The Last Door – Season 1

 

The Last Door – Season 1

Type	Horror point and click
Single or multiplayer	Singleplayer
Developer	The Game Kitchen
Publisher	The Game Kitchen
Fun	3/5
Difficulty	3/5

 

The Last Door – a pixelated point and click horror adventure full of mystery and fear. The eerie atmosphere seeps from the screen, and even though it is very simple graphically speaking, it finds ways to disturb you.

The graphics are, like I said, extremely pixelated. The main character doesn’t even have any features, as his head is comprised of only six pixels. Still, it manages to show the scenes well enough. The setting is traditional for a horror game – a large and deserted manor house, an old school turned into a monastery, a mausoleum, the sewers… They all have a very spooky feeling about them. 

Special attention must be given to sound effects and music. The ticking of the clock, the footsteps, the laughs and cries in the dark, they all lend themselves to creating the atmosphere one expects from a horror game, and they rise in tone and intensity in certain quite morbid scenes.

The soundtrack was composed by someone who knew what they were doing. The strings, with their melancholic melodies and deep long notes, sound like something straight out of a classic horror movie. It is one of the high points of the game. One thing I have noticed, though, is that the game is by default very loud. The intro and the logo nearly exploded my speakers, and probably startled my neighbors.

 

The gameplay is typical for a point and click game. You only use the left mouse button, and the cursor changes from a magnifying glass into a hand when you can use an object. A rudimentary inventory at the bottom of the screen holds items, which are used for certain puzzles. The puzzles are mostly logical, and not too intimidating. The main character doesn’t run, which can be tedious at times. Walking through the darkness, with an oil lamp guiding your way, also takes longer, but it’s nothing too infuriating.

The undeveloped story is set in England and Scotland at the end of the 19^th century. Without giving too much away, it involves secret societies and their devious machinations, and it starts with the death of one of the former members. Apart from dialogues, you will uncover the plot from notes and letters scattered through the game. This is as far as the first season is concerned, as I haven’t yet had the chance to play the second one.

The frightening parts are there, and they are plentiful. It’s not that difficult to not be afraid of something that looks so simple, as pixelated blood and gore lose much of their potency when represented like this. However, certain scenes are not as scary as they are disturbing, and when you realize their meaning for the plot, they became even more so.

The fantastic sound design does everything to help the scary feelings caused by the actions you experience. The game doesn’t shy away from a few jump scares as well, and some of them made me flinch and curse at the screen.

Overall, The Last Door is a good horror game. It’s not going to make you run to your bed with your eyes closed, hoping that monsters don’t grab you on the way, but it will leave you with a gut punch feeling. So wait for dark, turn off the lights, and venture into 19^th century Britain as you uncover a terrifying mystery whose roots go deeper than you can imagine.