Post Trauma

Things begin with a gunshot. Barrel to temple, a flash, darkness again, a flicker of every death yet to come.

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This is the starting pistol for a story whose haunted spaces are suffused with languid dread. Mixing darkness, bitterness and warmth, it’s a good, if sinister, companion on a bleak night. Or maybe we should say it’s the restarting pistol. As the latest in a lineage that stretches from Alone In The Dark to Signalis, the mysteries here are familiar, the debts mere homages. Post Trauma might haunt you for an evening or a week, but its impact fades like a flash of gunfire.

Anyone who’s played Silent Hill (or one of the innumerable indies inspired by Konami’s series) will grasp the basics immediately. As protagonist Roman, you explore dark hallways and labyrinthine dreamscapes, manage limited inventory space, and piece together a story from cryptic bursts of meaning. Combat is scrambling and clumsy. Yet while Silent Hill has a deliberate, brutal quality, Post Trauma is more volatile. For one thing, Roman can dodge with a button press, but he also has limited stamina. Perform too many attacks or dodges and he slouches, unable to run or strike again until he catches his breath. It’s nothing innovative, but it contrasts meaningfully with its contemporaries. Roman feels stiff and old, his attacks awkward and swingy. Enemies wound him severely with single hits, and there’s a fragility and swiftness to Post Trauma that feels distinctive. However, a couple of boss fights grate more than terrify. The more time we spend fighting monsters, the more we chafe against the imprecision and lack of tactical depth.