The Town of Light is a game I didn’t really know anything about, A game that until I got my hands on with it at EGX Rezzed I had 0 awareness or expectations of. However after we had finished our hour long timeslot at EGX, The Town of Light was permanently etched into my mind with high expectations.
Well the wait was finally over for me and I got to play through the rest of the atmospheric horror game from Wired Productions and see if it was going to be as good as I thought, or whether I had just built it up in my mind.
So normally with any of my game reviews I would discuss the story, gameplay and multiplayer etc – but a lot of that really doesn’t apply to The Town Of Light, instead I will be discuss the atmosphere, story and general reason this game is in fact a horror game despite the lack of Jump Scares – seriously it has none, but is one of the most horrifying experiences I have ever played.
Story & Gameplay
In The Town of Light, you follow Renee as she walks her way (VERY SLOWLY) through the asylum she spent her youth in. As you walk through the asylum Renee has flashbacks of her prior time here including pretty in depth scenes of her abuse by doctors and her “Lover”.
I won’t spoil anything else from the Story of The Town Of Light but I will say that it gave me a really interesting insight into how mental health was viewed and especially the mental asylum system worked during this era.
One interesting note is the way the game has you interact with the storyline – as there are little to no other characters in the entirety of the games 3 hour gametime, it has you speak to Renee as one of the voices inside her head. I loved this idea once I realised exactly what was going on.
Atmosphere & Visuals
If there is one thing that The Town Of Light gets absolutely right, it’s the atmosphere and visuals of the asylum.
As you move ever slowly & uncomfortably through the asylum you uncover lots of information about how it was run whilst you were there, this is all told in a comic book style visuals with Renee translating the Italian language with absolutely phenomenal voice work.
The game is TERRIFYING, not in a jump scare kind of way but in a way that makes you feel really uncomfortable as it forces you to see the conditions these people lived in and how they were treated, it is not a game for the faint of heart but for those wanting to experience some true terror then I definitely recommend it.
Tidbits & Additional Thoughts
This game has dolls in it as a main focal point of the story, Fuck dolls. That and Mental Asylums are the two main things that freak me out in a game so The Town Of Light did an absolute bang up job of freaking me out for hours after I finished playing… Well played.
Verdict
I had one of the worst times of my gaming life whilst playing through The Town Of Light, I felt constantly on edge and uncomfortable throughout the entire experience. With this in mind, I absolutely LOVED my time with the game, I just wish it was a bit longer and quicker at times.
9/10
View the first 2 hours of the game right here: