted in the VHS tape you had originally received in the mail. Instead of discovering your missing former colleagues of the Playtime Co. toy factory, you instead discover the titular Poppy Playtime; a small self-aware doll. Having freed her from the case she was trapped in, she promises to help you escape the factory, as it is something she also wants to do. With the way back out blocked, Poppy suggests you head deeper down into the underground complex to the toy test area where there is a train that you can use to leave the facility. Arriving there however, you encounter a new horror - Mommy Long Legs. This creation uses her impossibly long appendages to capture Poppy, and then reveals to you that in order to use the train, you must play three children's games with Mommy, with her giving you part of the train start-up code for each game you successfully complete.

I had hoped this chapter would be longer than the first, and thankfully it was. With the first one done in under an hour, this one took me roughly two hours to beat. By the time you get to the train station, the chapter goals are clear - playing each of the three games. These include a memory game called 'Musical Memory', 'Wack-a-Wuggy' that is similar to the classic 'wack-a-mole' game found at arcades, and a tense spin on musical statues, simply titled 'Statues'. These were all fun to do, and had a Portal type feeling of getting to head behind the scenes from the initial play rooms.
Gameplay is once again mainly made up of simple, yet enjoyable puzzles involving the grab handle accessory you are armed with. Previously, both hands were able to conduct electricity, this time around you get an upgrade - a green grab handle that is able to briefly store electricity. This creates opportunity for different types of puzzles, such as one section where you have to open a series of gates in order to push a minecart along some tracks.

Horror is again quite meek, though I would argue Mommy is just as creepy as the mute Huggy Wuggy. This antagonist is constantly talking to you, and seems to be angry that she had been trapped below ground on her own for so long. Her look is kind of like Stretch Armstrong crossed with Mr. Tickle, her arms, legs, and neck all able to stretch to ridiculous lengths. I thought maybe the long maze-like chase sequence the first chapter culminated with would again appear. More sensibly it is a lot more stripped back. There are a variety of short chase sequences, but more stream-lined, like the developers were well aware they couldn't get away with the exact same thing again. This was about as scary as chapter 1 (I.E: not very) but that did not get in the way of my enjoyment. 
I realised this time around that it is worth hunting down the secret VHS tapes. These tapes provide lore and backstory and were worth finding. Often they would include live-action footage of actors playing employees of the factory.

I had figured that a second round of Poppy Playtime might have shown a lack of variation. The toy testing area felt suitably different to the factory of chapter 1. Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 'Fly in a Web' remains a most happy surprise, and of course has left me very interested in continuing the journey into this hellish facility.

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