Preview: Monstrum

In my first game of Monstrum I wandered the confined corridors of the games abandoned ship confused and alone. With just a torch in my hand I searched through room after room, finding strange notes and objects of indeterminate use. I found a helicopter on the deck; a possible escape! I grew impatient and began running. The helicopter keys had to be somewhere! Deep in the lower decks of the ship I round a corner at full speed and find myself face to face with one of the games terrifying beasts. I jump out of my seat as the strange translucent monster pounces on me ending my game in an instant. The second time I played Monstrum I wondered through another part of the ship and got hit by a blast of random steam…which also killed me. So far this defines my time with the early access build of Monstrum: equal parts terror and frustration

[youtube id=”6YJoOfRd12g”]

There’s this bit really early on in the first Resident Evil game. You’re wandering through the corridors of the games huge mansion when suddenly two zombified dogs burst through the windows. It’s one of the defining moments of survival horror and, arguably when the genre was truly born. However, after you’ve played this scene once the shock and scare is gone forever. The dogs can only get the jump on you the first time you enter that corridor. But what if the dogs could jump through any window? What if you never knew where the next scare is coming from no matter how many times you replay the game? Enter Monstrum, and the world of procedurally generated horror.

Video gaming is currently going through a bit of a procedurally generated craze so it’s always worth pointing out what is, and isn’t randomised in a game of Monstrum. First of all every game of Monstrum takes place on an abandoned ship adrift at sea. The general layout of the ship is pretty much the same and the ways off the boat, the games escape routes, are also always found in the exact same locations. The bulk of the randomisation is in the location of the games many items and also the terrifying creature that pursues you through the ship. In its current state there are two possible creatures that wonder the corridors of Monstrum’s ship, with one randomly selected at the games outset.

The aim of Monstrum is simple. Get the hell of the boat before your pursuer rips you to shreds. You achieve this by using one of the ships escape routes which involves scouring the ship for a variety of items. You’ll need the keys if you want to fly off in that helicopter and that life raft definitely needs patching up with some tape before you can inflate it. Eventually though, as you make enough noise or get spotted by a security camera the monster will find you! Each monster has it’s own distinctive AI and unique way of scaring the crap out of you. One, a hulking monstrosity, is completely devoid of subtlety. He stomps around the ship, light emanating from his eyes and mouth. You can both see and hear him coming but once he spots you he pursues you with an insatiable vigour, often chasing you across most of the ship. The second is his polar opposite. Smaller, and quieter this translucent beast spends most of its time moving through air vents appearing only fleetingly in the distance before scurrying away again.

Of course you are completely powerless to defeat these creatures; your only choice is to run and hide. Get caught even for just one second and the game is over with any progress you made wiped clean. Over the course of the game, however you’ll find acquire a large selection of items that will help you avoid your pursuer. A light source is required for most of the games, but will attract the monster towards you. Breakable and other loud objects can be thrown to lure the monster elsewhere, often to trick the monster into smashing open doors that would be otherwise inaccessible.

When everything works it makes for a genuinely terrifying experience. However, in its current early access state there are a few things that are letting it down. The game relies on a permadeath system – when you die you lose any progress you made and start right back at the beginning. This would be fine but, combined with the fact that any form of damage instantly kills you it can be a major frustration. Let me make something clear: the monster should kill you if you get caught but its the other dangers present in the game that are very annoying. In one playthrough I was incredibly close to escaping the ship. I’d repaired and inflated a life raft, lowered it into the ocean and all that was left was to jump on it. First, however I had to drop down a relatively small ledge which, apparently was enough to instantly kill my character. Of course, now I know this I won’t do that again but it was an incredibly frustrating end to an otherwise great playthrough.

Being killed by a single blast of steam or from a small drop seems incredibly cheap and also detracts from the games main threat: the monsters themselves. Personally I think it would be better if these other threats simply made it easier for the monster to catch you. Perhaps a blast of steam causes your character to scream out, alerting the monster to your presence. Maybe falling off a ledge causes you to sprain an ankle severely limiting how far or fast you can run. Also, at times the enemy AI leaves a lot to be desired. In the cramped corridors deep in the bowls of the ship the monster can often get the jump of you and pursuits are intense and tough. However, in more open areas its worryingly easy to confuse them enemy. I spent one playthrough running the monster in a circle until it got bored before I continued to search for items. Every time he spotted me I’d just run around in a circle again and repeat. There’s also a niggling feeling that all you’re really playing is an uninspiring fetch quest. All of the escape routes simply require you to find a handful items and that’s…basically it. There’s very little in the way of puzzle solving or even something as simple as combining items together.

It’s important to point out that the game is still in early access and a lot will change for its full release later in the year. The developers plan to include a whole new area of the ship, another monster and best of all Oculus Rift support. It’s very likely that a lot of the problems I’ve mentioned above will be removed for the game in the next few months. In fact the most recent patch reduced the amount of steam vents in the game making them less of an annoyance and putting the focus back on the monsters. Also, in spite of these frustrations I still really enjoyed my time with Monstrum. With a few tweaks and with the added features the full release  is definitely something I’m very excited about.

Tags: Early Access, horror, Monstrum, Occulus Rift, Permadeath, Team Junkfish