Draugen – PC Review

Review by Nicola Warren

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to explore a beautiful picturesque Norwegian town in the early 1920’s? Well in Red Thread Games Draugen you can do exactly that!

You play as the main character Edward, A scholar who resides in America and after receiving a letter from a family member living in Graavic, Norway, You immediately set off with your Assistant Lissie to investigate the whereabouts of Betty, your sister who has suddenly disappeared.

Upon sailing into Graavic you can really see the effort that Red Thread has put into making the game a picturesque setting. Everywhere that you explore in the game is beautiful and clearly has had so much effort go into designing it whether it is the trees and forests, the inside of the buildings or even the creepy mine, it is all spot on and leaves you with some very memorable views.

The dialogue of the game is used very well in a Cluedo who done it style making you ask questions as you go to try to achieve the answers you are looking for, While mixing in some puzzles to get you thinking about what you need to do or where you need to go next. Yet be careful because all is not as it seems and you really need to pick and choose who you can or can not trust as you question the people of the town.

You also have your assistant Lisse to help you as you go through the game, She tells you as it is and you can interact with her as you go along, but by the end I was left wondering what sort of relationship is actually happening between herself and Edward, Could it be more than just an assistant and employer? I felt this could be a big possibility.

As you get into the game you will start to notice the usual haunts within your story mystery games such as spooky locations, humble homes, mines and so on BUT one thing that I feel Red Thread does amazingly in Draugen is how they use sound effects and music.

As you are exploring the background music and sounds are very calming with a nice little exploration feel to it, but as soon as you start to explore the spookier place the sound effects take a bit of a twist and are used at the right time in such a way that you start to feel a little on edge. I loved it!

Draugen is a first-person mystery exploration game which I feel is very balanced in what it is trying to achieve. It’ isn’t an extremely long game and you can sit down and finish it in 3 or 4 hours but I did have fun doing so.

There is a fair amount of unanswered questions as you play through the game and personally, I felt that I was left feeling as though there was a little something missing but not to an extent that it ruined any of the game for me.

Another favourite for me is that there are several plot twists throughout which grabbed my attention and kept me wanting to play on so I could find out what was going to happen next. Overall even though Draugen is a shorter game it is fun to play and holds attention keeping you wanting to come back for more. The storyline is solid and Red Thread Games have created an astonishing background and atmosphere.

I score it a solid – 8/10

Badger

Life long gamer and Geek, Considered by most to be of doubtable sanity. never seen without my trusty Stetson

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