Visage review

Visage is set in a centuries-old house in a secluded town during the 1980s. Players assume the role of Dwayne Anderson who comes into an empty bloody room. After a mysterious call from his neighbour saying he hasn’t left the house in two weeks, Anderson heads for the front door which is strangely locked. As Anderson tries to find a way out, strange things start to occur throughout the house. Players need to figure what’s behind the house’s dark history.

Visage is a first-person exploration survival horror game. As you roam around the haunted house, you can’t defend yourself or even hide in a specific area. While exploring the house, you’ll be instantly transported to other types of environments such as a psychiatric facility or hell even a grocery store. This can be reminiscent of Silent Hill where you’d be teleported to some unexpected areas. The areas are also lightly lit so you’ll need to use your flashlight in order to find your way through the dark path; the problem is resources are scarce and well, dwell too long in the darkness and you’ll lose your marbles.

Visage is split across four different chapters where the first three chapters are tied to a specific character and their own puzzles: Lucy, Dolores and Rakan. Whilst the final fourth chapter revolves around our very own protagonist Dwayne. Additionally, depending on the player’s actions and experience, the game features a handful of different endings each achieved under specific circumstances.

While the whole experience is overall well-tailored and seriously terrifying, Visage does suffer from a few nuisances. Inventory management is clunky and cumbersome and feels like it’s straight out of hell. There were also a few rare times where the game bugged out where I got stuck in a few inanimate objects causing me to reboot the game, but I didn’t experience anything too frustrating nor game-breaking.

Visage’s presentation is spot on and insanely terrifying. Being trapt in a dark and creepy house is one of the best ways to crank up the tension. The house is highly detailed and well designed, the developers made good use of lighting throughout the game. Along with the visuals, the soundtrack, more the lack thereof, amps up the tension tenfold because you’re always on the edge of your seat trying to hear and anticipate what’s going to scare you around the corner.

Visage is definitely one of the tense and terrifying gaming experiences of the last 5+ years. The game does a great job of setting up scares and tension to the point you’ll be on edge throughout most of it and expect things when nothing happens and well when they happen, you’ll crap your pants. While the fact that the scarcity of resources is annoying, as long as you plan your moves accordingly, i.e. making sure you see a lit area, you’ll do fine. Horror fans should definitely buy this game.