You might look at Ib and think to yourself – how can a game that looks that basic be truly scary. Especially with modern graphics making games look so true to life and often horrific (in horror games at least) …
You might look at Ib and think to yourself – how can a game that looks that basic be truly scary.
Especially with modern graphics making games look so true to life and often horrific (in horror games at least) – such as in recent titles such as the Dead Space remake and The Colistoal Protocol. So it’s a testament to Ib that it is so genuinely creepy. It gives us the creeps just writing this in all honesty.
You play as Ib, a nine year old girl who is visiting a rather strange but unsuspecting art gallery with her parents. You soon ditch your parents and start exploring the quieter areas of the gallery though, and it is quickly apparent that something is not quite right.
Left isolated and alone, you start hearing noises from the art – messages in blood and strange figures that hide in the shadows drawing you towards a portal to a different world.
Atmosphere is Ib’s strongest suit, boasting a genuinely creepy aesthetic. You constantly feel like you’re being stalked as unexpected things start to happen around you. The perfectly timed music and sparse but unforgettable sound effects help massively, always making an impact at the perfect time.
Ib is also very clever with its art design – as although it may seem simple there are often times it changes its style, subverting your expectations so you never know what to expect.
The characters and writing are also strong, as we found ourselves gripped even when things would take a darker path – it just made everything that little bit more interesting.
Most of your time in Ib you’ll be working though puzzles, with these ranging from extremely clever or a tad simple. Luckily the more complex and clever puzzles more than make up for the lacklustre ones, keeping everything interesting to the end – although for us that came too soon. We were left wanting more.
Overall though, Ib is a little gem. Offering something very different to the norm and finding different ways to scare, it’s worth trying if you’re a fan of horror and want something that offers something a little more clever with its frights than the usual jump scare nonsense.
