Queen Of Spades

The Queen Of Spades is an indie horror game that there is not a ton of information out there on. As a fan of horror games, this has been one I have been interested in checking out for a little while now. I recently had some spare time to put this through its paces and thought that I would share my thoughts on it.

Beware The Queen of Spades

The first thing I have to say is that I love and I mean love the premise for this. From what I understand this is actually based on a Russian horror movie that I have seen the trailer for and it looks pretty good. The Queen of Spades is an evil spirit who if you see her will drive you to the limits of your sanity or even worse just flat out kill you. You are in a strange and creepy house and need to figure out what she wants, how to stop her and of course escape.

Indie By Name Indie By Nature

One thing I have to mention about The Queen of Spades is that you can clearly tell this is an indie game. The whole game has a rather low budget feel to it and in terms of the visuals, I do not actually think they are that bad. The game is dark, like really dark and I think that was a smart choice as the game is at its best when things are dark and you cannot see all the little details. It is when you are in a room that is lit, like a bedroom where you need to use a computer for example and you can see things more clearly that the visuals have a really basic and rough look to them.

The sound is decent enough in terms of the haunting soundtrack and the sound effects of the Queen herself. The one thing that drives me kind of nuts is the sound of your footsteps. They sound like the original Resident Evil or Dino Crisis and after a while, it can get on your nerves.

Do Not Look At Her!

You do not want to look directly at the Queen of Spades and the game is clever in how you do this. You can see her reflection in things, but holding up a mirror so you can see her is the best way to go about it. The overall gameplay is very much that of a first-person exploration game. You will have to explore the property and find things like a key, charger and so on all the while trying to stay alive. In terms of the gameplay, I found it to be decent enough, there is a real sense of tension as you play and that is something I liked.

I would not say that The Queen of Spades is the most terrifying game I have ever played. However, if you like horror games I do think that this one is worth checking out, I also feel that the movie the story is based on is worth a look too. Just know going in that this is an indie game that clearly has a low budget and you will have a much better time.

Final Score: 7/10

Pros:

• The premise is awesome
• I like the Queen of Spades as a horror character
• The actual game is not bad at all
• It is easy to get into
• Some of the aspects are quite clever

Cons:

• Visually the game is a bit rough
• The footstep sounds are annoying