Before we venture too far into this review, I would like to state that the fact that this game came from a Russian developer has no bearing on my score or feedback. I am about as apolitical as you can get when it comes to foreign affairs, and while I have empathy for all parties involved, my thoughts are based on my time with this game and that alone.

It’s easy to overlook the time and resources that go into publishing a game, especially when it’s coming from a smaller team or single individual. In my time reviewing games for this site, I have come across a long list of games produced by a lone person that are heads and tails above anything I could personally make by myself, but nonetheless, are below what we have come to expect from something released on the major platforms. Sure, some of the games are just outright terrible offering nothing of substance, but a lot of these experiences show promise that would have been elevated by a larger budget or a few more hands working on it. 35mm is one of those games.

The game focuses on your nameless survivor who is out in search of his family in a post-pandemic, post-apocalyptic world; a relatable story for me as this would be my sole focus in this situation. It is an eerie setting that really sells the theme of being alone, with the exception of your companion who is accompanying you on your journey. In many ways, it reminds me of the slower-paced areas from games such as The Last of Us, where your main focus is gathering supplies. The thing is, it quickly becomes clear this is most of what the game has to offer, and anything that veers from this course is mediocre at best.

While it is mostly a walking sim at the end of the day, there is a fair amount of exploration and problem solving, along with some combat segments. In most cases, it’s just you finding what you need to proceed in that moment, a short cut-scene, and then rinsing and repeating through the credits. The world is divided into small open-world areas that are littered with invisible walls and empty areas that serve no purpose, almost like being asked to navigate a maze in a specific pattern without any visible barriers. The problems escalate once we deviate from this and add some quick-time events, one of which caused me to be mauled by a bear countless times. I wasn’t aware you had to mash the A button instead of just pressing or holding it, thanks to the static A icon on the screen opposed to the typical throbbing or pulsating icon. Once actual combat comes into play, it gets even worse as the controls are downright awful – delayed button presses, sluggish movement… if you have had an issue with any game controls in the past, it’s a thing here as well. The one saving grace is that the enemies are easily dispatched and have the AI of a potato. Sadly, this translates to your companion as well.

Unless you are in one of the various chase sequences, your partner kind of meanders about at the pace of a snail and is prone to getting stuck walking in place, held back by seemingly nothing. You can’t call for him, ask him to speed up, or go to a specific area – you just wait like you’re dealing with a stubborn, overgrown toddler you can’t just pick up and put in the car. Making matters worse, you can’t venture too far from him without being impeded by an invisible wall.

The presentation is a downright mess on all fronts. From start to finish, I had to fight a headache due to the way the screen tears in a cross pattern at all times, almost like I was playing a four-player split-screen match of Goldeneye 64, but in a single-player setting. Even when standing still, every single thing looks like it was ripped from a late PS2/early PS3 era game. There are muddy textures, popping assets that are so severe I feel like they could trigger seizures in folks prone to them, and cut and paste items that appear multiple times within the same frame. The biggest offender is when exploring a hospital where bodies line hospital beds and despite having about 30 corpses sitting around, there are only three variations. My issue with the audio is largely the same, but I will say the design choice to limit music or ambient sounds adds to the feeling of solitude I mentioned previously. When it does make more than a peep, it comes across as stock sounds that are often duplicated with little to no variation. Additionally, the title seemingly offers English voiceovers in the menus, as well as French, Spanish, and a few other options, but all of them are Russian (at the time of writing this, at least).

35mm is a game that shows promise, but largely feels rushed or unfinished. I can easily see something hidden behind the poor controls, dated visuals, and questionable design choices, but sadly, the cons severely outweigh the positives here. Even at a budget price point, I would avoid this game until you can find it at a really deep discount or for free.

2 out of 10

Pros

• The Sound of Silence Sells the Theme of Isolation
• Relatable Story

Cons

• Horrendous Controls
• Dated Visuals
• Constant Screen Tearing
• Repeated Visual and Audio Assets

35mm was developed by Noskov Sergey and published by SometimesYou. The game is available for NS, PC, PS4, and X1. The game was provided to us for review on Xbox and played on Series X. If you’d like to see more of 35mm, check out the Steam site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

 

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