From Sleep Paralysis to Survival Horror
Nightmares can be the perfect fuel for creating amazing stories. Many writers and artists have used them as the inspiration for their greatest creations. Most famously, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was inspired in this way, while Stephen King came up with the novel Misery after a nightmare he had on a flight. I think it is the way dreams and nightmares can devise strange scenarios, taking fears we didn’t even know we had and bringing them right to the surface.
The solo developer behind the new survival horror game, Unsealed: The Mare, drew from this exact same inspiration, channelling his own nightmares and experiences with sleep paralysis. Let’s see if it creates a good gaming experience, or just another nightmare.
Vera’s Descent
Unsealed: The Mare has a familiar premise that has popped up in countless survival horror games over the years. You walk around a series of dark, maze-like environments and complete a series of objectives, or simply try to find the exit. Meanwhile, you are being stalked by something horrible, dark, or supernatural, and you must try to run or hide to avoid instant death. Unsealed: The Mare follows this formula to the letter, but it manages to introduce elements that allow it to stand out from the rest of the pack.
In the story, you play the part of Vera, who wakes up in a nightmare realm that looks like a hybrid of a basement and fragmented parts of a house. There is no opening cutscene or full introduction to the storyline to begin with. As you start to venture forward, you see things that add to the narrative, providing clues to the place and the nightmare you are trapped in. There are scrawled messages on the walls that offer help and warnings. Or are they leading you into traps?
I thought the way the story unfolded bit by bit across its three chapters was engaging. I liked the nightmare setup, and it mixed the dream world and reality successfully throughout its two-hour runtime. The latter chapters are the more successful ones in my view, as the first chapter doesn’t do anything particularly different to set itself apart.
Stalker Modes and Focus Sight
The gameplay takes place entirely in the first person and gives you the option at the beginning to play in one of two different modes: Stalker and Hunted. The former is the more forgiving mode, allowing you to explore a bit more freely without being constantly pursued by the horror, which we will discuss shortly.
As you progress through the levels, you find clues and solve puzzles to advance, bringing us to the unique mechanic the game possesses. Vera has a focus sight ability that allows you to unlock sections of the environment by fusing memory and reality. For example, you might face a blocked wall, but using the sight will reveal a doorway you can walk through, or a broken object that suddenly appears fixed. These interactive puzzles are inventive and make the game feel a bit different from the usual horror fare.
Evading The Mare
Unsealed: The Mare’s main enemy is called The Mare: a ghostly woman who is initially seen only in the shadows or heard giggling down hallways. She is the stuff of nightmares, and if she confronts you directly, it’s all over. You have items and a small inventory to manage to try and fend off the horror, but there are no weapons to be had; just a lighter and fuel to keep the darkness at bay. You do find a camera later on, which helps a lot.
However, be prepared to juggle your resources, avoid The Mare, and try to solve puzzles all at the same time. Personally, I would have liked her appearances to be a bit more staggered throughout; in my opinion, she shows her cards too early. Once I had died a few times, her presence lost its impact a bit.
Visually, the game is impressive, making great use of lighting. To be sure, you will spend a lot of this game in the dark, but the variation in shadows and the tension it creates is highly effective. The audio is excellent throughout, and as the game advises, it works best when played with headphones. The sound design naturally puts you on edge, but it is also crucially linked to the gameplay, giving you auditory clues about where to go and what is hunting you. Be scared; be very scared.
A Cut Above the Average Indie Horror
I had a good time with Unsealed: The Mare, and as I mentioned at the beginning, it is a cut above the average for this genre. The fact that it was made by a solo developer makes the accomplishment even more impressive. It is a short experience, and I felt the first chapter was the weakest, alongside the reveal of The Mare happening a bit too quickly for my liking.
But if you love your survival horror and enjoy a good fright in the dark, then Unsealed: The Mare might just be your favourite new nightmare.
Important Links
Face A Nightmare Born From Memory In Unsealed: The Mare – https://www.thexboxhub.com/face-a-nightmare-born-from-memory-in-unsealed-the-mare/
Inside Unsealed: The Mare – How One Developer Turned Nightmares Into Psychological Horror – https://www.thexboxhub.com/unsealed-the-mare-dev-interview/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/unsealed-the-mare/9NQ99D7SGPS3
