When Trenches was pinged over to my inbox I was excited. I’m always keen to dive into a horror game, especially when the premise is different and unique to anything I have played before. Set during World War 1 you play as a soldier trying to make his way through the trenches in a narrow and claustrophobic psychological horror setting. Trenches is developed solely by one person, under the name of Steelkrill Studio and published on Xbox by Ratalaika Games, so of course, there is an accompanying achievement list that reflects that.

Equipped with only your senses and your trench whistle in this war-torn environment, you must try to survive and escape from behind enemy lines to able able to return home safely to your family. Forewarning to play this one at your own risk, as their is an intense atmosphere, disturbing images and quite a lot of jump scares.

With the use of your trench whistle, you will need to find and collect a total of 9 weird looking baby figures. But you are not alone down within the trenches, as you will soon realise you are being stalked by, something that isn’t exactly human. It shares a similar style of gameplay to the Slenderman games in that regard, but brings it’s own unique style and setting to the formula. Be warned, as using the trench whistle is impetrative to finding the next collectible, but can also be heard by the monster, so its a balance between timing and paying attention to where the babies cries are coming from. The monster can also mimic noises, including the crying of babies, a noise in which you need to follow to progress.

These trenches you explore are riddled with jump scares, to the point it does feel overwhelming repeatedly being met with a jump scare after every corner you turn. Some parts are nicely paced between the jump scares but at times it feels like they can hit you in quick succession, which can somewhat kill the effectiveness of them, only rendering them frustrating. The atmosphere on the other hand is really quite good. Thanks to the narrow layout of wartime trenches, added with the abysmally loud thunderstorm and creaking wood, shapes up to deliver a short but unsettling experience.

Combat is almost non-existent unless you’re lucky enough to stumble upon a pistol during your adventure, even after finding said pistol, it isn’t all that effective, should you get caught by the monster. You do have the ability to peak around corners and crouch, which are both crucial mechanics in ensuring you don’t get caught off guard. Crouching helps to stay quiet, especially whilst walking on planks of wood and peaking let’s see you see if the coast is clear.

Whilst this game won’t be winning any awards in the beauty department, the visuals aren’t bad for a team comprised of one person. I’d actually consider them pretty good once you consider that factor. Graphics aren’t the be all and end all behind every title and Trenches proves that it can achieve what it wants to, without being the prettiest trench in the field. With the help of it’s audio design, it does a great job of building tension and making the player feel on edge the entire time. Learning more about the story means finding notes and collectibles within the trenches, if you dare to deviate from the main goal of just reaching the end game.

Visit The Trenches?

If you are looking for ok horror game, Trenches is that game. While the overall premise and setting of the game is what interested me at first, it is still the most interesting part about it. It does indeed follow a similar Slenderman style gameplay with it’s own twist, which is great if you like that kind of thing. The atmosphere is actually pretty damn good but sadly ruined in places by an overuse of jump scares, leaving you with more of an overwhelmed feeling rather than an excitingly scared one. When the game isn’t throwing multiple jump scares at you, it airs on the side of absolutely sh*t your pants terrifying.

With an easy 1000 Gamerscore attached, there isn’t much reason to revisit this title upon completion. It is certainly a mixed bag as it feels great and not so great simultaneously. For £10 (currently on sale for £8) it’s worth a go for horror fans, or if you’re purely here for some quick gamerscore, you can turn on “no jump scare mode” and grab them all in about 15 minutes or less.

It’s a great attempt at trying something different within the horror space, but it’s either going to be hit or miss for you, but at least it won’t break the bank.