[Review] ‘Tormented Souls’ is a Scrappy Throwback Survival Horror Experience

While plenty of indie developers have captured the essence of survival horror as it was on the original PlayStation, far fewer have managed to do so with the PlayStation 2 era of the sub-genre. This was arguably the peak of it at the time. Those few precious years, before the impact of Resident Evil 4 shifted the goalposts, housed memorable cult favorites such as ObScure, Rule of Rose, and Haunting Ground, as well as the more noted classics of the generation such as Silent Hill 2.

Flaws and all, Tormented Souls feels like it belongs in that era. Its developer, Dual Effect, has seemingly made a survival horror throwback that understands its influences remarkably well whilst not forgetting to throw in a few modern quality of life touches to the package to ensure it slips comfortably between nostalgia and ease of use. There’s a real mean streak to it that calls upon the more controversial games of that era. Tormented Souls is gleeful in its character’s suffering, which is something many throwbacks try to compromise on. It doesn’t make it a better game necessarily, but it does show confidence.

The setup to Tormented Souls makes it abundantly clear just how indebted to the early 2000s formula it is. The protagonist, Caroline Walker, heads to Winterlake Mansion, which serves as a hospital, in search of twin girls from a photograph she received. Upon arriving, Caroline is knocked out, and awakens in a bathtub, with a tube from a respirator lodged down her throat. Oh, and someone’s cut her eye out. Not off to the best of starts is our poor Caroline.

So Caroline begins to explore the dark, and seemingly abandoned mansion/hospital, only having the flame of a lighter and the odd candle to illuminate the gloom. It’s a survival horror game, so you’d be correct to assume that some shit goes down that makes escape difficult, but wholly necessary for her continued survival. It’s a tale as old as time, with more than an air of the melodramatic and enough oak-paneled line delivery to make a substantially-sized cabin. Tormented Souls’ tale already feels strangely comforting in its rougher edges.

Tormented Souls’ environments are very much the star of the show as it stands. The grimy, dark halls of the hospital areas hint at a bloody history and their intersection with the mansion’s grandiose decor tells its own story. The game opts for a classic fixed camera which really helps to highlight the scenery properly and set the mood and atmosphere up superbly well. The dark in the game is truly blinding without a portable light source to hand, and staying in it negatively affects Caroline’s state of mind. You’re repeatedly asked to decide on the best course of action whilst in gloom. You could run through it and keep your weapon ready, or you could ensure you don’t blindly stumble into a horrifying situation by equipping your lighter.

The build-up to the first enemy encounter is nicely done. The building creaks in that unnerving way so many old buildings do, and occasionally something will fall somewhere, and after accessing the basement level, Caroline catches a glimpse of something ahead of her, and shortly after is confronted by a grotesque figure in a wheelchair and they’re wielding some pretty stabby-looking knives. This foe doesn’t move especially quickly, but there’s an unnerving swiftness to the way they wheel themselves towards Caroline, the squeak of the wheels increasing in volume as they gain ground on her. I’m not a fan of wheelchairs being used as horror devices, but like anything used to garner terror, it’s more to do with how much thought goes into the reasons behind its use. While I can’t speak for that enemy’s backstory, which doesn’t do it any favors, I can appreciate the use of the wheel squeaks to ramp up the intensity.

Caroline escapes from them soon enough, and finds herself in an X-Ray room that’s apparently now also a chapel, as a priest is reading a shrouded corpse its last rites. The priest says he’s met Caroline just days before, she has no memory of that. He also casually mentions that there’s an evil presence about, the staff and patients of the hospital have moved on to a new site, and the lights are out because the generator is playing up. Lucky Caroline (and you, the player) you get to go fix it for him.

In the preview build, I’d run into some issues with stuttering audio from characters, coupled with some low rent line delivery. This interaction was the first instance where it really hurt the game, and it showed no signs of getting better as the preview continued on. Happily, the stuttering is now a rarity, and the dialogue, while still decidedly naff, is at least consistent in that quality.

Back to the action. Caroline leaves to go and fix the generator and has to solve a pressure display puzzle by sorting valves out. What I like about Tormented Souls’ puzzles is that the inventory screen is right there alongside the puzzle in question, so you don’t have to flit between menus or the puzzle to find that code or item. When interacting with anything, the game moves from third-person to a first-person perspective, allowing you to examine everything relevant without back-tracking between the game and its menu screens. Nothing mind-blowing, but a nice touch.

With the generator fixed, Caroline is sent to explore the rest of the mansion, and even with more light, there’s plenty of disturbing things that are going to get between her and her quest for knowledge. Luckily she now packs a nailgun to ward off evildoers in the punchiest way possible, and some morphine to cure what ails her. Perhaps it’s best if you stop by and save your progress (Using a Magnetophon) first though, eh?

The nailgun works much like any gun in tank control survival horror, but it’s sometimes difficult to tell if you’re actually hurting your foes. Some scuttle about low on the ground and are hard to target as a result. They don’t always show up alone either, meaning you’re often best just running away instead. When it matters most though, the aiming system works well enough to overcome whatever new heinous beast Tormented Souls throws at you.

The relatively rudimentary control scheme makes perfect sense for the kind of horror game Tormented Souls wants to be. Tank controls have always been about imbibing the situation with a big syrupy dose of nightmare fuel. That almost unbearable dreamlike balance between being just quick enough to realize you’re in trouble, but too slow to easily escape it is a superb tool when used appropriately, and Tormented Souls largely succeeds at it. Besides, it handles nowhere near as treacly as the biggest offenders in the genre.

Yes, you could argue that in trying so hard to make a game for the mid-2000s in 2021 leaves the developer with a game that’s fundamentally dated before it began, but that’s the point. All the modern indie horror games that work get that. Compromises will certainly bring you a bigger audience, but games like Tormented Souls, as scraggly and mean-spirited as the games that inspired them, are far more likely to scratch that itch for survival horror’s golden era, rough edges and all.