Whenever I get the opportunity to play a new horror adventure, I always jump at the chance. That said, that was the only jumping I did while trying to stay interested in this yawn of a spookfest.
Don’t get me wrong, the environment is lovely and so very ambient in all the right ways, but the story! Ugh!
So as to avoid spoilers, I’ll move on…
Gameplay: Lackluster. If ever there was an experiment in railroading, this is probably what it looked like. You creep down a dark hallway and collect the last part of a puzzle that awards you with a key. You use that key to unlock a door which leads to another puzzle to get another key to unlock yet another door with another puzzle leading to another key behind it… Wash, rinse, repeat. This pretty much sums up the entire game as I experienced it right up until I threw my hands in the air in utter exasperation, and quit.
Otherwise, this title has clumsy stealth elements which hardly fit the narrative and lazy scares that seem placed just as an attempt to keep the player engaged. Considering that I ended up quitting part way through the story, you the reader might guess that I came away feeling less than engaged.
Atmosphere: Top notch! Here is where one will see that I am not just writing this to be cruel to the developers.
The environment is truly a thing of beauty. From the creaking boards to the shadows to the dimly lit corridors, this a beautifully designed haunted hotel.
The soundtrack is beautiful to the point where I could envision playing it at home on a rainy night with a glass of wine in hand.
The developers really did capture the loneliness of a place forgotten by all but the dead and for this I give it the highest marks. Everything about the place made me want to fall in love with this game, but in all other ways it just couldn’t deliver.
All in all I give Maid of Sker 2 out of 5 stars as there was no “Sker” to be found.
