Fans of low-poly graphic horror games like Lake Haven can now look forward to the release of developer SFB Games’ latest title, Crow Country.
Set in the 1990s and inspired by horror franchises such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Crow Country follows the story of Mara Forest in her quest to find Edward Crow, the owner of a decrepit amusement park of the same name.
Adam Vian, creative director at SFB Games, states about the game:
It’s not as much of a departure as you might think. Crow Country is a narrative-focused atmospheric game about exploring a single location, solving puzzles, and unlocking secret rooms. It’s just such a perfect, satisfying balance of ingredients. You have to engage your brain, you have to think ahead, you have to make decisions, you can make mistakes. It’s all about getting just the right amount of player agency within defined parameters.
Vian adds:
The environments are fairly detailed, and most objects have some kind of texture on them. When combined with the various camera filters, it ended up evoking the lush pre-rendered background art seen in PS1 Final Fantasy and Resident Evil games. Quite honestly, this happened by accident… and now it’s become my USP.
The game features an eerie soundtrack reminiscent of Silent Hill 2, as the player first navigates into the Crow Country theme park. Crows are picking at a corpse on the ground, a nod to the infamous visuals in Resident Evil 1. The theme park itself is reminiscent of Heather Mason’s experience in Silent Hill 3, which happens to be one of Vian’s favorite games.
The game’s website states:
The year is 1990. Edward Crow has disappeared. The owner of ‘Crow Country’ (a small theme park in the rural outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia), he has not been seen since he unexpectedly shut down his park two years ago. The silence is broken when a mysterious young woman named Mara Forest ventures into the heart of the abandoned theme park in order to find him. Are the disturbing rumours about Crow Country true? Who, exactly, is Mara Forest? Why did Crow really shut down his park?
Crow Country’s story explores reckless human greed and the idea of an unforgivable sin.
Features an ‘Exploration Mode’, for those who wish to enjoy the game without being attacked.
According to Vian, the player can utilize the D-pad for tank controls, or the analog stick for modern controls. Featuring a variety of monsters, the player can expect to be attacked by writhing piles of sludge, zombie-like creatures of varying sizes, and spiders, which burst out of a vent. The game takes inspiration from the zombie dogs jumping through the window in RE1 and also features nasty gray monsters with abnormally long limbs.
You can pre-order your copy of Crow Country and try out a free demo for PS5 via PSN or PC via Steam. Be sure to let us know what you think if you give the game a whirl.
