Rise of Insanity Review: Falling into Nothing

The horror genre in gaming has seen its fair share of ups and downs since Silent Hill and Resident Evil brought it to the forefront in the 90’s. While there are literally hundreds of sub-genres when it comes to horror films, most horror games revolve around the creature features, slashers, or psychological horror, with the latter being my personal favorite. There’s something to be said about having the world around you swell and deteriorate right before your eyes, while you remain in control of what the camera does (or doesn’t) get to see, proving to be an effective tool to instill terror.

Rise of Insanity places you into the shoes of Dr. Stephen Dowell as he recounts his experiences with his gardener, Edward, who suffers from a laundry list of mental illnesses, including insomnia and multiple personality disorder. Edward’s newest troubles find him in a reoccurring dream where he kills his wife and child. The problem with this dream is that Edward is single and has no children. The doctor’s solution to this, which made no sense to me, was to have Edward kill them, thus completing the dream. This is done via a series of prerecorded images akin to A Clockwork Orange. This is an experimental treatment which is blamed for the loss of his practice and family.

This takes place primarily in what appears to be a mental asylum and the Dowell residence. Like most of the horror games that came before it, this is primarily a walking sim with some mild puzzle solving and collectible gathering thrown in for good measure. The puzzles are extremely basic, almost exclusively requiring you to find an object(s) and insert it where it belongs, or interacting with a few select items. While there are a few encounters where you’ll come across something, I can’t say what because I truly don’t know what it was.

The game handles transitioning from scene to scene in a very awkward fashion. You’ll often interact with an item only to be greeted with a (ridiculously long) loading screen. I’m not sure if this was to give the player some insight as to what it may feel like to suffer from multiple personality disorder, or from sheer laziness, but I am going to go with the latter. This is the same situation with death, and you’ll only know the difference if you end up at the start of the small segment you died at, since there is no clear indication of what or who took you out and no header saying you died – just a loading screen. If this happens, you’ll basically need to figure out what prerequisite you missed prior to moving down the set path or area, which seems to be caused by darkness, since that’s the plague in any horror story. The game keeps you in a very small box at all times, requiring you to follow it’s linear path, completing the tasks in order, only veering off to hunt for the optional collectible items.

What the game handles well is the atmosphere; the hallways of the asylum always feel oddly vacant, yet keep the player on edge due to the fear of the unknown or the way the world shifts around you from time to time. The visuals play into this well, with some photo realistic textures and lighting effects, with only minor issues that break immersion, such as the complete absence of a reflection when staring into one of the many mirrors found throughout the game world. Ambient sounds are rarely a thing outside of your footsteps unless something otherworldly comes into play, such as a TV that was just turned off coming to life with static (as well as a nifty Ring Easter Egg) or a faint voice calling out from around the corner. These are the moments that really shine through an otherwise drab experience; it’s a shame that there are so few of them.

There is plenty of backstory to be found for those who wish to look for it, with case files and newspaper clippings being tucked away in areas that are ripe for exploration. While they initially show on small bits and pieces, the further into the story you go, the clearer the picture becomes. This happens entirely too early, as I solved the mystery around the 45 minute mark when it takes close to two hours to give you the full reveal, and even then lacks proper closure. Once you solve the big mystery, there is sadly no reason to retread the same story unless you’re seeking out the various collectibles for the associated achievement.

Much like a straight to video horror movie, Rise of Insanity fails to entertain at almost every level. While it has some standout psychological horror elements in place, they do not make up a large enough portion of the game for a recommendation, even at a discount. If you are intrigued, I would recommend watching some gameplay videos or sitting down and playing the criminally overlooked Outlast or Outlast 2 to get your horror fix.

4 out of 10

Pros

  • Models and Textures
  • Psychological Elements

Cons

  • Death is Awkward
  • Painfully Long Loading Screens
  • Limited Horror
  • Very Short

Rise of Insanity was developed and published by Red Limb Studio. It launched on PC March 1st, 2018 and X1 June 15th, 2018 for $9.99. The game was not provided to us for review on X1. If you’d like to see more of Rise of Insanity check out the developer’s official 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.

Check out OpenCritic for a better idea of how our review stacks against others.

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