The Last Door Swings Open

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
The Last Door Swings Open


The Last Door is an 8-bit point-and-click horror adventure with a powerful Lovecraftian bent, and the first episode is now ready to play.

The Last Door did its thing on Kickstarter [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1042570429/the-last-door-episodic-horror-adventure] at the end of 2012, easily exceeding its very modest goal of £3,852 ($5830) in a mere 30 days. And now, a mere 100-ish days after that, the first chapter of the episodic horror webseries is live - and, more importantly, actually quite good.

The game is set in 1891, following the receipt of a letter from an old friend that leads to a visit to his family mansion, where strange, unsettling things are afoot. The visual style is very heavily pixelated, to the point that character faces are just featureless beige blocks, but the animation is smooth and the backdrops, despite the chunkiness, are quite lovely. And it soon stops mattering anyway, because the story, a dark mystery spurred by suicide, very quickly takes priority.

Chapter one of The Last Door is short, requiring probably no more than an hour to complete if you don't dawdle excessively, and not terribly difficult either; there are relatively few inventory items and their uses are generally fairly obvious. But it makes excellent use of music and audio cues, and while it's neither as startling as Amnesia [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/10269-Slender-The-Arrival-Review-Short-and-Scary], the atmosphere is decidedly disturbing and translates to a web-based point-and-click experience better than I expected.

The Last Door is open now to Kickstarter backers, and if you missed that train you can still pay for admittance by way of a donation toward future development in the amount of your choice. Alternatively, you can wait for the release of the second chapter, currently planned for sometime in May, at which time the first chapter will be opened to everyone at no charge.

A playable teaser is available if you just can't make up your mind, but however you go about it (and I'm of the opinion that it's worth at least a couple bucks), The Last Door is definitely worth a look if you're into the horror and/or point-and-click adventure thing. You may take said look at thelastdoor.com [http://thelastdoor.com/].


Permalink
 

ScrabbitRabbit

Elite Member
Mar 27, 2012
1,545
0
41
Gender
Female
I might give it a go. I'm getting a little tired of both Lovecraftian horror and 8-bit throwbacks, but it can't hurt to try.
 

ritchards

Non-gamer in a gaming world
Nov 20, 2009
641
0
0
As a backer... I think this is a great game! There are some wonderfully great moments that will creep you the hell out. (After you put the record on being the main one...)
 

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
ritchards said:
As a backer... I think this is a great game! There are some wonderfully great moments that will creep you the hell out. (After you put the record on being the main one...)
That was a good moment. It actually did startle me a bit.
weirdguy said:
Chalk, have you played any of the games Yahtzee made?
Just the first one (I think), The Art of Theft. A few people have mentioned that I should give some others a try since they apparently fall into a category similar to this one.
 

weirdee

Swamp Weather Balloon Gas
Apr 11, 2011
2,634
0
0
Andy Chalk said:
ritchards said:
As a backer... I think this is a great game! There are some wonderfully great moments that will creep you the hell out. (After you put the record on being the main one...)
That was a good moment. It actually did startle me a bit.
weirdguy said:
Chalk, have you played any of the games Yahtzee made?
Just the first one (I think), The Art of Theft. A few people have mentioned that I should give some others a try since they apparently fall into a category similar to this one.
it's not technically the first one, it's more of a prequel

seven days a stranger was the first one, although not chronologically, because the way the series is set up, the plot is realized with the one that falls in the middle of the timeline, kind of like how castlevania is supposed to kill dracula on the fated year in the middle of theirs, except yahtzee actually made his game, and we have yet to see konami think about doing it
 

kailus13

Soon
Mar 3, 2013
4,568
0
0
So if you wait 2 months you can get the first chapter free? That is incredibly decent of them, and the free publicity that comes along with it can't hurt.
 

Pink Gregory

New member
Jul 30, 2008
2,296
0
0
ScrabbitRabbit said:
I might give it a go. I'm getting a little tired of both Lovecraftian horror and 8-bit throwbacks, but it can't hurt to try.
Personally, I'd like to declare at least a three-year moratorium on the word 'Lovecraftian'.
 

knight steel

New member
Jul 6, 2009
1,794
0
0
DVS BSTrD said:
You're saying the Last Door is rather unhinged? Good to know.
ScrabbitRabbit said:
I might give it a go. I'm getting a little tired of both Lovecraftian horror and 8-bit throwbacks, but it can't hurt to try.
So you used to swing both ways? =D
Are......are you the new Hankman?
Or Hankman reborn?
Or are you being possesed by his ghost?