BLACK RAVEN

This slasher looks like a comic that inspired death metal bands

- Joshua Wolens

A sufficiently striking coat of paint can get me interested in a game before I know anything else about it. So it was with the demo for Black Raven, a “2.5D action-adventure rooted in Slavic Folklore”, whose screenshots are such a vibe that I downloaded it sight-unseen.

Which, gosh, might have been a mistake, because some very unpleasant things happen to you in the first 45 seconds or so of Black Raven. Have you seen Gladiator? It’s like Gladiator. Your fella, Ivan – a man made entirely of jaw – runs off into the woods thinking he’s spied a friend, only to return to find his home burnt, wife murdered, and child… abducted? Probably abducted, since I don’t think we see them again.