The Backrooms 1998 Review

The Backrooms 1998 tells the story of a young man who is seemingly transported into a mysterious, liminal space, The Backrooms 1998, out of nowhere when he was skateboarding with his friends. With his camera and wits, our unwilling protagonist will need all the courage in the world to survive this psychological horror.

The Backrooms 1998 is a first person footage psychological horror game where you need to navigate a liminal space type area all the while avoiding potential threats and monstrosities roaming about. As a young man, you’re not skilled or equipped to defend yourself. You’ll have to rely on hiding and running away to avoid dying.

Along with running, our nameless protagonist can do the same typical movements such as walking, crouching; leaning around corner, which is vital here to see if you’re about to run into something you’d rather avoid. As you explore the unnerving areas, you’ll come across items such as a flashlight, crowbar; useful things that will allow you to progress forward.

Also of note, the monster that’s looking to get you doesn’t see, however it hears very well. Meaning running or even walking at times can cause too much noise, so you’ll need to walk in a crouched position to make as little noise as possible. Also be careful where you put your feet; if debris is laying around and step on it, it’ll make noise and attract the monster.

Unlike some games, the flashlight here consumes batteries, so you have to be mindful of the usage because if you’re out of batteries, no more lights for you. To counter the fact that you cannot defend yourself, you’ll be able to pick up health items to restore health if you encounter the thing that’s hunting you. You’ll also be able to hide in lockers if you come across the yellow monstrosity.

One of the best features, somethings more developers should consider implementing is the use of spray paint to mark areas you’ve already gone through. Being able to mark previously visited areas will reduce the possibilities of being lost during certain sequences of backtracking when looking for necessary items to progress through the game.

The game’s visual are top notch; the area is designed with liminal spaces in mind; very simplistic, claustrophobic and very unnerving. It’s often the most simplistic things rather overly complex design that are scarier. In terms of audio, there’s nothing. Don’t expect a spooky soundtrack; the game relies heavily on sound and noise; whether it be jump scares or paying close attention that you’re not being followed.

While I’m not in game development, it seems difficult for indie developers to create and develop realistic, non-nauseating running mechanic. I do understand it’s found footage, but first it feels more like walking slightly faster but the camera shakes so much, it could potentially make some people nauseous, worst than found footage movies. Also not being able to defend yourself is a bit annoying because it leaves little to no margin for errors. There’s also no checkpoint and manual save, so if you don’t find a save area or (in my case) the game crashes, then you’re screwed and lost all progress since your last save.

The Backrooms 1998 is one of the most unnerving, skin crawling game of the last five years, easy. The level design feels both wide open and claustrophobic at the same time, the soundtrack-less atmosphere that relies on noise makes jump scares so much more frequent. There are a few nuisances such as the odd walking/”running” mechanic, but that can be circumvented by crouching (I mean it is vital) and lack of defensive items, but if you’ve enjoyed games like Outlast, The Backrooms 1998 will be right up your alley. Don’t miss this horrifying gem.