Caretaker review

As an investigative journalist hungry for a news story, players are tasked to investigate an industrial facility where a caretaker has supposably gone insane and killed everyone. There’s an urban legend going around that the caretaker has returned to his old workplace. As an hungry journalist, you must rack up the nerve and courage to uncover this myth. However, as you explore the facility, the caretaker might not appreciate you invading his home.

The easiest way to explain Caretaker is that it’s similar to the Outlast series; where players are hunted by an “unknown” assailant and all they can do is run and hide. As you explore the various areas, you’ll come across item displaying a magnifying glass instead of the reticle; it means the item can be examined. Problem is there’s no point of examining most of the items as it won’t progress or help the story. Some items can also be picked up and carried but it’s mostly for naught. You’ll have keys lying around that will be useful, but most of the things will be useless. For a journalist, the protagonist doesn’t really seem to care about possible details of the urban legend which kinda kills any possibility of immersiveness.

While a dark and gloomy setting such as an industrial factory makes for a great environment for a horror game, it might be too dark at as you’ll end up going around in circles early on; even with the assist of the map.To help guide yourself through the darkness, you have to look for light spots as they’ll most likely highlight a door you need to go through or a room you need to investigate to find helpful items such as keys. While the map is an welcomed addition, it’s makes things a bit confusing for navigation and the lack of hints of your next step can be frustration.

There’s also an unfortunate lack of checkpoints. Considering this game is exploration heavy, you can easily go around in circles trying to find an item that will you help progress, mostly because key items do not pop from the extremely dark environment, so if you get bored of doing the same rooms over and over and quit, you’ll have to start over and easily forget the path last taken.

Caretaker’s presentation is solid and well thought-out. The dark and spooky environments are sure to work up a scare; walking around is quite nerve-racking; also not knowing what could be around the corner is one of the most terrifying thing a player can experience in a survival horror game. The lighting is well thought-out to create the ideal creepy atmosphere. Definitely one of the creepiest setting for a survival horror game; despite the oft-took dark areas. Audio wise, the game is some serious stuff. While there’s no ambiance music, you’ll be creeped out by various creeks and cracks from your surrounding. Playing this with a headset is a must. Although nothing’s perfect presentation wise as the loading times can feel pretty long when the game autosaves; also moving through the minimal menus, there’s a bit of slowness.

If you’re looking for a scare during this year’s post-Halloween season, Caretaker is the game for you. While the gameplay is somewhat limited and the lack of checkpoints can prove frustrating, Caretaker lives and breathes on its atmospheric setting; walking around a facility where someone lost his marbles and killed everyone? If you’re a fan of survival horror games, don’t miss this.