Crow Country Review

This Crow Country review is based on playing the Xbox Series X version of the game. A review key was provided by the publisher.

Everyone seeking to scratch their PlayStation 1 nostalgia itch must be having the time of their lives. It seems that the 1990s gamer generation is finally getting the dither-effects, texture flicker, and triangle poly goodness they deserve. The cartridge-based Nintendo 64 has been on retro gamers’ radar for a while, but undeniably, both the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn have more than made their mark in video game history. Their CRT aesthetic is getting more and more revisited by indie devs. Crow Country, a video game developed by London-based SFB Games, nicely knits this nostalgia together with the currently very popular survival horror genre. Resident Evil never really went away but series like Silent Hill are making a comeback as well. So, revisiting this the genre set in that generation consoles, seems to be perfect timing.

I say this on the back of wildly popular horror games like Layers of Fear, Dredge, Clock Tower, and Dread Delusion that have come out recently as well. Crow Country fits nicely between those games and it should be very obvious what SFB is trying to accomplish here. It’s aiming directly for those Resident Evil and Silent Hill gamer dads out there.

Crow Country Theme Park

It is 1990, and you play as Mara, a young detective sent on a mission to investigate the mysterious situation at Crow Country. This is a theme park created and operated by Edward Crow, a mysterious millionaire. Mr. Crow has suddenly shut down the park and no one has seen Mr. Crow since. Once Mara arrives at the eerie, deserted theme park, she is confronted with all sorts of weird creatures and anomalies, setting you off on a survival-horror adventure.

Going back to the roots

What is interesting is that SFB Games stuck very closely to its inspiration. Although the graphical retro effects may seem borderline gimmicky, the gameplay mechanics feel very authentic and not like a rip-off at all. It has the dithered fog of Silent Hill and the color hues of the Resident Evil games, but it pulls out the camera into a bird’s eye perspective. You can freely rotate the camera around your character. The characters and objects that fill the scenes are low-poly in a very Final Fantasy 7-way, managing to capture a slight bit of cutesy in the mix as well.

While low on graphical detail, the world you play in has so many little nooks and crannies, filled with fun little details. The game’s them park setting adds an opportunity to go all in on the park’s themes. And SFB Games really did! These themes are lovingly crafted and is partly cute, a bit disturbing and gloomy at the same time. It never gets really gory, and you’ll never encounter jump scares—it’s just eerie. Don’t expect it to have intense action sequences either. It is very slow-paced with a big focus on puzzles, where broken theme park attractions need to be fixed or sourced to help you progress in another part of the fairly sizable theme park.

Employee of the month

The neatly controlled progression, which opens up previously hidden rooms and attractions along the way, also reveals the mysteries surrounding the enigmatic Crow and his colleagues. Their back story get established through diaries, work logs, registries, and notes between co-workers. The theme park personnel play an integral part in setting the scene as they serve the well-designed web of the puzzles, hints, and story. The staff, dismayed by Crow lack of leadership, leave notes to each other. They complain about other co-workers stealing integral parts of certain attractions or are informing each other of hazards created by the lack of funds and third-party moonlighters. This info indirectly clues to the player about how to solve puzzles and where to find missing objects.

Authentic survival horror experience

Yes, Crow Country takes the overarching atmosphere of these games but freshly bakes its own survival horror ideas neatly into it. Its bird’s eye perspective takes away jump scares but opens the possibility to deck out the sets into an interesting mix of fun little details and horror tropes. The theme park setting is well-chosen as it allows for some really outlandish decor. The pacing is much more relaxed than, say, Resident Evil. It feels more focused on the puzzles and environment interaction, instead of the actual survival. Mara seems to be somewhat in control of the situation as the player can outrun or out maneuver the veil horrors that try to latch on to you. The story is well set out with some cleverly interconnected trails and hints left behind by the theme park’s staff.