This is another one of those games that makes the PS-Plus Extra membership kind of worthwhile. Since I kind of scammed the system a little bit my membership only costs $7 a month and well, this one game has already fulfilled what I would consider to be good value for my money.
This game will likely appeal moreso to older gamers who were there when the world was first introduced to survival horror in Resident Evil 1. I remember that as being one of the most amazing gaming times in my life because I bought the game that day it was released and me and a buddy stayed up almost all night playing in tandem and completed nearly the entire game on day 1. I don't have that sort of time or dedication to gaming anymore but let's just say that it was a good time for me so Signalis seeming very similar to RE1 doesn't bother me at all.
In RE1 you are given, quite honestly, a bit too much backstory and of course, the very famous horrible voice acting. In Signalis there is very little in the way of any story and unless I missed something, zero voice acting.
All you know is that you awaken on a spaceship that is "dead in the water" and you are some sort of humanoid creature. You wander around and start picking up clues as to where you are, what you are, and what the problem is. I don't really know how far into the game I am, I think pretty far, and all I have really learned is that you are one of many types of androids that humans developed to simplify their own lives and of course things went terribly wrong.
you find various scrapbooks and diaries that sort of piece together the mystery of what is going on together, but part of the fun is that you don't really know what you are up against until you are up against it. That is a pace directly out of Resident Evil's textbook and that is what makes this game so fun.
Combat, just like in RE isn't very good, but it becomes pretty clear pretty fast that the entire idea behind all of this is to engage in combat as infrequently as possible. The real objective in this game is to solve puzzles and while most of the mare pretty simple, I am yet to encounter one yet that was just downright lame or too hard.
Most of the time if you encounter a puzzle there is probably an answer to that puzzle somewhere nearby such as with this keypad you encounter. There is a picture that you found earlier that if you just flip it over it has the combination written on it.
The other puzzles I have found are similar although some of them can be a bit tricky. The one thing that you need to focus on and the game will punish you perhaps somewhat permanently and necessitating a restart is that you have extremely limited access to ammunition. The game does kind of let you know this though, so it's not like you weren't made aware of this.
At the start, much like the zombies in Resident Evil, your enemies are slow and easily dodged or if you must kill them, this is not that difficult to do either. The game is designed for constant progression and for a casual gamer like me with ties to retro gaming, this is absolutely perfect.
most of the game is top down with an overhead view of whatever battlefield you happen to be on, but at times it will change to 1st person perspective. Of all the times I have ended up in 1st person, it has been for a puzzle or just exploration, which is good. I don't need them changing up combat for me halfway through the game.
One of the big beefs people had with Resident Evil 1 and beyond was the camera angles changing on you without warning. Signalis does not do this. It is clearly a less advanced game than Resident Evil even though it is damn near 40 years older. The music is a lot better though, I'll give them that.
For the first half an hour of the game or so, you don't even need to concern yourself with combat at all. This is a "tutorial section" of sorts because you are eased into everything. When combat does happen it is intentionally very easy but that doesn't make it any less scary. They do a good job with lighting (or lack of it) and most of the time if you do get hit at all it is because you were toying around too much or like me, you were trying to get by the various zombie type creatures without firing a shot at all.
It has been my experience thus far that the game is going to give you just enough ammo to get you through the various sections...and no more. You can't really miss when firing on the regular enemies so honestly, there isn't much reason to run out of ammo.
One interesting thing that can be a bit annoying at times is that you have extremely limited inventory so just because you have a bunch of ammo or weapons (that you find later) doesn't mean you get to take them with you. In one situation I had carefully dodged around the enemies in the hallway only to get to the other end and realize that I didn't have space in my inventory to pick up the only reason for even going down there. I never made that mistake again.
There's very little in the way of cinematics in this game and for a gamer like me, this is perfect. I say it over and over again: If i wanted to watch a movie I would do that. I have Netflix. Whenever there are very brief cinematics I love the fact that they are very skippable as well.
This game only has a duration of about 4 hours so if I had paid very much for it I might be a little pissed about that, but as far a "free" game with a monthly subscription is concerned, it is a very welcome addition. The other two games we got in August didn't appeal to me so I am glad this one was in the mix.
It's a bit dated, sure. But for someone like me that lived through the times when PS1 was giving us the latest and greatest in horror and graphics, this brings back old memories of when things were just simpler.
I loved Signalis and if you have a chance to get it for free I highly recommend that you give it a go. If you have to pay more than around $5 though, I don't think it is really worth more than that. It has zero replay value so 4 hours for $5 is a pretty good deal!
all uncredited images are screens from my own gameplay
