Post Trauma Is Aiming to be an Old-School Horror IP
Survival horror seems to be making a resurgence with this generation. Post Trauma will be another notch in this belt of game titles and it’s a homage to many games of yesteryear. The limitations of hardware during the 90s forced games to be made a certain way. Everything from fixed camera angles, memory caps, graphical downgrades, to audio limitations was the norm for many gamers of that era. It was all they knew, yet the games of during that age still had a charm to them. Naturally, with the evolution of hardware, games now have morphed into very different animals. The gaming industry has broken through a barrier of having video games being a small pixelated adventure to full-blown interactive movies. Now, with game design being more accessible than ever, indie developers are going to back their roots and craft games that are reminiscent of titles they loved during their youth.
This is not because they have to, but rather because they want to. Games of the 80s and 90s have now become their own art style. Terms like “old school” or “retro” are used when explaining these types of titles. Post Trauma definitely fits in that category. The first installments of Resident Evil and Silent HillĀ may have had their fair share of wonkiness, but they were enthralling adventures nonetheless. This new IP is being developed by RobertoSerraG. The story revolves around a 57-year-old man named Roman who somehow has mysteriously found himself in an alternate realm after waking up. Now, he must venture through this harrowing world and try to figure out what happened and how to get back to his family.
To Tread With Dread
As clearly seen in the demo, Post Trauma still has the “feel” of games of the 90s, but the graphics are modern. Everything looks quite polished and beautifully realized. Roman has smooth animations and he seems to naturally react to the environment. Roman doesn’t come with any voice-over work. Most likely this was intentional to help reflect the games that this title was inspired by. Instead, there are classic texts that come up o signify what Roman is thinking and feeling. The gameplay still has that stilted puppet-like movement that is synonymous with older titles. However, it generally looks to be more organic and updated to suit today’s standards. Everything in the environment very much has that decayed and dilapidated Silent Hill flavor. Roman will explore tightly knit rooms and claustrophobic corridors trying to find items, resources, and clues on what to do next.
This is standard fare when it comes to survival horror games and Post Trauma seems to be fully embracing this notion. Of course, the story will be cryptic and the player will be encouraged to explore this world to garner hints. Yes, there will also be puzzles and riddles to solve and sometimes the perspective will shift from third-person to first-person to accommodate these types of situations. Based on what is witnessed in the demo, this game will be oozing with a sense of dread. There is no music, but rather a dark sound of ambiance that hums in the background. Followed by a steady thump of footsteps that might even give away subtle clues like in Alone in the Dark. Subtle audio nuances will assist in navigating players on where to go and what to expect. Thus, the interface on the screen will slightly become more muted with colors, cueing a build-up of something paranormal is about transpire. There are also a couple of vertical lines streaming down the screen that will increasingly turn blue whenever this happens. In the demo, Roman encounters a full-body apparition of a female creature in a hallway that quickly popped up then disappeared through this mechanic.
Old Man’s Heart
Even though Roman is a middle-aged man, he seems to be pretty spry. He moves around rather quickly and the controls seem to be tight and responsive. There is also a sprint button that comes with a stamina bar. He can crouch and squeeze through narrow passageways with ease. During combat, as mentioned before, the colors will become washed out with the blue vertical lines beaming down the screen. Supposedly, this gameplay element happens with every paranormal encounter, including fighting. The melee in Post Trauma is about as basic as it can get. Near the end of the demo, Roman comes across a crab/lady hybrid that scurries across the floor. With his ax, he strikes her and runs away repeatedly. Just a standard “hit and run” tactic that many survival-horror games are known for. The hit detection on the avatars seems to be on point and there’s a good sense of impact whenever Roman successfully lands a blow. It is nothing revolutionary by any means, but it seems serviceable for a game of this type.
There also won’t be any auto-saves in Post Trauma. Evidently, there are going to be “safe rooms” that are akin to the Resident Evil series. It appears that games will only be saved manually through the use of a radio. Whether or not Roman will need cassettes or something to save is unclear. It is entirely possible that perhaps a saving game can come in an unlimited capacity. On the other hand, maybe players can only save one game per radio, right now it is unclear how the saving options work in this game. Lastly, even though there is sporadic combat in this game, not all the creatures that Roman will encounter will be hostile. Some will actually be friendly and can aid Roman on his quest.
Fragile Reality
The thing about Post Trauma will be whether or not Roman is actually having a dream or not. Players will be questioning their own sanity during this venture. The developers are certainly hitting all the right notes with this retro survival horror game and it appears to be coming together nicely. There currently isn’t a release date for this game at the moment, but the demo is now Steam for players who want to take a stab at it. Post Trauma is slated to be released for the PC possibly sometime next year.