Tormented Souls Review: ‘The successor to classic survival horror’

Tormented Souls review for PC and PS5

The franchises that brought survival horror into the mainstream have either evolved into something more action-packed (Resident Evil) or disappeared entirely (Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark). So if you want to scratch that survival horror itch, you’ve got to turn to indie developers like Dual Effect Games. The studio’s recently released Tormented Souls emulates the puzzle-filled, atmospheric gameplay of the classic Resident Evils and Silent Hill series while introducing its own spin on the formula in a modern framework.

The cure for wellness

Tormented Souls puts you in the shoes of Caroline Walker, who receives a letter with a picture of twin girls. The letter is from Winterlake Hospital, so Caroline heads there to see what’s up.

Unfortunately for Caroline, when she arrives at Winterlake, she’s almost immediately bashed over the head with a pipe and knocked out cold. She wakes up naked in a bathtub with one of her eyes removed and a tube down her throat. After escaping this situation, she finds that she’s still in the hospital and that she’s been effectively locked in one of its wings.

The narrative unfolds through files and diaries found scattered through the hospital, which is empty aside from a creepy old priest and twisted abominations that are fusions of flesh and metal. Caroline has no choice but to fight her way through and try and unveil the mystery of who the two girls in the photo are and what happened in the hospital.

The story can be a bit predictable at times, but that’s not a problem in my eyes. This game channels multiple works of horror, so it’s hard not to fill in the blanks. The journey is the real attraction here, and there are enough twists to leave players guessing about some plot elements.

The voice acting is…. goofy. However, the fact that there is full voice acting here is impressive given the game’s low budget, and looking at the games it’s inspired by, it feels a bit like an homage.

A beautiful terror

The developers did a fantastic job with the environments. Winterlake Hospital is magnificent, and I think the backgrounds stand up well against Capcom’s best. The mansion-turned hospital definitely gives me Resident Evil 1 vibes but manages to set itself apart from locations we’ve seen in other horror works by forging a strange blend of ornate Victorian architecture and sterile hospital.

Where Tormented Souls leaves the games that inspired it in the dust is the puzzles. I’ve always been frustrated about the difficulty of puzzles in the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series. In Resident Evil, the puzzles are absurdly easy, to the point where they felt more like child-proofing than a barrier to keep intruders at bay. On the flipside, Silent Hill puzzles (on hard mode) are ridiculously obtuse.

Tormented Souls has interesting, multi-step puzzles that get you thinking, but they don’t require players to memorize vast amounts of information and don’t have permanent fails states. I also liked that many of the puzzles have red herring clues or multiple possible answers that make brute-forcing less effective.

Lighting is used excellently here as well. Staying in the dark too long will lead to a game over, and all Caroline has, in the beginning, is a small lighter to illuminate her surroundings. Players can’t fight while she’s holding the lighter, so some areas remain gated due to enemy presence. This means there are not just locks blocking areas, but the darkness as well. So, it breaks up the typical “get this key for that door” grind many of these games get into by requiring the player to figure out how to get power to an area so they can take down a foe and proceed.

A monstrous problem

The combat is the main area in which Tormented Souls could use improvement. I love the monster designs here, which feature humans twisted into abominations combined with rusting medical equipment. A torso fused with a wheelchair dragging itself toward you with its long steel fingers is a horrifying sight, but the effect is somewhat stifled by the relatively bad animations and poor combat system.

Fighting is easy enough in Tormented Souls, and Caroline gets a decent arsenal, but enemies lack variety in their attacks. Each of them has a few short-range swipes and usually a longer-range one as well. However, Caroline is effectively invincible if players time her dodge well. Foes tend to choreograph their attacks, and there’s a brief pause before each one in which you can do a quick backstep and avoid them. Enemies are also very susceptible to knockdown, which means they’ll spend most of a fight flailing on the ground while you slap them with a crowbar or fill them full of nails from your nailgun.

There’s also a lack of bosses, which robs the game of memorable foes. Many fans remember Resident Evil and Silent Hill by monsters like the Tyrant, Mr. X, and Pyramid Head. There are no standout enemies here, and Caroline could have used a twisted rival to spice things up again here and there.

However, exploration takes a more prominent role in Tormented Souls than combat, so the issues here are less impactful than they could have been.

Tormented Souls Review: Is it worth buying?

Tormented Souls is the successor to classic survival horror. I’ve wanted a new Silent Hill (or classic Resident Evil) game for years, but I’d trade all the drama and disappointment for a fantastic spiritual successor like this any day. Exploring Winterlake Hospital channeled all those feelings of dread and loneliness that made those games special and proves that the format still works.

The biggest issues with Tormented Souls seem like they stem more from a problem with budget more than the devs’ ability. With indie games, there are always compromises that have to be made to launch a title, and I think Dual Effect struck the best balance it could here.