Statues (Video Game)
April Marie
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Developed by Room710Games
Published by Room710Games
Available for PC through Steam
Suitable for ages 13+
At face value, Statues seems like a simple game. As it’s described, it seems like the kind of game where you would select a level/difficulty and begin. You’d then run around avoiding statues, and quit whenever you get bored and move on to something else. Surprisingly, this is not how Statues functions at all. It’s much longer and more elaborate than it might seem at first glance. This isn’t to say that the reality of Statues is better than the expectation however, because unfortunately it still crumbles over time.
Statues is surprisingly pretty for such an unknown indie title. It’s incredibly easy to take gorgeous looking screenshots from practically anywhere in the game. It’s only on closer inspection that the cracks begin to show. Some textures stand out as being incredibly unrealistic (that cobblestone path in the park?). Going through the parks, the circus, etc., you’ll begin to notice an eerily similar path and grass combo. The rooms in the hospital look almost the same as the rooms in the buildings of every other location. So while it’s beautiful to look at at times, the visuals still chip away at Statues’ stone facade.
Lens flare, sunbeams, leaves on the wind, oh so pretty.
Unlike how it might seem from first impressions, Statues is not actually the type of game where you simply select a level and go. It does have a story connecting different chapters, albeit a very simple one. Players begin the game in a car, driving down a nondescript highway, when suddenly a cell phone rings. Not long after the player looks down to see who’s calling, blindingly bright lights direct our attention back to the road ahead. We see the car drive straight into a head-on collision with a large truck. Soon after, we awake in a hospital bed in pure darkness. This is where the gameplay begins.
Photographic evidence of the literally paper thin plot.
At the end of each chapter in Statues, we are given a very short inner monologue from the main character in the form of journal entries on the screen. This is the only guaranteed story within the game. Other additional hand-written notes are scattered throughout the levels to build onto the story more, but finding these is entirely up to chance. Unless of course you cheat and look to see where other people have found them. A short cut scene at the very tail end of the game wraps up the tissue paper thin plot. Suffice it to say, if you’re looking for a riveting story, you’ve come to the wrong place.
What most likely draws people to Statues in the first place is its gimmicky gameplay mechanic. Inspired by Doctor Who’s “Weeping Angels,” Statues employs an enemy that can only move when it is not being looked at. A built in “blink meter” makes sure you can’t just stare them down with impunity. When a statue comes near, the player character’s heart begins to beat and their breathing gets louder. All of this combines for some seriously tense moments at the beginning of Statues when you are just getting used to the mechanics. As time wears on though, so does the gimmick, and it eventually crumbles like Ozymandias.
You will see the “death” sequence. A lot.
Without the quiet intensity of the titular enemies, Statues is just a confusing, wandering jaunt through some pretty environments. The tasks throughout the chapters are very vague at times. You’re often left to flounder throughout a location until you manage to figure out what the hell you’re actually supposed to be doing. From the get go, your first objective is to, “Explore the hospital.” Okay, could have figured that one out on our own. Unfortunately the rest of the written tasks are hardly any more specific. And even when they are specific, “Turn on the power on all the floors,” you’re still left to your own devices to figure out exactly how to achieve them. Of course, that’s not to say that Statues needs to hold your hand and walk you through everything completely. But a little more explanation at times would be nice.
Oooh, we see you there sneaky underwear mannequin!
This inability to explain to players what they need to be doing is annoying, but unfortunately Statues gets worse. The beginning of the game is what can best be described as “fun difficult.” The statues are spooky, they keep you on your toes, and you complete your tasks in a reasonable amount of time with a feeling of satisfaction afterward. The latter half of the game practically does a 180. The statues aren’t scary anymore, the tasks become repetitive, and you move onto the next section wishing the previous had never existed. For example, the game will ask you to find fireworks and gas cans. Both of these tasks take place in large locations. The items you need to find do glow to give you a little bit of help, but it’s still like finding needles in haystacks. In addition to that already being annoying, in the case of the fireworks, you have to run back to a single place after you locate each one. The spot you need to bring them back to is not centrally located, so some trips back take longer than others. All this while avoiding the living statues, and we’ve gone from fun difficult to obnoxious difficult. You can change the difficulty setting in Statues at any time, but it doesn’t make these repetitive tasks any less repetitive.
The main evolutions to Statues’ gameplay aren’t that revolutionary when the rest of the game is taken into consideration. There are different types of statues not only in appearance, but how they move. The circus level has clowns that constantly move and run after you when you come too close. You are eventually given a hammer as a weapon, so you can fight back at these statues which have been tormenting you. These both work to give the game a little freshness after the living statue gimmick wears off, but it’s really not enough to make up for Statues’ other shortcomings.
Time to finally hammer your pretty little head in, statue!
The main draw for Statues is the tense environment that the titular characters create. This doesn’t last very long though, as the game becomes less about the statues and more about its tedious and confusing tasks. Statues is one of those games that you might buy for a Doctor Who fan and say, “Hey! Weeping angels!” Your friend will play the game for a little while, enjoying the chance to get spooked by enemies based on villains from their favorite show. But then they’ll get bored, or annoyed, or just plain pissed off at Statues, and want to smash it with a hammer just like they do in-game.
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Video Game
Categorized:Horror Gaming Reviews
