Walking back home at night on an abandoned road still spooks me every time, even though I've grown up now. And I'm sure many of you fear the same thing. Luckily, the indie developer games by lum has made a game on how to deal with this fear. Its name is PARANOIHELL, a quirky pixelated action game.
Below is the trailer of the game, which you can see to catch that eerie vibe. I don't know how you would feel, but after watching it, I feel that my fear was worsened!
About PARANOIHELL
As I've mentioned, PARANOIHELL wants to recreate the fear of walking back home on a dark lone street at night from players. To be more specific, you'll step in the shoes of Erica on her worst journey home ever.
As every normal day, Erica closes her bar that she's operating and dive into the street to go back home. It was 3 AM, and the roads' light is nowhere to be found as usual. However, this night has something different, and they are definitely sinister. As a sense of discomfort strikethrough, the ancient instincts of Erica let her know that there's definitely something watching her.
A grinning voice whispering through your ears, and you know that you're in danger. The sinister forces have been stalking you for a long time, so they know your route home, and they won't miss this chance to ambush you. They don't jump on you as you still have the street light on, but who can guarantee that they won't do that at darker places?
Nevertheless, you still have to follow that long walk home, all on your own. Ready to encounter horrifying beings as well as a rot from other worlds that is eating up the streets. Wielding everything you can on the roads, you'll have to fight back against endless horrors.
Your objective is very clear - head to the safe lights outside your own apartment. If you failed, no one will remember you've existed the next morning!
Gameplay features
PARANOIHELL is an action-adventure game, which takes inspiration from many PSX-style horror games. Taking control of Erica, you'll help her to get home safely. However, the streets are long and dark, and the wicked creatures are lurking in the darkness, waiting for their chances to strike.
Hence, you'll have to carefully walk your route, and staying alive until you reach your destination. In order to do that, you'll have to decide whether to fight, ambush or hide from them. Adventuring on the roads, you'll come across several weapons and items, which you can take advantage of. Without equipment in hands, don't even think about fighting your enemies.
Furthermore, your resources are very limited, so you can't afford to set traps everywhere you want. Exploration and resource management is very vital to keep you alive until you found your safe light.
The dark journey in PARANOIHELL will be portrayed in the pixelated media art style. The developer is proud to reveal that they utilize modern lighting mechanics as well as VHS effects to draw the eerie atmosphere of the fictional dystopic streets in this game.
If you want more challenges, the game does provide various difficulty settings, which will mix up the location of enemies and items. Thus, you'll have much tougher time getting through enemies, as you'll have to plan your route more carefully.
Last but not least, PARANOIHELL features multiple endings. I don't know which parts of the game decide how we can trigger each ending, but I know for sure an ending that you're very likely to encounter: get eaten by the sinister forces!
PARANOIHELL will come for PC through Steam and Itch.io at an unconfirmed date. However, if you can't wait to try it, there's a free demo on Itch.io that you can try to catch the vibe.
Enjoy!
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