"ENVELOPE" is a bit of a weird love-letter to PlayStation survival horror.
"ENVELOPE" is an interesting offering. As a retro-style indie survival horror, it leans HEAVILY on PlayStation-era graphics, with a hefty bit of "Thief: The Dark Project" thrown into the mix. At least, when it comes to the feel of the game and how it looks.
Gameplay is pretty standard first-person "find-the-thing, do-the-thing", although it hints strongly that there's a major portion of the gameplay that isn't represented in the demo - the violence, namely gun violence. Seems a little odd not to show that in a demo and to leave the player cleaning a gas station but it works really well. I honestly think making the demo longer to include the action would cheapen the demos feel.
It feels creepy. It looks creepy, and the choice of cutting the demo off at the end of the first part of the game was the correct one, as you have just enough time to get curious about where the story is going.
HOW DID YOU GET THERE!?!!
Honestly, it actually made me jump, and for a demo with zero jumpscares that's pretty impressive. Atmosphere makes a huge difference in whether something is purely a reflex action, a la jumpscare, or comes from a place of discomfort, and this managed to do the latter quite subtly. Never been more concerned about selling a hotdog.
You should be able to get right thee way through the demo in 10-15 minutes. So it's quite short. There's not much music, and mostly that works well. It could really do with controller support to add to the early console mimicry.
But look at it. Feel that atmosphere. If you dig it, you may well dig this.
If you would like to play the "ENVELOPE" demo or wishlist the game, you can find it on Steam HERE.
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