In Year Walk you are thrown in as a Swedish man who wishes to delve into the future by taking a rather  ancient and sinister ritual. The game is mainly a point and click game but this doesn’t take away from the journey you will take, and the shortfalls of this game are easily fixed with it’s graphics and atmosphere.
You wouldn’t expect it from first glance or even the first few minutes of playing, but this game is a journey of horror and spooks, one that you won’t be able to put down even with the fear of the next puzzle you must complete. The snowy Swedish countryside is morphed from one of peacefulness to almost a hell filled with ghosts, monsters and people. You’re aim is to finish this Year Walk unphased by the obstacles and horrors that await, the cold forest you’re traversing is unforgiving but you have to go deeper to save yourself and find out your future.
The game’s tailor made artistry and dark and disturbed characters, with the atmospheric music and ambient sounds really create an immersive environment. Whilst you’re meeting the characters you’ll experience puzzles that will range from childs play all the way to thinking outside the box. It’s not a game for the feint of heart either, a small shack comes to mind mid game with a small doll, this experience still gives me shivers at how genuinely creepy it was.
The graphics range from 2D parallax environment to 3D structures which blurs the line between the reality and the horror, and the layout is purposely confusing just to add to the feeling of being lost and trying to find your way to the end.
This well crafted game doesn’t come without it’s downfalls, with a few forced scares, especially with headphone players like myself. Whilst playing it on the train I was just working through a puzzle when all of a sudden sharp violin sounds and flashing images came up(more graphic than that but I’m not giving away spoilers). I jumped like the seat was on fire, and that wasn’t to mean I didn’t get a few odd looks from the rest of the carriage. For horror nuts it’s a great game at night with the lights off, and it doesn’t just play off the stereotypical loud jumps, but also the subtle psychological horrors.
Alongside that downfall the games story isn’t easy to follow. It’s linear mainly, but with alternative endings which leave the player to decide what to do next, as you have the ability to change the end through the way you play the game again. You learn things from the end of the first play that will help you change the gameplay the second time. It’s not the force you to play, you will want to, you’ll have unanswered questions and you’ll want answers. So whilst the story isn’t so solid, it will definitely get you thinking.
Year Walk is for the horror nuts and also the curiouser of the folk who love artistic and original iPad/iPhone games, playing the game casually with no sound is a possibility but this will greatly take away from it’s atmosphere. It’s got puzzles to the brim, and a story to follow.
With 2-3 hours game play it’s £2.49 price tag makes it well worth it. Alongside this the game comes with a companion app which at first glance looks like a bit of a gimmick to make you read into the game more, but it’s essential to fully unlocking the games potential. With both it gives the game another layer of immersion and brings the game to life in the real world, in a manner of speaking.
