PBEGJRE: Into the Mist 2: The Cult and STARDROP
We first person exploration now
Into the Mist 2: The Cult is an FPS horror title bundle with a few other games made by indie dev TheOtherGuy. Within this grouping of games (besides the headliner) is the original ‘Into the Mist’, along with an Arena Mode and some smaller titles as well which one of them I played to near completion completely by accident thinking it was the main game. Only thing that tipped me off was the lack of cultists and the weird focus on art and sharks. Regardless, players have been kidnapped by a cult within a now quarantined town and must find a way to escape.
The majority of the time spent within Into the Mist 2 will be exploring the seemingly empty cultist territory, after a power outage has allowed players to escape their cells. Unfortunately, this has also triggered the lockdown procedures, so many of the pathways that could lead out of this facility are closed off; specifically the exit, which requires three keys to reopen. The only lead players have are the three doors in the same area, which lead to vast areas of the complex where those exposed to air are covered in a thick mist. If one is familiar with old-style FPS titles such as Doom (or for me it’s Bad Toys 3D which I still can’t believe existed if I’m honest) then the exploration tactics are very similar, as corridors wind and doors are locked at all turns. The only thing that feels lacking are the scores of enemies to destroy, and the actual ability to destroy them. See, quite a bit of the game involves players being without a weapon, so learning to simply take the damage and run past enemies or dodge them out is imperative in order to get to the next open door.
What I found most intriguing about Into the Mist 2 was actually the different paths that players could inadvertently go down depending on where they went and the order they interacted with individuals. I ended up freeing a specific individual very early on, which ended up putting me on an ending selection that I wasn’t even expecting to have happen; honestly, I was mostly expecting a linear 1–2 endings. Instead, players can change how different endgame events occur depending on the order they grab the keys or what they do when faced with specific characters. The game isn’t long as well, so being able to go back and try a different ending is possible, although saving near the end (like what I did) usually means locking oneself into those set endings.
The other game modes can add more enjoyment depending on who is playing, such as the quirky space cooking show, bizarre artist dilemma or the standard survival arena. If players are interested in seeing the roots of the title, there is also Into the Mist as well to try out. The hub world is quite a nice way of allowing players to explore and see which game they might wish to play before hopping in. Aside from the few technical issues, Into the Mist 2: The Cult promises a compact old-style horror title and delivers on that promise by creating an ammo-starved environment of heavy mist and bizarre enemies. If you’re looking for a mini thriller horror ride, this is definitely one to try out.
STARDROP is a narrative exploration game made Team V, an indie studio spearheaded by the main developer Joure Visser and assisted in the arts departments by many others. Players get to experience the future with Aryn Vance, Salvage and Rescue Operative that has been sent to a distant galaxy with her partner in crime John Kindley. When their mission finds them a singular spaceship that is completely unidentifiable except for it’s code SD-01, Aryn must venture onto the ship and discover what could’ve happened to it and its crew to send it out so far.
This is going to be a tad hard to explain without giving away a lot of spoilers, so I’ll be trying my best to keep things vague while still explaining my sheer enjoyment of this title.
STARDROP has players exploring a ship in order to discover how it failed while slowly booting up the ships parts over time to keep the scanning continued. John needs the ship’s internals to be running to access the information, so it’s up to Aryn to explore the ship and activate everything manually. It’s hard to not call this a ‘walking simulator’ thanks to the focus on atmosphere, first person camera and interaction with the environment to learn of the world, yet it also feels like so much more. There’s puzzling sections where players will look for codes and clues throughout the ship in order to bypass certain locks, while security requires a bit more planning and stealth to ensure that the alarms don’t unnecessarily blare for hours. There is even a VR simulation that players can acquire to practice their high-paced investigation skills as they shoot down enemy robots, just in case something bad happens during the mission. Can’t be too prepared, you know.
Of course, this all is extra for the lovingly crafted world that STARDROP has created. From datapads to the banter between Aryn and John the world feels alive and functioning even if the ship itself is lifeless. Text-based information is found via scattered datapads that are hidden throughout each ship and through computer messaging once the terminal has been powered. These messages help give a window into the world of what exactly happened to these spacefaring individuals, through simple conversations that happen between the crewmembers of the SD-01. It’s hard not to get drawn in, especially since the atmosphere is painstakingly created to be as empty as possible, leaving for dozens of questions that will most likely be echoed by John or Aryn as they too are experiencing this for the first time. Thanks to the fact they are fully voiced, their banter allows for some lighthearted humor to help offset the crushing weight of the tension after entering every darkened room. It’s hard not to feel wary while exploring, waiting for the inevitably stereotypical alien or AI to jump out and attack — whether or not it happens, I’ll never tell.
What I found the most beautiful was the inclusion of datapads not for Aryn and John, but for the player themselves from the lead developer. These little datapads highlight different aspects of the development cycle, such as the difficulties for certain rooms when crafting or the complete overhaul of assets that occurred. When I started this blog, I had hoped to explore these games from the lens of one who has developed titles, yet this methodology is purely bliss to read; some may consider it a bit immersion-breaking, but I found that it showed the sheer amount of love and dedication that Team V put into this title. Joure wanted everyone who played to share in the process, to know what happened at different intervals and how the game evolved over the timeframe it took to complete. It’s out of pure passion and love for the craft more than anything else, a love for a title that took years to develop and had changed many times along the way to completion.
There’s more to this title to be swept into, such as the absolutely stunning visuals that the game has crafted from the gorgeous vast space to the detailed interior of the ship. It makes sense then that this title was nearly 10 GB to download, the largest title that I’ve seen so far within the entire bundle (and, if I’m honest, will ever see). There’s the scanner that allows for players to see interactables, or the personal datapad that includes all of the notes collected, missions to complete and a map that details what can be interacted with. There’s just so much going on that is worthy of note, and that’s just staying on course and following to a T — sometimes the best discoveries are found when going the wrong way.
If you are in need of a fantastic worldbuilding title that is beautifully crafted and contains a story to pull at your heartstrings, then this might be the title you’ve been searching for; go forth, and find out why.
