The Shore Review

Player(s): 1
Extra Features: N/A

The Shore is a first-person horror adventure game developed by Dragonis Games (Ares Dragonis). It’s a mix of exploration and puzzle solving. The game is meant to be an experience in Lovecraftian horror. It is filled with many Lovecraft creatures and loaded with horror atmosphere. Basically, if you’re a fan of Lovecraft, you need to give this game a try.

You play as Andrew, who has washed up on the shore of a mysterious island. Andrew is trying to find his daughter. As you explore the island, you start to catch small glimpses of creatures and before long you journey to their world. The main beauty of The Shore is found in the beginning area of island. The island is fantastic. You are free to explore the island and find a variety of collectibles. The game has many notes and pictures to view while on the island. There are also many objects to interact with.

The overall atmosphere of the game is quite good. The soundtrack really sets the mood for certain points. Voice acting is overall decent – while not overly fantastic, it gets the job done. The creature voices are good for the most part. Overall creature design is where the game really excels. If you’re fan of Lovecraft, you’ll find plenty to enjoy with this game. You’ll find tons of otherworldly creatures and some that are quite famous (Cthulhu, Dagon, etc). The overall story is impressive. You start out not knowing anything, and only little bits are revealed here and there. Unfortunately, the game only has one ending. This is the type of game that could easily have multiple endings.

The main problem that I have with the game is the areas after the island. The island offers free exploration with tons of collectibles to find. The areas after the island are mainly linear areas with only one objective. The majority of the areas are simply solving a puzzle and then teleporting to the next area to solve another one (sometimes involving creatures that you have to fight/run away from). The gameplay gets dull after leaving the island for the most part. The other areas do not have items to collect or any sort of files to read. Later areas are all very monotonous after the island. Honestly, the only good parts of later areas are when you teleport back to the island.

Areas after the island seemed a lot less scary. The later areas are super dark and the surroundings are usually slimy. Black tentacle creatures don’t seem as scary when everything round your character is just as grotesque, but while catching slight glimpse of them on the island, they seem a lot creepier. The game really should have been more of a slow burn type of horror by staying longer on the island rather than going straight into otherworldly areas so quickly. It’s kind of like a horror movie where something is creepier whenever it is slowly revealed and then you have a big payoff at the end by seeing it in full view. The Shore feels like it tries to move too fast, ruining the experience in the process.

The game took around 4-5 hours to complete overall and I do take my time with games. I got so tired of the trial-and-error gameplay and overall lack of guidance on where to go that I had to track down a walkthrough (which I don’t often do). Even with the negatives I feel the game is definitely worth a shot. The creature design is quite impressive and the visuals are good for horror fans. If you’re a fan of Lovecraft, you need to give it a try and judge it for yourself. It’s easy to tell that Dragonis has a passionate love for horror with the visuals and overall creature design in this game.

The Good:
+ The creature design
+ Good atmosphere and overall sound
+ The island area is fantastic!

The Bad:
- Outside of the starting island area, the game gets boring
- Later areas have little gameplay variety