A recent hit survival-horror game for indies that hit the genre in strides, is Crow Country, published by SFB Games. Effectively developed by one person, namely Adam Vian, Crow Country is not only impressive for its scope but also for innovating as a survival-horror. This is saying a lot as it is one of the few to recreate the peak of the traditional style of the greats, giving fans a new spin on old conventions. While the great survival-horrors in the late 90’s and early 00’s are seen as aged by a modern audience, games like Crow Country prove how intricate and impactful the “traditional” format really is.
Traditional Survival Horror
What do I mean by traditional? Specifically, games with perspectives like fixed camera angles, a focus on resource management, a progression of puzzle-solving—and a deep atmosphere that makes the game really feel like an art piece. The game could be any reasonable mix of these elements as long as it has that perfectly paced, somber “effect.” It’s one of those things that you “know when you see it,” or when you play it, in this case. Crow Country is the kind of game you play and know is special, either reinvigorating a nostalgia in you or bringing you to a new sensation of horror. Particularly, the game adds to the genre rather than replicates. It sets itself apart as the new example of what elements borrow from, stretching the boundaries of the genre.
Resource-Management
To hook things back into perspective, a lot of Crow Country frankly won’t stray away too much from the traditional format due to how restrictive it can be. One of these restrictions is that there must be action, and that action must have pressure and decision-making involved. Most notably, survival-horrors are known to be replete with resource management. The way it is done here is through crates and glass bottles throughout the map. This isn’t unique for the genre, but the system indeed is. By the bottles being made of clear glass, players can make the choice of whether to expend bullets on whatever they see on the bottle. This is a refreshing take on the resource system, making it so every player plays differently or experiences a different outcome. However, this isn’t the only way the game randomized things. It is a bigger function of the entire experience.
Randomized Enemies and Traps
Enemies are also randomized for each area, making combat even more decision focused. In certain areas a player might encounter tanky monsters or easy targets that might not even require confrontation. This makes the game even more replayable and diverse, also injecting enemy variety. Much less will any player have a playthrough like the other, making it very watchable too. Included with the danger are varied traps, ranging from poison to falling chandeliers. Players have to watch their step at all times when they enter a new area, just as much as they do for enemies. It flips the survival-horror tradition on its head, opting for a varied gameplay style instead of the usual linear and scripted design.
A Unique Aiming and Damage System
Perhaps the least innovative element of Crow Country is its aiming system. It borrows the tension of the original Resident Evil games in which the character does not move when they decide to shoot. This is a deliberate design made to make combat a commitment. Will you decide to run away from a monster or face your fears and stand still as your enemy approaches you? Do you have the resources, and the confidence to hit your shots? Another layer of decision-making in combat, and the real innovation, is the proximity-based damage scale. The closer the enemy is to you, the more damage you do, with the inverse being true. This creates four layers in total, according to the sequence of confrontation. You must stop, then you must aim, then you wait for the proper distance, and lastly shoot your limited bullets to deal damage.
This is uniquely different from other titles in the genre that use movement as the way to do combat. Leon in Resident Evil 4 parries attacks and uses melee follow-up attacks. Mara Forest in Crow Country waits for enemies to get close and sprays them down, in spite of getting attacked herself. It keeps the pressure up but also sticks to the simpler designs of the game, not particularly focused on combat being the main way to interact. The main interaction is, of course, the puzzle-solving in the game.
Puzzle Heaven
More than most survival-horrors, Crow Country features a rich density of puzzles to solve. This is hardly a specific feature considering the entire industry, but the density does put it on a different level. Oftentimes, one area in a game will be cleared by its main puzzles, never needing to return. The puzzle won’t always be deep either, sometimes simply placing an item in a different position that was gained from killing an enemy. Crow Country isn’t so shallow, in fact, it has nearly every type of puzzle and features backtracking to every possible area on the map. That much is clear considering that the map is small yet still takes hours to clear. If the game was defined by how long it would take to travel through each area, it would take mere minutes. But the puzzle keeps it continuously engaging, still leaving optional routes in the process.
The kind of neat puzzles in the game include the use of math, positioning, memorization, item grabbing, word play, deciphering, codes and other elements. This is the kind of game where it feels like every available room was placed there intricately as part of this greater puzzle. There will hardly be rooms where there is simply a crate to break or put in as filler. Observations are rewarded, with satisfying ends to strings of information the player gathers. It itches the brain the way only a traditional survival-horror could. It does what it knows best, adding to its sense of originality and creative vision.
An Ambitious Game Unrecognized
Being the small experience that it is, these are the few innovations that Crow Country brings to the genre. It is wholly impressive, as niche as the title is. Signalis, being a small-scale indie in kind, still received far more recognition and sales although both were ambitious. Perhaps it isn’t fair to compare them, but Adam Vian’s special project is a love letter to the traditional formula, with unrecognized surprises.
Its objective isn’t only to appease old fans of survival-horrors, it means to invite new and unsuspecting players charmed by the game’s visuals and premise. New releases in the genre survival-horror space should take some notes from Crow Country. I can already imagine some rogue-like, survival-horror hybrid that invites the pressure and despair of the genre, infinitely. We think we’ve seen what these kinds of games can offer, but we should let developers like these expand our imaginations. This ambition and creativity is what keeps us playing new releases, even if we think we know what we can expect.
