Agonizingly Dull
"Agony" Game Review
picture from https://www.joe.co.uk/gaming/horror-game-agony-is-so-graphic-that-the-original-cannot-be-released-on-console-173084
Adam Walters and Jack Silberberg
The title of the game, "Agony", perfectly describes the pain every gamer went through once Madmind Studios finally released the game on the gaming forum, Steam. "Agony" was put up for play in August of 2018. There was so much excitement and hype leading up to the game's release; expectations were sky high.
The computerized module was meant to be the greatest product Madmind has came out with. The trailers promised gore, intense gameplay, and outstanding graphics, which caused a huge buzz in the gaming community.
Everyone who has played on the Steam platform knew that this was supposed to be the biggest game of the year, and Madmind rode that buzz for a long time. It took them quite a while to actually release the game. They were fine-tuning and perfecting the game in hopes to not disappoint their wide audience. It wasn't until it was finally uploaded that everyone realized all of the hype was for absolutely nothing.
Don't get it wrong, the first ten minutes of the game are exciting seeing as players are exploring a whole new world for the first time. The protagonist wakes up in the pits of Hell, confused as to how he got there and even more puzzled as to how to get out. He hears a voice talking to him in a cliche raspy tone, but what's a good horror game without a man who sounds tired beyond his years telling the storyline? It was confessed that there was no way out unless he found the Red Goddess, and even then there was no certainty. He has to fight his way through mazes of dead bodies, hide from the demons who are trying to trap him in the chilling and aphotic underworld, and set fire to numerous odd objects. Don't ask why that's just how they wanted the gameplay to go.
After a couple minutes of playing the game, one can honestly guess how the rest of it will go. It becomes redundant and humdrum, seeing as players can only use a red and black color palette before one becomes genuinely disinterested.
The repetition of corpse mazes and demons coming for the player's soul can honestly only frighten a person for so long before it becomes routine. Everything in the game ultimately starts to look the same, due to the lack of color variation and the overuse of half dead people moaning and groaning while being permanently impaled by spikes.
The scoring for this game is monotonous, painful even. The sound effects were tremendous, though. The sound of the footsteps or the cries for help will send chills down anyone's spine, but the moment a characters begins to speak, it all goes down the drain. Whether we can blame that on bad lip syncing, horrendous voice actors, or atrocious microphone quality, that's for another to decide.
The storyline is weak and isn't touched upon often, causing gamers to become confused and aloof. All one really knows is that there are terrifying fiends who are concentrating on capturing their soul. This game has multiple endings based on the player's actions. If I would have known drowning the character in a lake of blood was an option the first time I played it, I would have saved an agonizing eight hours of my life.
Although the gameplay was not anywhere near what one would expect, the game still blew up and made gaming headlines. It is now one of four games that are rated "Adults Only" due to the realism of the corpses, the blood, and the way people can watch a man get ripped in half slowly while all of his inner organs spill onto the ground.
The game ended up flopping so bad that Steam took their name out of the publishing credits completely, leaving the downfall solely to Madmind Studios. The game proved that no matter how beautiful a concept can be, sometimes it only works in short increments. After a while, the graphics become mundane, the gameplay repetitive, and the challenges weak and dull. This game is not worth the thirty dollars it is priced at unless someone could find joy in repeating the same over-glorified mazes and spending hours hiding in the same spots just to get to an unsatisfying ending.
**This game contains violence and graphic imagery, so please keep that in mind if you would like to purchase the game.
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