SPOILERS FOR PROJECT CRYPT [and also mentions of sh/suicide]
THIS IS A VERY LONG POST BE AWARE I AM RANTINGGGG
I dont think I've ever played a game that so badly wanted to be both Afraid of Monsters and Cry of Fear whilst not understanding a single reason to why people liked about the story and just thought oh well if I put similarities in the game surely people will like it more>! Project Crypt's steam description states: "You play as a disturbed young individual trying to find a way out of a city filled with horrific enemies. Find out the truth of your past and make it out to safety alive!" This barely tells you half of what you'll be getting into.
Isaac the main character soooo badly wants to be both Simon and David and it ends up making a basic bland character because neither Simon or David have much personality outside of Simon being depressed, angry and sorrowful. These are not the only traits you can give to your character. This is made 10x worse by the fact that Isaac is voiced by Stig Sydtangen who also voiced Simon. [And Grey Anderson from the HL2 Mod Grey.] This isnt good. To me I could immediately tell it was Stig because his voice acting just sounded like Simon straight away especially with the phrasing and quotes [Isaac waking up asking where he is and "Those damn pills>!" ] Throughout the game Isaac is just such a bland character that even with the small explanations we get to some of the later things [which are bare bones/none existence or flat out never explained] they dont amount to anything.
To go on further about how Isaac alone is having an identity crisis, here's a list of what he takes from both Simon and David from Cof & Aom:
Wakes up in the middle of nowhere trying to find his way back home [COF]
Has raw self harm slits you see whilst putting on bandages [COF]
Takes random pills that are never stated [Ive tried to look couldnt find] [AOM]
There is a doctor [Ludwig Richter or Dr Plutonia] who is trying to help Isaac [who reacts very poorly to it] [COF]
Isaac was in a car crash>? I fr cant tell because we get fucking nothing about it other than a small portion of a nightmare sequence. [AOMCOF]
Also nightmare sequences>!!! Several of them>!!! [AOMCOF]
There is a portion at the end where Isaac has to "follow the lights" which is one word away from "follow the red" but dont forget that the entire place is red and you have a small red Line you have to follow instead of dots :) [AOM]
Isaac literally fights another version of himself>! [this doesnt hold much importance at all within the story its not spoken about or hinted about later on.] [AOMCOF]
The game go throughs similar/if not the same areas as both games City/town - Mall/College - Hospital - Train station - Forest - Sewers - Neighborhood. These are out of place but are places you stay in for a long time or have to navigate through for awhile. I note these because some of these progressions basically follow what Cry of Fear does. [AOMCOF]
This isnt AOMCOF but oddly enough reminded me of L4D where at one point you need to collect several gascans from different locations whilests theres hoards of enemies. However you have to find one at the time before you can find the others [and you have to do it in order from a map that is upside down/flipped.]
Note that when I share these similarities im not saying you cant make any game that does something similar but the problem with project crypt is that it does NOTHING with these they are solely there just for the purpose of mimicking Simon and David without doing anything else interesting. The devs already shot themselves in the foot having Stigs do the voice acting because,,,,theres no variation its just Simons voice its just Greys voice all over again with no real substance. You can be inspired by these things/games but the way they decided to use these inspirations only make this game feel extremely flat. I dont mind a game that wants to be like cry of fear but dont BE cry of fear but to the left. Because thats what Isaac is. Project Crypt is having an identity crisis because it wants to be both of these games while also being its own game but just,,,,doesnt do it well.
You cannot pour characters and threats with no lore or explanation to who they are or where they came from. This game took me about 11 ish hours to fucking finish and yet even on my 2nd playthrough there was not a single thing explained about what Dr Richter was doing outside of "some" experiments on Isaac for a reason that I do not know than maybe because he was in a crash>? thats never explained. The military comes and There is nothing explained to why theyre there or why they want everyone dead. This plays as if this is a nightmare world [or similar to Simons book where its only in the book and its different than irl] but...nothing is said>? So when we get later endings its suggested that these monsters which are supposed to be based off of Isaac/represent him [one of them are straight up suiciders but just with Isaacs body/face but red.]
Also the characters>? Outside of the doctor we meed 3 other characters. The first character we meet is Wladislav who apparently knows Isaacs full name [never explained] and is a stranded survivor trying to get out, the other 2 characters we meet are Gary--an old man who knows Wlad and the other character. Albin--this guy doesnt trust Isaac yet you will be playing with him most of the game and will be acting like buddies pretty much outside of that one scene for...some reason. [Never explained] These characters have barely any personality than being pretty much npcs who are there to progress the story at times or to talk to when something major happens.
The endings however. Oh my god. I dont think ive ever played something that does fuck all. I believed that from the nightmare sequences based on whether you killed the bosses from each one or not would lead to a different ending. No. So the 2 bosses from the 2 nightmare sequences can either be escaped from or killed with no repercussions or awards. They are just there for shits and giggles, they dont change any cut scenes, they dont play anything else, they just put you into the next scene for the new chapter.
Instead what changes the outcome of the ending is at the VERRRYYYY end where you find Dr Richter talk to him to a bit and decide to either blast his head off or spare him in hopes that he will allow his friends to leave alive [which>?????? ig he's why the military is there>? but why tf would he want to kill them all>??????] and then the 2nd is after the follow the lights bit you find a table with a gun and a tv where it says "Make a choice" where you can either blast your brains out or flip the table over. Now...if you think these decisions will give varying endings you'll be mistaken>!!
All endings take place 2 years later. The 1st ending is where Wlad and Gary drive to a cemetery where Isaac's grave is before walking away. 2nd ending has Richter visiting Isaac's grave as well before Wlad and Gary bitterly leave. The last ending however shows The military shooting Wlad before Isaac kills him. Gary tells him they need to go. Cut 2 years later and Isaac and Gary visit Wlad's AND Albin's grave>! while Richter shows up before the 2 bitterly leave
WHICH ALSO AT ONE POINT ALBIN TELLS ISAAC TO RUN WHILE HE DEALS WITH WHATEVER IS COMING AFTER THEM, A COUPLE SCENES WILL HAVE ISAAC GOING GOSH I HOPE ALBIN IS OKAY WHILE WLAD KINDA JUS DOESNT GAF AND TELLS HIM THERES NOT MCUH THEY CAN DO. Even at the very end when the helicopter is ready, Isaac notes on how he wished Albin was there and Wlad basically just goes hes prop gone we need to go. So,,,,why the fuck was he even there.
I have so, so, so much grief with this game but this post was mostly about how the devs went about to go about its story, I could make an entirely different long post about the gameplay and my problems with it [cuz god>! I have a lot>!
#project hail mary
#cats on tumblr
#f1
