Classic survival horror is back…
Tormented Souls is a return to classic survival horror. With a fresh twist on the fixed perspective adventure, Tormented Souls modernises for a new generation – as Caroline Walker investigates the mysterious disappearance of twin girls in a terrifying mansion-turned-hospital.
Tormented Souls is a homage to the likes of Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Alone in the Dark with its classic survival horror gameplay, fixed camera perspectives and puzzles. The game knows its audience, even mocking the classic tank controls from the original Resident Evil games by showing the moving controls with the D-Pad next to a drawing of an actual tank. You can move with the left stick or the D-Pad so it’s up to you what style you want.
Combat is tough but fair if you can work out the enemy patterns and when to dodge attacks before either using your crowbar or guns to take them out. The enemies are twisted in their design and terrifying at first, they also take a lot of hits before they go down so conserving ammo is essential for your survival. Saving your game is typical Resi fashion too but instead of a typewriter, you collect and use tapes to record your progress, these are also sparse, so you need to plan accordingly unless you want to replay large sections.
Some will complain about the gameplay feeling dated by today’s standards, but its literally designed this way for that classic survival horror experience. The puzzles are clever and while I found combat to be a bit clunky at times, its always been that way in the old-school survival horrors as far as I can remember.
The game looks well detailed on PS5 and runs at a solid framerate throughout. The voice-acting is a mixed bag but that fits well with the old-school feel as well. Load times are pretty much non-existent thanks to the new hardware too.
The Verdict
Classic survival horror at its best, Tormented Souls proves the old ways are sometimes the best. This homage gives the best of the genre and is a must for any horror fan.