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Maybe everything will be ok. And maybe it won't

Crow Country just wows me, I honestly never have played a horror game this good in some time. Everything about this game is just, honestly, incredible, and doing this review won’t be easy, as I don’t want to spoil anything. However, Crow Country is one of the best horror games that I have played in a long time. Crow Country took the best parts about Resident Evil and Silent Hill and fused them into one game.

Pros and Cons

Pros

An immersive story that draws you in, wanting more
Very creepy environment to explore
Really fun and creative puzzles
Beautifully done soundtrack
Unsettling atmosphere that you just know everything is not right

Cons

The issues were so minor that they did not meddle with the experience


Story

The year is 1990. Special Agent Mara Frost is heading to Crow Country, an abandoned rural amusement park near Atlanta, Georgia. The park was shut down two years ago, and Edward Crow, the park's manager, had also mysteriously disappeared. Mara is searching for him, and when she arrives, something is wrong, and these weird creatures are wandering around the park. She must dive deep into the park and uncover the many mysteries surrounding it, finding its secrets along the way. Oh, and it also seems that Edward Crow is a fan of The Backrooms, as he has a few locations that are just like that in the game.
The story for Crow Country is brilliant; it’s an immersive story that will draw you in, and you will be asking for more. The more I got into the game, the more I was hooked on it and wanted to know more about it, and ultimately. After it was all done, I just had more questions than answers; however, in some ways, I like it that way.

Gameplay

The gameplay for Crow Country is brilliant; it controls very well, and I had no issues with it once I got used to it. Shooting was one of the things I was worried about, but it controls surprisingly well. I did use a controller while playing this game, though. The environment you explore is very creepy, and it's clear that something is amiss and not everything is as it seems.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3506435797
Death traps are placed around the park for some reason, and most will damage you, but some traps and enemies can poison you. There are antidotes scattered around the park that you can pick up, but large health kits will also heal you from poison. There are also vending machines in the park that will contain med kits, antidotes, and sometimes ammo for your guns. You can even search through trash cans, and sometimes they have items too, or trash, but it’s amazing what people will throw out. There is a way for you to upgrade the potency of the health kits, so that they can heal more health when using them.
Traveling through the amusement park can be very creepy, and I first thought that the enemies had chocolate all over them. However, it was not chocolate, and instead, they were made out of flesh, and some of them were poisonous. It was fun going through the park, though, and seeing a once-happy place full of life that is meant to be fun for the whole family, turn into an undead nightmare.
The guns you can obtain all feel very nice to use. However, you are limited in the amount of ammo you can carry, so use it only if you need to. Some enemies you can just run past without having to use ammo. When it comes to ammo usage, I compare the game to Resident Evil 2, only use guns when you absolutely must. There are only a handful of weapons in the game, and I only found one, that being the shotgun in my playthrough, but there is a Magnum Revolver and a Flamethrower that you can find. The weapons can also be upgraded, as there are certain pieces that you can find that can go on the weapons for them to do more damage.
The puzzles were very fun and creative, I liked how the environment was used to solve them. Sometimes you have to operate a machine, other times it requires you to use your guns and ammo to solve them. One of my favorite puzzles was trying to get a passcode down with arcade scores by getting certain scores on them. This was a very interesting idea that I loved doing in a puzzle, playing arcade games in a video game.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3506438641
That being said, though, there was this annyong puzzle with these dinosaur heads where it can be a bit finicky to get working. You may have to use a bullet to solve it, but other than that, I have nothing else to say about the game's puzzles.
One thing though that is Crow Country has a bit of replay value, as there are many secerts in the game. You are graded on how fast you complete the game, the secrets you fidn, and what weapons you use.

Graphics and Performance

The graphics for the game are perfect, and I just love how the game looks. Crow Country just looks amazing, and every scene just had this feeling to it that I couldn’t wrap my head around fully. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, I experienced no issues while playing.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3506438008
The soundtrack is really beautiful; it has moments where it’s creepy, but moments where it can be fantastic to listen to.

Final Verdict

I have never been impressed with a horror game like this since Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Crow Country has showcased a lot to me. I wanted to play more of it, and when I was done beating it, I had to take a moment to reflect on the game I just beat. Simply because I would never be able to experience the game like I did the first time. If you are someone who is looking into getting into horror games, then Crow Country is a great starting point. Also, to those who love Silent Hill and Resident Evil, this game will be a treat for you.
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