Decay Part 1 is the best horror indie game around and, despite its brevity, its heavy atmosphere and story truly compel!
Created by Shining Gate Software, Decay is clearly the first installment of a series, and because of that you'll complete it in under an hour and of course won't have completed the full story either. With that said, it's still a very worthy game, with strong production values and a high degree of realism, so essential to the horror genre. The opening sequence flashes through "random" but eventually meaningful images which ends when you find that you've just tried to hang yourself. They mystery as to why, and what exactly is going on is of course the launch into this dark mystery.
Decay's gameplay involves a fairly simple mechanic of looking at parts of each room, and moving the cursor on the screen around to interact with the environment (think Myst) which is unique in that most Xbox games don't ever use a pointer on screen. When the cursor hovers over an object that you can investigate, it becomes a hand or magnifying glass for interaction or closer inspection. So with cursor in hand, you'll move about the series of rooms working to unlock the secrets therein through puzzles, item gathering and use, and the like. Though its a simple and familiar mechanic, it works remarkably well here and you'll definitely have the sense of embodiment despite the lack of any 3rd person visual cue.
But of course what makes a horror game good isn't simply game mechanics, but rather atmosphere, and when it comes to atmosphere Decay hits the nail on the head. From creepy but not over-the-top music to high-realism in its visual depictions, you'll have a very strong sense of place, which is heightened from the sense of potential violence and pain around each corner, impressive since there's as of yet no violence witnessed in the game. Visually, Decay's realism strengthens the sense of horror through such realism, as well as with a feel of intensity and immanence that comes from the diverse but very specific color palette and distinctly creepy music and sound effects. The first 2 rooms alone (where you find yourself hung) are intensely visceral, thanks in large part to the strong orange light which glares through the window, as well as the depictions of the objects in the room (the bathtub is a great example). But even when you explore outwards into the eerie apartment building, each scene has a great sense of itself, from a room with no lights (but really creepy sounds) to the eventual surreal encounters which indicate the insanity of your perspective and lead you to question your role in all of this.
The other game mechanics works quite well too, including an inventory system which is clearly lifted from Resident Evil, allowing you to view and examine objects for puzzle-solving. Furthermore, the story, though it's clearly still in its infancy, will begin to pull with all its weight soon enough, despite the fact that at the end you'll still have mostly a bunch of loose threads. The puzzles are all interesting (and sometimes frightening) to boot, which is saying something for in-game puzzles.
In fact, the only real drawback to Decay - Part 1 is the length. Coming in at around 1 hour, and clearly very incomplete in terms of getting to the bottom of it all, you'll definitely be left wanting more. So here's to keeping our fingers crossed that Decay doesn't become the next Mithra, a glorious but ultimately horribly incomplete game. Given the player ratings to date, however, the prospects look good for the potential series.
All in all, Decay - Part 1 is an incredibly atmospheric horror game which is compelling in all the right ways. If you're looking for a solid horror game, or even a great game that'll provide a brief respite from the rest of your life, you're horribly in luck. Decay will deliver for you no question.
Rating 9/10