Tenebris Somnia is a Horror Game, and a Horror Movie. It's a Combination Horror Game and Horror Movie
Tenebris Somnia was easily one of my most anticipated games this year. And while delivered on the exact experience I was hoping for, at the same time it didn’t manage to live up to my enormous expectations. I don’t know if that’s just a me problem, or if Tenebris Somnia, in its four years of development and filming, lost a bit of itself along the way.
Tenebris Somnia is a retro style adventure game in the vein of old school, late 80s/early 90s point and click adventure games. Think early King’s Quest games or Maniac Mansion. In fact, there are plenty of deliberate homages baked into the item descriptions and puzzles themselves, from a "Just Leave" door gag pulled straight out of Silent Hill 2 to a secret boss fight against Amy from FAITH.
There have been a lot of point and click style adventure games over the years, but there is clearly some love for the genre here, as developer Saibot Studios gets the look and even some of the puzzle types right on the nose. And, of course, the high definition FMV sequences.
While completely out of sync in the video game history timeline, the inclusion of FMV feels more inspired than anachronistic. I’ve reviewed a few movies in my time, but I’m not a film critic. That said, I know that the FMV sequences inside of Tenebris Somnia are a bit corny.
Sometimes, they’re very effective–especially the introduction to the dual faced woman. Most of the time, the FMV sequences feel like a student film that was filmed on a really good camera. Which makes sense, since it's directed by Argentine indie horror filmmaker Andrés Borghi and leans heavily on practical effects. That is to say: corny with less than stellar acting.
Most of the gameplay in Tenebris Somnia takes after point and click games, but with a modern interface. There isn’t a decision panel or wheel. There’s the ability to interact, ready weapon and attack. You can open your inventory, and combine or use items, too. Puzzles mostly consist of paying attention to the environment, and using specific items where necessary. Nothing too difficult for anyone who has played a survival horror game before.
While there is combat in Tenebris Somnia, it’s pretty simple. Aim your weapon of choice–for me, it was usually the red pipe–and shoot/swing away. Most enemies have the same pattern of attack and then become vulnerable, so even when enemies show up in packs later they’re easily dispatched.
That includes the later, more formidable and scarier enemies. Unfortunately, these don’t get the FMV treatment. The enemies themselves aren’t designed particularly consistently either. One looks at home in a Junji Ito panel, while another looks like a fat version of the clown from Terrifier.
And while I was enjoying my playthrough of Tenebris Somnia, at a part about ¾ of the way through the game, I just wanted to bail.
It has a severe ending issue, where it feels like the game keeps dragging on. The story itself doesn’t help, as it's almost too much of a campy B-movie to take seriously. A grounded, slower build up would have been better. But you’re chucked into the deep end so there’s not much tension to ramp up.
If you remove the game from the movie, or remove the movie from the game, you have an incomplete experience. I think Tenebris Somnia would have been brilliant if it was a really great one of those things–either movie or game. Both parts of the whole are lacking, so it stands to reason that the whole isn’t going to be as good as it can be. That’s the case with Tenebris Somnia. Highly ambitious, but it doesn’t quite stick the landing.
Comments