D for Doom
Anyway there really isn't a lot I can say about this game, D isn't so much a video game it's more of an experence. It's similar with the "Myst" series only it's the yang version of it. The story is your Laura the daughter of a physican that has gone mad killing people in the hospital for no reason, he is now holding people hostage and you go into the hospital to defuse the bizzare situation but unfortunately you trip to the hopital is no ordinary one.
And that's the set up, this game isn't so much one of particpation (even though you have some degree of it) but it's more about observation. And this game doesn't really feel like a game more like a well made horror movie.
For it's time this game was revolutionary since it came out at a time when 3D graphics were on the rise, this game is fully CGI animated, and it really did look great for it's time anyway. Despite how much time has gone by this game still has the power to scare me, and that what a good survival horror game is suppose to do.
D plays out and reminds me of an Italian Horror film particualar Argento's work like "Susperia", "Inferno" or parts of "Deep Red". Like in that film the thing that really makes D scary is how reality gets distored and falls away which gives you a sense of disorentation, everything doesn't feel right, everything is so strange and different, even the strange, errie, suttle music score (one of my favortes in the survival horror genere) that accompanies the enviorment your in adds to the unsettling feeling you get.
Also what's interesting about this game is there is no blood (or not much of it) nor really a monster. But the game doesn't need a monster for it to be scary it's the enviorment around you that is your enimy. Your scared not so much of the fact that something is going to happen but more that your scared something could happen and will.
There's really not much to the gameplay as I said this game is more about observation, there are a few puzzles that are hard and take a long while to solve (I use a guide just to save time, because those puzzle are a little hard by my standards to solve but that's me).
You don't take much action, you don't really get into a fight making this survival horror slightly non violent (which is unique for the sub genere), the only action you take is in putting keys in the right trigers just to open a door, and finding clues for the next way out. But other than that you simply go different directions all leading to one. This element in the
gameplay really adds to the horror because it like in all survival horor games the scariest potions is having no choice but to go in places you don't want to go because in the back of your mind you know their death traps. I remember sometimes when playing this game I was thinking "oh great I have to go down a dark creepy starwell, can't wait" or "do I really want to open this door". This isn't anything special it's part of the territory but what make this unique is there are no savepoints no safezones, no places where you can take a breather this just adds more to the horror of the game because it gives you a feeling of being unsafe. So like any protagonist in a horror film you options are limited your in or out, act now.
And I mean it right now because you have only two hours to complete the game, which isn't a problem for me because all I really need are an hour and a half to do it in. So if your playing the game I wouldn't recomend you take a bathroom break (just do it before you play the game) because you need every second, when times up you die (which is the only way you really can die in the game).
But even though I'm a casual/hardcore fan of the suvival horror genere I can't completely recomend the game to everyone even non fans of the sub genere. The gameplay of D will remind you of how old this game is and might bore you so I mainly recomend this game to retro gamers that are use to this and are familar with the now defunct mystery sub genere of video games. But still if you are a fan of the survival horror genere D is at least worth a try.
D is a destiantion to doom.