DAYMARE: 1998 / DEVELOPER: INVADER STUDIOS / PUBLISHER: ALL IN! GAMES / PLATFORM: PC, PS4, XBOX ONE (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
The story of how Daymare: 1998 came to be is an unusual and interesting one. Originally conceived as a fan-made remake of Capcom’s survival horror classic, Resident Evil 2, production was halted when Capcom began work on an official RE2 remake themselves. This was the impetus for Invader Studios (the small Italian development team behind the project) to shift focus and turn their reimagining into an IP of its own.
To say Daymare wears its influences on its sleeve would be an understatement. Maximum effort is made throughout to give loving tribute to many of the horror classics of yesteryear. As nostalgia-inducing as that may be, it also represents Daymare’s first issue in that it struggles to establish any kind of identity of its own. Playing very similarly to the recent RE2/3 remakes with an over-the-shoulder perspective and extremely familiar combinations of circuitous key items, backtracking and cryptic puzzles, Daymare isn’t exactly trying to win awards for originality. That’s not to say that there aren’t any innovations – the novel reloading system, while confusing at first, is rewarding and we could see it being implemented in other games quite well. There are also some nice crafting mechanics which are a welcome addition to the formula.
Unfortunately, Daymare is fraught with problems. There are certainly some positives – the atmosphere is consistently foreboding with some excellent lighting effects, and the story, while hardly groundbreaking, is creepy and enjoyable enough to keep you interested. The gameplay, however, and particularly the shooting mechanics, just don’t feel fun or satisfying. The convoluted puzzles feel arduous and, as nice as some of the environments look, they just aren’t enjoyable to navigate. Add in the jerky and extremely inconsistent framerate and a whole host of sound bugs and technical glitches, and you’re left with an experience that feels almost unfinished.
There’s a lot to praise Invader Studios for. This is an incredibly ambitious project for such a small team and, with a few tweaks here and there, this could have been a good game. We can’t, however, currently recommend this as much more than a curiosity for huge fans of the genre.
