Wales Interactive, creators known for bringing to light Don't Knock Twice, The Bunker and The Complex, has decided to "greet" the current videogame generation by releasing a new first-person survival horror on consoles and PCs, Maid of Sker, set in a dilapidated hotel and centered around the disturbing and macabre story from the well-known Welsh tale of Elisabeth Williams. The independent development team's new project aims this time to narrate the peculiar vicissitudes of a family empire fueled by torture, slavery, piracy and a supernatural mystery that suffocates the hotel, along with everything around it.
Welcome to the Sker Hotel
Set in 1898 and based on the compelling, and true-to-life story of Elizabeth Williams, in Maid of Sker we will take on the role of Thomas Evans, a musician involved in a terrifying battle to save the woman he loves. Once you have read the letter of help from the sweet spouse, our character will catapult in search of his wife, a promising singer with a sweet voice, just like his mother. After managing to enter the Sker Hotel, we will find ourselves in front of a dilapidated building marked by time, but soon Elizabeth herself will warn us that the unhealthy conditions of the hotel will not be our only concern, as it will literally be invaded by innocents subjugated by the song of a mysterious creature, defined Quiet Men. Thomas Evans will not simply have to save his wife, but break this ancient curse by collecting cylinders scattered around the Sker Hotel in order to ultimately compose a new song.
Don't panic… don't breathe
Run away, hide, don't cough, hold your breath ... Repeat!
The new survival horror of Wales Interactive presents some very basic game mechanics, but overall capable of introducing a pinch of novelty within a genre now gutted by the most famous competitors. In Maid of Sker we will only be able to interact with certain objects present on the game map between doors, healing drinks or various switches useful for activating certain in-game elements or puzzles. The work of the Welsh software house invites the player to face the adventure of Thomas Evans in a purely stealth way, not allowing the protagonist to be able to defend himself in any way from the impetuous attack of the Quiet Men, blind beings but very sensitive to sounds, except with the use of a speech modulator, which will only allow the musician to stun the creatures for a "consistent" amount of time. Unfortunately the coils that power the modulator are quite difficult to find, so we advise you to use the tool only in desperate circumstances.
Furthermore, given the extreme auditory sensitivity of the enemies, we will have to cross the darkest and most anxious places of the Sker Hotel paying particular attention to every movement, breath or cough of our protagonist, since these elements will immediately alert the Quiet Men. Although the character design is of an excellent level (remembering for long lines the Scarecrow di Batman), we cannot say the same about the artificial intelligence of the enemies, which can be improved somewhat. Often the hooded men will "perceive" our presence, following our every step, despite being particularly vigilant and stealthy in our movements.
Gramophones do not function exclusively as "save points", but enrich the narrative of Maid of Sker
Maid of Sker allows players to be able to manually create your own save point, thanks to the use of old gramophones, which we can find more or less easily inside the Sker Hotel. These will not have the simple role of "saving our game session", but of reveal an important fragment of Elizabeth Williams' life, providing us with further clues as to what happened inside the hotel and the troubled past of Elizabeth and her mother. The Welsh development team title also features a slew of collectibles; particularly creepy letters, sheet music and wooden dolls. But that's not all, given that the work created by Wales Interactive also presents several puzzles to be solved, useful not only to access and determine game areas, but also to find the precious cylinders requested by Elizabeth.
Scary sound design ...
From a technical point of view we are faced with a small "rough diamond", with attention to the smallest details. Maid of Sker on the whole he succeeds in recreating an oppressive and disturbing atmosphere from the graphic point of view and environmental effects (creaking of doors, footsteps and screams of suffering). Too bad this happens only infrequently, with some game locations characterized by excessive darkness which tends to conceal the extreme care reserved by the development team in the recreation of the Sker Hotel environments. All combined with a original and truly compelling narrative, gives life to a gaming experience that will satisfy most gamers looking for a survival horror, and eager to find out what lies behind the macabre story of Elisabeth Williams.
Unfortunately theartificial intelligence of enemies, together withgeneral immersion of the experience, are some of the biggest limitations of Wales Interactive's new survival horror, which in fact it almost never manages to convey a real sense of terror or danger. Jumpscare discounted and almost never impactful, Quiet Men feedback not at all incisive and too “basic” gameplay, considerably reduce the scope of the latest effort by the Welsh software house. Only the sound design manages to fully enhance the horror vein of Maid of Sker which, thanks to a pressing soundtrack and environmental effects, are able to catapult the gamer inside the Sker Hotel, dramatically increasing the involvement in the story.
![[E3 2019] Rainbow Six Quarantine officially announced with a teaser trailer](/images/posts/c846bf3ca1cfe9a11f5e589b061aecc0-0.jpg)
