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7 Days a Skeptic

By Rawrb on 2007-11-06, 2 comments

This review was submitted by Bran Flakes! OMG

This review was submitted by Bran Flakes. He didn't rate the game, but that's okay... right? Yes. Enjoy!?

So, I recently played a little game called 7 Days a Skeptic. Now I'll talk about it. What's that? You don't care? Well tough shit. This is my blog, ha ha ha.

Anyway, it's like a sci-fi horror game, in that it takes place on a spaceship 400 years in the future, but it has this guy wearing a welding mask and slahing up the crew with a big, bloody machette. Sort of like Jason, but without the suckiness of Jason X, yes, that's right, I don't like that movie. If you don't like me saying that, write to your congressman. God knows he's lonely enough.

Anyway, it's a sequel to the game 5 Days a Stranger, in which a thief gets locked inside an abandoned manor with a big guy wearing a welding mask and.... oh, wait, I'm talking about this game. In the game, after a lengthy spacey intro, with shows the ship to remind us that this is the future, it cuts to a scene with two guys talking. The first guy is talking about some freaky dream he's had, and the other guy nods and gives some explanation so generic I don't remember what he said. Around the time I'm deciding this guy's a pretty shitty psychologist, the other guy leaves and we take control of him. His name's Doctor Jonathan Somerset, and he's the main character. He hearrs some kind of message over the PA telling everyone to go to the bridge, where he's told the crew has found something man-made out in space. They decide to pick it up, only to find a locker with an epitath on John Defoe's behalf (guess who he is?), and, deciding it would be most rude to disturb his slumber, they leave it sitting there in the cargo bay. Then, once eveyone's gone, it slowly creaks open...

I'm not going to reveal the whole plot because I don't want to ruin the game for possible readers, but here's some of the cool things it involves: zombies, guts, mostrosities, a person tearing his own eyes out, a guy in a welding mask, space, cereal, eggs, a surprise twist at the end, and a big, bloody machette. I like this game, firstly, because none of the people are just plain retarded, like in most slasher films. Yes, in this game the cannon fodder actually have some sense and don't just run towards the monster because they think it's sexy or something. Secondly, because there are some parts that made me nearly shit my pants, like the time I escape from the zombie guy and go to the observation deck, thinking I'm safe, and all of a sudden the elevator doors pop open, Jonathan screams, and the game ends. Speaking of that, while there is shooting, this isn't a shooter, it's a horror-adventure-scifi game, so one encounter with the bad guys will get yo ass torn up. But don't worry, because, inless you are retarded and get sucked into space, there's only two times this happens. Thirdly, this game's a bitch in the difficulty department, but it never left me bored. I don't usually recommend walkthroughs because they make you seem like a pussy who can't even figure out a game, but damn, when I say this game's hard, it's hard. So here's a walkthrough in case you need it.

Now for some pictures.

Oh, yeah, I forgot. It's all low-techy. I did some research, and found out this game was made with something called the AGS engine, which is freeware, so you can download it over the internet. By the way, this game is also freeware, so you can download that, too. Don't think the lack of graphics takes away from this game at all, it doesn't. As a matter of fact, with any game, if the only thing going for it is graphics, is usually not a very good game. I've played tons of low graphic games, simply because I can't afford the higher graphic ones, and there's some good shit in there.

One thing I can't figure out is the title. Jonathan's the first one who starts to get what's going on, so he's not much of a skeptic. Actually, with the exception of one minor character, most of them aren't skeptical. And that person didn't even live seven days.

This game has a great, simple contol scheme. There's a little cursor on the screen, and if you click a spot, you walk to it. Special items, like doors or severed hands, have thier names pop up beside you cursor, and if you right click on them, a little menu pops up, where you can select what to do to it, like look, use, eat, etc. It take literally no time at all to feel comfortable with the controls, simply because this game isn't the kind of game where you press so and so to give somebody x amount of damage. Almost all of the game is: Use item, open door, look at item, use item on item. And yet what makes me like this game is how complex it is, even though everything about it is so simple.

The gameplay is laid out over seven days, with major plot points warranting a transition to a new day. One of the things this game brings back from the last one is the dream sequences, where, something scary happens and the guy wakes up, then a big title screen pops up with the name of the day. It really gives you a big scare when least expecting it, and I was glad to see it return.

So, play the game. You'll be glad you did. It's a nice take on the whole "slasher" perspective, in that it has a lot of psychological horror as well. Plus there's a big, Sixth Sense-like twist at the end that I didn't see coming, and contrary to the film I just mentioned, it actually makes more sense.

Oh, and you may have noticed that I only review things I like. Well, that's because I have good judgment in what I play and watch, but what the hell, next time it'll be something that sucks, I promise.

There. That was big and long. Heh. Big. Heh. Long.

7 Days a Skeptic images... visually!

One of those aforementioned scary-as shit poputs.