It's a fundamental part of horror: If you tell someone not to do something, they'll do it. That's how cautionary tales and other such scary works operate. Realistically, you'd think the characters wouldn't need a warning to tell them not to do something that sounds downright creepy. For instance, I don't need a “DO NOT ENTER” sign instructing me not to go into a dilapidated house where dozens of murders occurred. With that in mind, you'd think a large, ominous staircase in the middle of a town that leads down into a dark tunnel would be enough for even a skeptic to say, “Yeah, eff that.” Yet, there's always that one person, either an adventurous kid or a pair of horny teens, who decide visiting the “off-limits and probably crawling with monsters” part of their burg is a terrific idea. You know, it's a good place to do drugs or have premarital sex...
So yeah, someone from a town didn't heed the warnings and—big surprise—she didn't return. Big surprise: she's a teen. Her parents, obviously frazzled, hire you to find her. Although someone mentions taking a gun with you, the locals offer a sword and shield. You know, like this is Final Fantasy or something...
Cursed resembles games like Shadowgate and Tombs & Treasure. It sports a semi-cartoony art style that's more clearly hand-drawn than the previously mentioned offerings. Some snide internet commenter might liken it visually to a flash game from way back. Honestly, whatever. The graphics are fine for the type of game we're playing, especially given this one's aim at remembering classics from Kemco and Compile.
As with Shadowgate, this title is both colorful and creepy. Areas appear brightly lit and cheery, and yet somehow insidious. You can't shake the feeling that you're descending further into the belly of a haunted ground that will never permit you to leave, even when a silly-looking skeleton sits up and gawks at you like something from an old-school dark ride. However, the notion your character will ultimately end up dead is constantly reinforced by the awful ways in which you perish when making careless decisions. Crossing a bridge, for instance, ends with you plummeting to your doom. Later on, you bump around in a pitch-black maze, and failing to take the correct path results in red eyes appearing on the screen. Your last view is that of a toothy maw pouncing on you to turn you into a meal.
It never lets up, either. Another segment features a ghostly scene apparently playing out from a distant past, where an unseen assailant stabs a woman to death in a bathroom. If you linger too long to watch the ghastly crime play out, the murderer will eventually turn his attention to you. After that, you can peer into some crystal balls to get hints regarding your next moves. One of them shows a hideous demon crawling around in the room you currently occupy. And when you turn to leave, there it is...
Thankfully, you brought that sword and shield. Aside from the monster in the crystal ball room, you bump into one of three creatures regularly: a spider, a leech, and a red skeleton. Using either the buttons at the bottom-left corner of the screen or “Left Control” and “Left Alt,” you swing your blade or block your foe. Each of them comes with their own pattern to memorize, making it very possible to survive this adventure without taking a lick of damage. Your reward for victory is life. You don't receive experience or items (most of the time, anyway), but you do get to continue sucking in breath. Of course, if you're not very good at combat, you can always save scum because save points aren't that far apart, and you have every opportunity to save after a campaign beat.
Combat isn't this outing's main focus, though. That rests mostly on inventory puzzles, relying on you to nab things like a ladder, a shovel, and a crowbar so you can uncover new pathways or locate special items. On top of that, sheets of paper and books give you helpful hints, such as one that tells you to dig in the dark. Do so and you'll locate a spell scroll that exorcises spirits. Wait, isn't there a ghost in one hall blocking a potential false wall?
All throughout your struggle, you see hear sound effects and music that stir ancient memories. For instance, when enemies approach you, they dance in front of you in a threatening manner before beginning the battle or running away. A certain tune blasts from your speakers, and fogies like me pipe up: “Wait... Is that from Willow?” Yeah, the music that plays during the boss dialogue segments in that game makes an appearance, right before random encounters. The fanfare from Friday the 13th that plays when Jason appears also makes a cameo, as does the boss theme from Journey to Silius and rosary sound effect from Castlevania.
On one hand, it's cool hearing these BGMs again, and you know they were placed as a means of conveying which titles inspired the developer. At the same time, their presence kind of cheapens the effect because you'd also like to hear some original music. Seriously, battling the final boss to that Silius cut was kind of cool, but wouldn't have been as awesome as hearing a ripping new final boss track.
Cursed doesn't take long to complete, mainly because almost all of its puzzles are simple inventory fare you can solve by using items in different rooms until something happens. Don't get me wrong, the game still scratches that “look at the cool stuff we used to play way back” itch, but it doesn't measure up to deeper point-and-click pieces that throw you screwballs or require attention to detail. This one pretty much consists of finding tools and using them until you find other tools.
On top of that, you get the impression there was supposed to be more to the campaign, but its development was cut short. A few locked doors remain unexplored, plus there's a matter of a zombie looking for her child. You feel like that segment was supposed to be a puzzle with a definite solution that unlocked further areas, but it instead remains unsolved by the conclusion. Plus the game gives you a quest to hunt down a couple of items to fight the final boss, except you end up with a completely different item to get the job done, and it's never fully explained why...
Still, Cursed is a decent freeware app to check out if you like old-school graphic adventures from the 8-bit era. Some of its music will tug on your nostalgic heartstrings, and for some players that's enough. There are two other installments for me to check out, and I'm hoping they continue to showcase vintage assets. However, I would like to see some more new material as well...
Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (October 16, 2024)
Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III. |
More Reviews by Joseph Shaffer [+]
|
|
If you enjoyed this Cursed review, you're encouraged to discuss it with the author and with other members of the site's community. If you don't already have an HonestGamers account, you can sign up for one in a snap. Thank you for reading!
User Help | Contact | Ethics | Sponsor Guide | Links