In our Exanimum: The Silent Call review content, we take a closer look at the Turkish horror game.
What do you do if you want to develop a horror game? Horror game. Especially us Turks. There are so many elements of fear in our culture that we use them in every aspect of our lives. Even our childhood begins with fear. From “I called the police, they’re coming” to “I’ll give you an injection” or even “I’ll give you to the ghoul.” When I said ghoul, it came to my mind. Even our comedy films often contain horror elements. This being the case, our psychology is already broken, fear is the underlying reason for many of the games we play by saying let’s spoil it even more. Psychological horror/thriller game, if the word is appropriate.
I have a hard time even writing his name let alone saying it, Exanimum: The Silent Call Another one of this kind, by a local developer Steam A production presented via. It was developed by Perpektik and this is not their first game. They also have another game called Again and Again and coincidentally it is in the same genre. Apparently, the developer found a way out of all the troubles he was experiencing by developing games. Good thing he found it. Because although I cannot say that it is a very good game, if you give it a chance, it will provide fear for at least an hour.
Exanimum: The Silent Call review
We start Exanimum: The Silent Call in a hospital room, even though it is a kind of walking simulation, with the “boo” elements you encounter that may make you jump out of your seat. We think our primary goal should be to get out of here. Because there is no one inside except us and a crazy person. The electricity is out, the building is slightly damaged. Something happened inside, but we remained completely French to the point. We need to open the closed rooms and escape with the keys we find while searching for the way out.
Although there seems to be a research focus, there isn’t much you can find in general. Although he tried to advance the game with a narrative focus, sometimes a key, sometimes a note, he could not achieve this very successfully.
Somehow, we continue walking even after leaving the hospital. In the following chapters, we even get in our car and hit the road. However, getting in the car is just about getting in. The storytelling of Exanimum: The Silent Call generally proceeds by writing down what you encounter on the screen at that moment. You get in the car, find out that the road you are going to go on is closed, and start walking on the mountain.
Although it is not graphically spectacular, it offers a satisfactory appearance. Even though the environments are very dark, the skins, which I think were purchased off-the-shelf, were used properly and the FPS gameplay experience was preferred. I did not encounter any amateurism such as passing through walls or seeing the other screen from a broken corner, which is common in this type of productions. Only once or twice did I get into a spot and not be able to go back. Even though it was a bit annoying, I was disappointed to see that the whole process returned to the beginning when I started it over, hoping that it would be fixed when I exited the game and came back.
On the other hand, if you are trying to deal with motion sickness like me, I can guarantee that you will take a break from the game every 10-15 minutes. There were processes that I really had a hard time with. Especially in tight spaces. Since the game is not an open world production, you usually wander around in narrow areas.
Conclusion
To be honest, I wasn’t sure whether to recommend Exanimum: The Silent Call or not. Although it seems like it can be a scary time, when I look at the negative aspects of the game, I also think it can be a bit annoying. Still, it’s hard not to appreciate the work put in for a one-person developer. I am sure that he will reflect the experience he gained from this project into his next work. It seems like it can be given a chance with its price of $3.85.
