A Familiar Sense of Terror
In the last few years, many indie horror titles have emerged, each offering a distinct experience. Some aim to capture the nostalgia of classic horror games, while others focus on building an atmosphere of suspense like no other. A few even strive to tell a unique and terrifying story that lingers with players long after they’ve finished. AFFRAID is absolutely not one of these horror games.
AFFRAID presents itself as a survival horror game with gameplay mechanics inspired by Resident Evil 3. In reality, however, it feels more like an asset flip and plays like an unfinished project still stuck in its Alpha stage. It may grab your attention with its promo art, but don’t be easily fooled—this is a decision you’ll regret almost immediately.
Welcome to the MEDIO Facility
The MEDIO pharmaceutical company has abducted over 100 people as test subjects for the NovoVenus program. However, unexpected side effects have led to a catastrophic outbreak within the secret facility. Players take on the role of Nina, a young model who has been kidnapped by MEDIO and must fight to survive. To escape, she must navigate the chaos, uncover the truth, and rely on her only ally—the mysterious Eddy, whose true motives remain unclear.
AFFRAID delivers a story that is as barebones as possible, offering minimal character development, world-building, or narrative depth. Based on what’s presented, it follows a generic, run-of-the-mill horror game plot with little effort to be creative or stand out in any meaningful way. At the same time, there is nothing about Nina that makes you want to care about her struggle or why she was chosen.
Who is the Threat Now?
AFFRAID is a horror game that plays and feels like a project still stuck in its Alpha stage. The controls are janky, making navigation through the facility frustrating. At the same time, many actions either don’t work properly or fail to function altogether. The worst experience comes when you’re trapped in the item menu, desperately trying to exit while being attacked by zombies. Combat isn’t any better—you have to get uncomfortably close just to land a shot.
Even at a glance, it’s clear that AFFRAID has a lot of visual issues. The HUD elements look hastily slapped on, with no real effort to integrate them seamlessly into the game. The text uses a generic font that not only clashes with the overall aesthetic but is also difficult to read at times. I also encountered multiple instances where the display language was glitched, resulting in a mix of English and other languages. This inconsistency made menus and dialogue even more confusing at times. Visually, the game exhibits the same stiff movement and lighting effects commonly seen in asset flip titles, making it feel uninspired and unpolished.
This lack of polish extends to the game’s sound design as well. Your character’s heavy breathing plays on an endless loop, becoming more annoying than immersive as you run or dodge through the game. Making matters worse, dialogue and character grunts often play simultaneously, creating a jumbled mess of overlapping audio. The soundtrack is no better, consisting of the same five-second musical score repeating itself endlessly. To its credit, it does help set the tone with its eerie sound but it quickly grows tiresome.
You Are Dead!
I want to say there’s some redeeming quality in AFFRAID, but there simply isn’t. It’s not a bad game you could enjoy for laughs—it’s a broken, bad game with no reason to play it. While similar titles use a comparable hook, AFFRAID relies too heavily on it and offers nothing else. It’s absolutely not in the same league as Ruined Nurse or Haydee 3. While all these games may share a similar hook to grab your interest, the latter titles offer a clear narrative direction, some level of polish, and a sense of quality control. AFFRAID, on the other hand, severely lacks all of that and more, leaving it feeling unfinished and uninspired.
AFFRAID is a horror experience that lures you in with its gimmicky heroine, but fails to deliver any sense of story or quality.
Disclaimer: The publisher through a PR representative provided the game used for this review.
This review is the critique and thoughts of one writer. If you want to see how other critics felt, then check it out on OpenCritic.
8Bit/Digi is an independent media outlet that provides insight into the gamer community of the San Francisco Bay Area.
AFFRAID (PC)
Pros
- The game has no redeemable qualities that make it worth playing.
Cons
- Story is generic and lacks anything unique or memorable.
- It lacks polish and feels like a game still in its Alpha stage.
- Gamplay and combat are janky or just not even functioning.
- Sound design makes you want to play the game on mute.
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Stan Rezaee is the founder and Editor of 8Bit/Digi. He is a journalist and gamer from the Bay Area who has been writing about the medium for over five years.
