The Mortuary Assistant Review (CG 5NATCH)
The Mortuary Assistant is a chilling and creepy job simulator game done very well and while there's some small replay value to it. The questions becomes if anyone is brave enough to endure what lies ahead?
Players take the role of Rebecca who has accepted the job of being an Embalmer. You will go through a set procedure of actions to prep up a dead body, report its conditions, clean it out, etc while having to suffer from sporadic visits from a demonic creature. Sadly, this is just a general day in the office for this character because there's a whole story behind why this is occurring so it's not entirely meaningless jump scares. There's a chance for the players to learn and understand.
But the stand out feature of this game is its partly a solid puzzle game too. While players will be juggling with the responsibility of the shift of prepping up a body, They will also have to uncover which demon has decided to visit them and now it's currently active in the scene they're in, But don't worry too much, You have a chance to send that bastard to hell! But it depends if you can work out the clues. Some of these clues are subtle and will have you seconding guessing a lot but sometimes they're obvious and its a relief that you can carry on quickly with the job without too much worry. But if you really just want something that's REALLY scary? You've found your fix here...
But maybe the secret of why this game is so effective in this is because of the following, Players can never expect any shift to be a breeze as regardless of the demon you're working with, haunting always occur and each haunting also varies both in severity and frequency too from being small bumps and whispers to loud bangs and blatant visuals. Sometimes you'll do a few tasks and be left alone, other times you'll be relentlessly haunted every were you go. As you continue to play the game, it is difficult to predict when the next scare will occur or how intense it would be. At most of the time, Its unpredictable.
The great Alfred Hitchcock once explained horror with "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." and just capping on what I wrote above about the unpredictability of hauntings in the game, Players will end up scaring themselves simply because they are WAITING for things to happen which provides a thrilling experience that could see people returning for more. Credit to anyone who wants to 100% this game!
Only negative feedback is the controls take a bit of getting used to but nothing major, there's a few bugs but nothing game breaking and some cool features depend on seasonal calendar. So in Halloween and Christmas things look different. There seems to be an over arching story line about Rebecca too but I believe this is discovered as you play the game over and over.
There's multiple endings here. some you will simply earn for obvious reasons but the others you will need to more observant of your surroundings and gather clues if you want to avoid any walk thrus and figure it out yourself. Don't feel bad if you have to resort to that however. And there's even a few lil easter eggs.
Over all, a great game and a effective mix of scares and thrills. High recommend. Even higher recommend to play with headphones on.