With Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle, developer Invader Studios goes back in time in the (double) sense that this is both a prequel to Daymare 1998 and an intended throwback to the action horror videogames of the ’90s. The major concern here is that it seems to do it without being selective, drawing inspiration from the good examples, but mostly from the ones that should remain forgotten, with a good atmosphere that is buried under clunky game mechanics and frustrating combat.

A Dim Light in the Darkness

Our protagonist, special agent Dalila Reyes, is part of H.A.D.E.S. (Hexacore Advanced Division for Extraction and Search), a somewhat generic unit that, like in many other games, is created with the sole purpose to have a cool acronym. Her mission in this survival horror is to step into the mysterious Area 51 and discover what kind of experiments have gone awry in this dark and dangerous place… too dark, as you will quickly discover.

It’s undeniable that the conspiracy plot gives you vibes of classic Resident Evil, with plenty of creatures to boot. The atmosphere is competent, albeit the underground locations get repetitive, even with some stints here and there on the surface. There’s certainly an attempt at a balance between tension and action, but some cheap tricks are frequently exploited to hit you as in a bad horror movie filled with jump scares, such as light bulbs bursting as you approach them.

And it’s dark, too dark. Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle really pushes too far in the lights out department, something that is understandable; however, what’s not as easy to digest is the weak flashlight that barely illuminates anything ahead of us, as if constantly running on low batteries. More often than not, in places where external light sources are few and far between, you will be wondering if your flashlight is turned on.

The map layouts are decidedly old-school; there’s no denying that, for better and for worse. It’s very much a linear game that signposts the way for most of the time, while keeping you clear of other areas by means of some conveniently placed crates or barrels. There’s a hefty dose of tiresome backtracking too, so if you find yourself out of a way to progress, then maybe it’s time to retrace your steps – if you spot some enemies appearing out of thin air, it’s indicative that you are on the right path.

Inherent Devils

A special agent she may be, but Dalila doesn’t quite have the chops to face a situation as dangerous as this one. She navigates the environment with occasional bumps in places she could squeeze through, but worst is she has no dodge mechanic at all – not a simple sidestep or something that would get her out of harm’s way – and the gunplay isn’t very effective, veering on the slow and inaccurate side. Dalila is also slow to move and turn, not enjoyable to control, quite far from the lightning-fast speed of the creatures that overwhelm her without blinking.

These creatures are no easy feat, starting with the more common tier, the runners. They approach you as rabid dogs, with the occasional sidestep to throw you off your feet, and in a second they are already at your neck. This is where one of the worst mechanics of Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle appears, the button mashing that you must constantly use to get rid of the creature’s grasp and hopefully… well, not die. Because they drain your health in the blink of an eye, annoyingly resurrecting until we put a shotgun shell through their heads or freeze them to blow their brains out, but more on that later.

When you are surprised by a ghoul around the corner or behind a door, you can expect half of your health to disappear amidst a flurry of furious button mashing, and in the situations when you are outnumbered – and there will be plenty – this will only be the more aggravating. The combat loop of being grabbed and mashing is no fun at all and extremely hard to avoid in nearly every fight.

Thankfully, the adventure is interspersed with some simple but interesting puzzles and hacking minigames with time limit that don’t spoon-feed you. Despite easy to understand after a couple of tries, the lack of handholding is welcome for a change. The environmental puzzles requiring you to extinguish fires or cool down pipes and pistons display some potential that is sadly lost amidst the frustrating combat mechanics.

Freezing to Death

Ammo is scarce and somewhat bafflingly, Dalila doesn’t have any sort of melee attack to push away the ghouls, but she does find a nitrogen pack that can be used to freeze them. This is the big gimmick of the game, an ice weapon that allows you to freeze enemies as they approach you, if the timing is just right – when it works, it’s fun to see the frozen ghouls standing one inch from your face; but when they grab you while being almost turned into a popsicle, frustration rears its ugly head again alongside a hefty dose of button mashing.

Freezing enemies with the Frost Grip is the first step to eliminate most species, blasting their heads with a weapon or saving some precious ammo by doing it with the Frost Finisher, making sure that this body is not a host for evil red and blue orbs anymore. If you are fast enough, you can shoot a frost bullet at the glowing orbs that are reviving corpses nearby, stopping the frenzied rush.

Easier said than done, because when runners combine with ranged ghouls and are backed up by the stronger Sparkers, the odds of survival are low. You may be doing a frost finisher on one, but you are about to be hit by a ranged shot or may have another creature grab you from the side without you noticing, such is the speed at which they approach. Any attempts to pre-empt enemy numbers by freezing or blasting corpses as you first walk in a room are thwarted – it was a good idea, but the rigid game design doesn’t allow you to be clever, forcing players to wait for the creatures to teleport out of thin air and for the orbs to potentially possess every corpse nearby, lest you manage to eliminate it while being attacked from all sides.

Combat is frustrating for several reasons explained above, and Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle suffers from ignoring that it needs to offer a tough but fair fight with some polish, something that doesn’t happen. Dead bodies twitching on the ground, enemies stuck running against an open door for as many times as you reload the save and watch it happen again… these are a few examples of shortcomings that don’t hide the game’s indie roots, proud ones for sure, but that could do with some additional care.

Another sign that this is a game not just trying to emulate other era, but to some extent includes mechanics that truly belong in bygone times – you can’t listen to audio logs on the move, you must stare at a screen with a tape for the duration of the recording.

Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle’s Unreal Engine 4 looks range from average to good, but with an emphasis on the former. Character faces mark an improvement from Daymare: 1998 but that’s not saying much – Dalila and Radek are two perfect examples of this, with facial expressions failing to convey emotions in a natural way, more like stepping into uncanny valley territory.

A Throwback in the Dark

With good intentions but failing to realize its vision for various reasons, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle grips to its survival horror homage roots while forgetting that times have changed and players are expecting something more enjoyable, less frustrating. Some of the flaws could be easily fixed, such as the barely usable flashlight, or the dreaded button mash mechanic, but they are part of a bigger picture that isn’t much fun to play.

Enter this pitch-black assignment at your own risk, knowing beforehand that it’s not Resident Evil, but it’s not without its merits, thanks to a clever ice weapon that sadly deserved a more enjoyable combat system to go with it.

Score: 5.5/10

Pros:

• The atmosphere can be gripping at times
• Puzzles bring some welcome respite from combat gameplay
• Interesting multitasking freeze weapon

Cons:

• Dalila is slow and doesn’t have melee or dodge actions
• Frustrating enemies that swarm you and punish you with a dreaded button mash mechanic
• Flashlight is very weak
• Lacks polish

Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.