Finding yourself locked inside a mansion with no way out is a horror trope, but with the right atmosphere and music, the trope works just fine. Tormented Souls 2 brings another version of getting trapped inside a mansion, but the pitch-perfect horror ambiance and visual scenery, with the tank controls, make everything flow well together. Here is our review of Tormented Souls 2: Beautiful Merger of Tank Controls, Limited Ammo, and Fixed Camera.
Horror On Display
The first sign of horror in Tormented Souls 2 goes straight to the visual artistry, from the chandelier hanging on the ceiling to the candlesticks at a distance sitting on a table. The sheer amount of objects in a room might not feel much, but when the light goes out, and you are holding a lighter, the shadow of each object projected on the wall can be a terrifying visual ambience, befitting the horror game.
The still visual imagery was part of the older Resident Evil title, although none of the objects in the scene were interactable; however, it did create a perfect ambiance for the game. Tormented Souls 2’s fixed camera angle helps line up perfect shots in every room. The same fixed camera angle shots create perfect horror by putting our main character in a blind position. So, nearly in every room, I had to be careful stepping into either the left or the right.
Hunting Track with Serantiy at Sight
The music also complemented the whole scene by playing the right track at the right time. Picture this: you are looking for a way out in a mansion, only to find yourself in the hands of a safe room, and suddenly the music changes to something calm and relaxing. A feeling that’s too common in Resident Evil games, in Tormented Souls 2, you will get to feel the escape from the nightmare every time you open the door to a safe room.
Having played Resident Evil Village just before Tormented Souls 2, the feeling of entering a safe room is always an otherworldly experience. Despite the lack of such moments in Resident Evil Village, it was always a nice touch to see Tormented Souls 2 executing the mechanic to perfection.
Survival over Action
The combat takes a while to start, as the game is focused on building the momentum for the story bits. You must take part in a running sequence until you get your hands on the nail gun. The intro did make my mind think of Dead Space 1, as you will also have run from an enemy before getting the plasma cutter. After the running sequence from a sprinting enemy, I found myself in a room. Here I had to combine different gun parts to make a proper gun; all the while, I heard the enemy making noise behind the door.
Tormented Souls merges tank control and the fixed camera shot, both of which worked wonderfully in many horror games in the past, from Resident Evil to Silent Hill 1 to 4. While the mechanics are considered old, time and time again, it has shown how perfect it can be for horror settings. Tormented Souls 2 borrows from the excellent tools from the bygone titles and makes them work perfectly to deliver yet again a perfect horror ambience. The tank controls will take time to get used to, but they did create a lot of scary moments, especially during running sequences.
The fixed camera pointed out all the pictorial artistry in every single shot while also being blind to the dark corners of the room or hallway. And it’s always what you can’t see that brings the real fear. The second the game began, both of the game mechanics were on display, creating unsettling moments throughout my run.
Disturbing Story Unsettling Visuals
The story of Caroline Walker(the Main protagonist) and Anna did have moments, as the story ventured into the Silent Hill cult territory. There is a ritual overtone and plenty of religious imagery splattered throughout from the gorgeous paintings that hang on he walls and the brutal executions of nuns. The cutscenes did build quite a lot of suspense in the story, and Caroline’s sister Anna. The overall feeling of being watched over by a third eye was persistent throughout the game.
The fixed camera angle sold the idea of being watched over, as it added more depth to the story. While almost all the characters do play the role of sinister members of a cult, the facial expression leaves much to be desired. At times, the facial movements did enter the uncanny territory that barely resembled anything human.
Lack of Exploration
I was a bit disappointed with how the game flowed, while it opened up to the scene of being trapped in a mansion. But almost all the routes were locked. So no matter which way I went, every door sang the same song of can’t open, and I must attend to the objective before trying to open the door. Here we have another case of illusion of exploration, as the game wants me to follow a set path, but it creates this world around me for exploration. There is a sense of linearity to the game, as you must follow the story bits to get to the next course of gameplay.
It takes a while before the game lets the player go their own way. But in the first couple of minutes, it did become following a single line to get to the next part of the game, even stuck in a maze-like level.
| Pros | Cons |
| Amazing Visuals | Linear opening |
| Hunting OST | Weird Facial expression |
| Limited Gameplay | |
| Interesting Storyline |
My time with Toremented Souls 2 was filled with genuine old-school horror, and the tank control brought me back to the days of Resident Evil 1 Remake. Everything is neatly done from the visuals to the ambiance, to the enemy design, all of which felt unique to the game, even though most of the game mechanics were over 30 years old. If you wear the badge of a horror fan, then missing out on Tormented Souls would be a grave mistake. This game carries an original story on its back with a massive inspiration from the titles the world loves.
