When it comes to playing games that can scare the pants off of you, there isn’t much of a choice on the PlayStation 4 yet. Luckily the ones that are available are stupendous with the one standout being Outlast, which is so scary that I am only able to play the game in 15 minute increments because it just freaks me out too much. Needless to say, I’m kind of a wuss when it comes to scary games. So then why did I decide to check out Zombie Studios’ latest game, Daylight, a procedurally generated horror game in which the game is said to change each time you play? That’s a good question. Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment or maybe it’s because the idea of a randomly generated horror game just sounded really neat and I had to check it out for myself to see what all the fuss was.

With that said, the publisher, Atlus was kind enough to send me over a digital copy of the game for the PS4 on the day it was released. Like always, I usually take about a week to thoroughly play the game.

Story

Daylight starts off with your character, Sarah, waking up in an abandoned hospital. There’s no pre-game cut scenes or a background story, just you, waking up and a strange voice ushering you along. The voice tells you that you need to discover exactly what happened at this place and why. You do so by discovering clues, mainly documents scattered about which the game calls “remnants”. These remnants will help piece together a supposedly deeper story as long as you feel like reading them. There are also a few pieces together cut scenes to help the story along, but for the most part, the game seems very light on the story telling aspect and more about exploration of these randomly generated mazes the game calls levels. You’ll also encounter what the game calls shadows which are the spirits of those occupying the game.

Gameplay

Daylight is very similar to the PS4’s other stellar horror game, Outlast. Sarah must explore these mazes equipped with only a smartphone which is only used as a light source and a mapping tool, along with some glowsticks and flares. Most of the game is exploration based with you kind of just walking around in the dark looking for remnants to pick up and read. You may choose to explore with just your smartphone light or use a glowstick see visual clues of where remnants lie. As you progress, a map of the level will appear section by section in your smartphone. You can also get a clue of where you’ve been if you use a glowstick as it will show you your footprints.

Sarah also has no weapons at all and cannot really attack. When she encounters a shadow, she can choose to either run away and hide or keep back the shadows using flares.

I mentioned levels and yes, this game is laid out as a series of levels. Each level had you searching for a set number of remnants. When you have enough, the doorway to the next level will be revealed to you, thought you must find the “key” to unlock it, which is called a sigil. The key is usually an object such as a teddy bear or a doll or some object that was referenced in the notes you have picked up. Just take it to the doorway and it will magically unlock and take you the next level.

The key to this game is to explore everything. Leave no room unturned and definitely try to use your glowsticks to look for clues. Also just keep in mind that this is only a game and the baddies can’t really harm you. That’s what I tell myself when I play these type of games. Although the occasional notification alerts I get in my real phone make me jump when I hear them. I also play these games with the light on. I can’t handle playing these in the dark.

Don’t worry about running out of glowsticks because it seems like your smartphone light will never run out of charge. That makes the game a bit easier and will never leave you in pitch black darkness like Outlast will if you run out of camera batteries.

Graphics and Audio

The game uses the new Unreal Engine 4, though it doesn’t look it. The game doesn’t quite have that next gen look to it and probably could have been made on previous platforms as well. That’s not to say that they don’t look decent. There definitely is a dark, ominous look to everything that works for the game. One issue that you do run across though is that there is an overuse of certain assets. For instance, on some levels, I would run across the same rooms over and over again with the same exact textures, furniture, and layout. This destroys the “reality” of the game a bit.

The graphics and level assets get much better the further along in the game you get and there are some neat things. The use of lighting is very good in the game and since it’s a main gameplay element, it should be.

As for the audio, this is one of the aspects where Daylight gets it right. Everything from the ominous sounding music to the little creepy sounds you hear in the background really help set the mood. There’s a feeling of tension you get from all the sounds and the occasional bump or scratch or screech will get you jumping out of your seat. Even the constant sound of your footsteps will have you nervous about what just might happen next.

Occasionally your character will say a few words about hearing this or hearing that but for the most part, it doesn’t really mean much as she will sometimes react to sounds of silence. The worst sounds however are those made by shadows and the burning of your flares are those are

Final Thoughts

Is Daylight scary? Yes and no. Is the game creepy? Definitely. There’s nothing creepier really than exploring an abandoned hospital and a prison. Even hospitals that aren’t abandoned I find incredibly uneasy being in mainly because I just don’t like hospitals. Anyways, back to the game, because the levels are randomly generated with each new playthrough, there is always a bit of uncertainty as to what to expect when starting over. However, much of the scares and horrors come more from anxiety and just the thought that something might jump out at you, even though nothing really does.

It’s not entirely scary though because certain aspects of the game hold it back from being frightening. For instance, you are never without some form of light and will never be in pitch black darkness. Also the shadows are quite easy to avoid and aren’t as scary as the scary characters you come across in Outlast. They will however make you jump when they appear out of no where with their crazy scary sounds but if you’re quick to react, they won’t Despite this, it’s still a game that will get your heart beating a bit faster at certain points and the hairs on the back of your neck to stick up. It is creepy for sure, but it’s a much different type of scary game than Outlast is.

Of note, one of my main gripes about the game is the painfully long load times. I’m assuming that the game has to pre-load an entire level each time you play and because they are randomly generated, it must pull all that info at once and calculate when it needs, but still. For a game in a next gen platform and being digital, the load times shouldn’t be this long. The frame rate also drops on certain instances which is odd considering that the graphics don’t seem like they should be pushing the PS4 too hard.

Despite the occasional graphic problems and load times as well as a few repetitive moments, Daylight isn’t that bad of a horror game. It’s definitely not the scariest thing out there but it is good for several jump out of your seat moments. Novices to horror games will probably be really creeped out by the game, as I was a few times, but pros of the genre may not find it as scary as hyped. It does have it’s neat features, mainly the procedurally generated maze levels and enemy placement. It’s also a fairly short game that clocks in around 2-3 hours each playthrough but you are really mean to play this game more than once. It’s an easy game to get into with a very shallow learning curve so anyone can really just pick this up and play. I’ll say this, this is probably one of the few “scary” games I’ve been able to actually play through without completely wetting myself, that’s not to say I didn’t come close a few times.