The Last Door Collectors Edition Reviewed

By Julie Morley

[divider] [dropcap]I[/dropcap]’ve said it before in previous articles how I approach horror games but for those who haven’t read them, I’ll explain. Not only am I critical but I kind of feel invincible playing them. No matter how many times I’ve actually freaked out because of horror games, I am always able to brush it off, saying “psh posh” in my confidence.

However, when I gave all four episodes of The Last Door a try, I was a bit disturbed and everyone in my house could tell. (I screamed a few times). Horror is not about jump scares and grotesque things, it’s about creating an atmosphere and getting right into the head of the player. The key is to present a believable story that has a high chance of immersion. If you can get the player sucked in, you’re solid.

Generally speaking, I was concerned when I began playing that The Last Doors’ lowbit art would take away from the suspense factor but I was wrong. It was a play on my imagination that I did not see coming at all. Letting the mind work its magic is the best way to get the ultimate scare. In this point and click adventure, I found myself absorbed in the world of the 1890’s. Even though I anticipated many of the scares, they just became progressively more terrifying with every episode.

Atmosphere was the most important aspect of this game and it shows with a combination of environmental set up and inserting horrific and/or suspenseful ambient noises. I always felt on my toes about things, ready for something to jump out at me. Unfortunately, this didn’t ease the scare when it did happen. In all honesty, it may be the reason everything’s terror levels were amplified.

The Last Door made me an absolute nervous wreck. And you know what? If was awesome. So very, very awesome because I just couldn’t stay away from it.

The tale of The Last Door centers around a mystery among childhood friends. Jeremiah Devitt receives a letter from a long lost friend. When he arrives at his home, he finds that his friend has gone mad by some foreign force and it is anything but normal. This takes him on a journey to the place it all began, the boarding school where Devitt and three other friends made a particular pact that changed everything they knew. These gentleman took an interest in philosophy in an environment unwelcoming of exploring ideals outside of the norm. By defying it, a horrible fate has followed them into their adult lives both life threatening and maddening.

In four episodes, Devitt explores the troubles of his past and the truth of the unnatural.

The non collectors edition of The Last Door is free to play on the games’ website. Since the release of the first episode, each consecutive episode has been crowdfunded. At the moment, there are only four episodes released but more are set up to come. The fifth episode is on the cusp of funding.

You can also purchase The Last Door Collectors Edition, reviewed here, on Steam or GOG.com. The $9.99 collection contains the first four episodes, new puzzles, additional scenes, as well as enhanced graphics and sound.

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[facebook][tweet][Google][pinterest][follow id=”Cliqist” size=”large” count=”true” ] [author image=”http://cliqist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/julie.jpg” ]Julie Morley is a freelance writer and comic artist from Spring, Texas. She attended the Academy of Art University for two years, studying Animation and Illustration. Whilst here, she learned about writing comic scripts, storyboards, and general storytelling.  Since leaving college, she has been working on personal comic projects, stories, and illustrations. She aspires to release a self published comic within two years. For the majority of her life, she has been playing console games, typically being third-person shooters and sandboxes. Her favorite game of existence is Dark Cloud II (Dark Chronicle) and her favorite Indie game is Gone Home.[/author]