Guys, I’m a little screwed up in the head. I like to be scared. And I adore horror.
Subnautica is easily the scariest game I’ve played in years. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t classify it as a horror game and neither, I think, would most people.
Subnautica is more of a visceral terror that you feel for your own survival as you face a life-or-death situation. But it’s not the primary emotion the game is intended to make you feel, nor does it use any of the tropes that would put it in that bucket.
It didn’t end well for me.
No, horror depends on subtlety. It builds up to the raw terror with gradual pacing and storytelling that builds up over time.
As you navigate a mundane scenario, the uneasy feeling inside of you builds as more and more things just seem subtly off.
An object is placed in a different part of the house and you don’t remember picking it up. A portrait follows with with its gaze as you walk down the hall. A disembodied voice breathes in your ear, but when you turn around, no one is there.
You feel unsettled. You know that something is wrong, but you just don’t know what.
That’s what horror is. And that’s the feeling of creeping unease I get when I play Frost Bite by Gilded Octopus.
What Frost Bite Does Well – Gameplay and Atmosphere
Here’s the setup: you see some strange lights in the sky. Things you don’t understand are scary so they must be bad right?
Your objective is to return to your village and report what you saw, before making your way to the Wizard’s tower because this seems like a job for him.
The problem? Between you and your destination lies miles of snow and ice. Treacherous, threatening, hostile, barren sheer mountain drops that give you vertigo just by looking at them.
Ravines that make you think of careless hikers and mountain climbers who go wandering by themselves and are never heard from again, or have to cut their buddy loose and leave them to craw their way back to civilization over miles of jagged rock like the movie Touching the Void.
Walking is just about the only mechanic you have, and the only action you can do in the game.
But, you’re walking across snow and ice. Snow and ice are slippery. So are mountain ranges. This means you have to move very…very…VERY carefully.
You step on the wrong patch of snow, you go up a hill at the wrong angle, and WHAMO, you do a 180 somersault and land on your head. Game over.
Frost Bite’s strongest suit is easily how it uses sound. Specifically how it uses sound in a way designed to build an atmosphere of creeping horror.
When you launch the game, the first thing you notice is the looping sound effect of footsteps marching through the snow.
It constantly repeats, as if something is pursuing you. Nonstop. All the time. And it won’t stop until it finds you.
You start the game. You go down into the village…but something’s not right.
You pass under the gate marking the entrance. You hear a thumping sound. A woman’s blood-curdling scream. You look around to see where it’s coming from but all you see is snow.
Over. And over. And over again.
“What the shit is that about?” you think to yourself. “What is going on? Someone is being hurt but who, and where?”
You enter the village. You walk in between the houses. You hear something scuffling across a wooden floor, and knocking against a barred door.
Something is locked in one of the houses. And it’s trying to get out.
And then you see the blood.
The trails of blood. Through the alleyways. Between the houses.
You’re too late. Whatever it was, it came and left.
And there’s no one left.
Only you.
Or is there?
You pass the windmill. You turn the corner. You leave the village.
And off in the distance, just on the horizon, you notice something.
It’s barely visible. Almost a speck. You can see it, but only just.
It’s hulking. It’s lumbering. It walks upright on two legs.
It’s an outline.Or a silhouette. Barely visible in the distance.
It appears to be carrying something over its shoulder. A club? You’re not sure.
And then, as an icy-cold chill goes down your spine, you realize.
It’s moving.
It’s coming towards you.
You’re being chased. You need to keep moving, and you can’t stop, or it’ll find you.
See? THAT’S how you build atmosphere. Atmosphere is SO important in horror games to create a sense of isolation. And Frost Bite does this VERY well.
Where Frost Bite Runs into Some Problems
I’ve been looking forward to playing Frost Bite for a long time and I’m glad I did.
It’s dripping with atmosphere. It’s ambitious. It looks pretty. And it’s legitimately creepy. When I realize a monster is chasing me my heart leaps up into my throat.
But, it’s also GildedOctopus’ first project, and a solo undertaking. This was the developer’s way of teaching herself Unity. That in and of itself makes it an achievement.
And it doesn’t look friendly.
That means that when you play it, you’re going to have to be forgiving of a few technical issues.
I’m not saying this to advise you against playing Frost Bite because you absolutely should. Just to prepare you and so you know what to expect.
Frost Bite is a game that requires you to move with intent and with care. One wrong misstep across a steep hill or a snowbank means instant game over and starting back at the very beginning.
Frost Bite is a difficult game by design. It lets you know right on the Itch.io page that you will die many, many times. It keeps a death count meter to let you know how many times you screw up.
It’s hard to tell sometimes how much of that difficulty is intentional and how much is due to loose and slippery physics. It’s probably a combination of both.
Here’s what I mean: towards the end of the game I came across a bridge I needed to cross to enter the Wizard’s Tower. A 6-inch mound of snow at the foot of the bridge made me slip and fall, killing me instantly. I kept trying and trying but there was no way around it.
It was frustrating and annoying, but only because by this time Frost Bite had well and truly sunk it’s claws into me. I wanted to see what was on the other side of the bridge, THE SUSPENSE WAS KILLING ME!
Though maybe it wasn’t killing me as much as the monsters were. Yuk yuk yuk.
Not to Worry Though!
But, not to worry! As soon as I encountered this problem, it was offset by the fact that the developer is a super chill person.
I explained my situation to her and she was immediately on it. She had it fixed and patched within days, and I was able to finish the game.
Recommendation
As long as you can look past the aforementioned technical issues, Frost Bite is a game that will leave an impression. An impression that may make you want to sleep with the lights on. Or cancel that ski trip and go vacation somewhere warm and sunny instead.
So, here’s what you do. Go buy the game so she can make more like it. It’s only $5 on Itch.io, which is probably less than what you pay for your morning latte.
GildedOctopus shows a lot of promise and potential as a budding game developer, and she has other projects in the works I’m following with interest such as Dustwalker and Scary Mermaid. Give her money so she can make more. Frost Bite is available in Itch.io for $5.00.
Disclaimer
I have a professional relationship with the developer of Frost Bite. I’ve guest posted for Ashley Kureger a.k.a. GildedOctopus on a number of occasions.
I write on her studio website’s blog on subjects ranging from my first marketing case study and how it relates to influencer marketing for indie games to PR for indie games. We also talk regularly.
She didn’t pay me any money or compensation to write this review, and my opinions are my own. She’s hella cool though. And she’s knowledgeable about the games industry. You should follow her on Twitter at @OctopusGilded.
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