Horror video games occupy a unique space in the medium. Where almost all games aim to instill a sense of fun and joy, horror games strive for the opposite. They exist to prey upon our deep primal fears, relying heavily on story and the world it creates to illicit a visceral reaction from the player. Little Nightmares is an unnerving horror experience from start to finish that overcomes some design issues to provide an experience that will linger with you long after you switch off the screen.
You play as Six, a small girl trapped aboard a derelict vessel called the Maw. Waking up to the sight of a dark, damp corridor, you venture out from the safety of your dimly lit corner to embark upon an escape attempt through the decrepit ship hallways. Comparisons to Limbo and Inside immediately spring to mind, but Little Nightmares quickly establishes a style all of its own. It’s a deeply unsettling and disturbing world, dripping with atmosphere and tiny details. The story is told without a single line of dialogue, but the fantastic environmental design slowly reveals the mystery of the ship and its inhabitants, and it’s a tale you’ll want to see through to the end.
There is an incredible sense of unease as you manoeuvre your way through with threats lying around every corner. It’s quickly evident that the ship is inhabited by creatures that dwarf your tiny stature, with objects and furniture that are much larger than yourself. You’ll soon learn just how outsized you are when you encounter one of the many terrifying beings that roam the halls. The character design is top-notch, with enemies ranging from a creepy blind man with absurdly long arms to oversized gluttons who will knock down anything in their path to get you.
Even in the quiet times you’ll never feel safe for long, as there’s a constant palpable tension from the possibility of one of your pursuers lurking around the corner. The camera superbly adds to the feeling of discomfort, always at an angle just off where it would typically rest in order to showcase the beautiful yet harrowing locales. The lighting and details are top notch, and the eerie soundtrack perfectly accentuates the mood of every moment. In a neat touch, the rumble from the controller also subtly vibrates in time with Six’s heartbeat, adding to the stress of each encounter.
You’ll spend a lot of time on the run during your escape from the depths. Each area has a new big nemesis that will continuously reappear to give chase as you move from room to room. The core gameplay is a mixture of platforming and light puzzles, with many of the more challenging brain teasers revolving around ways to get the enormous abominations to make a way forward for you. The platforming is simple but serviceable, making it easy enough to scale objects at your own pace. Problems can start to arise though when the relentless nature of your followers starts to settle in.
It can be very easy to die in this game, particularly early on, and it doesn’t always feel fair. Enemies such as the long armed monstrosity mentioned earlier are capable of reaching you with ease, and it doesn’t take much to be standing in just the wrong spot or not quite grab the correct part of an object and have it lead to your untimely demise. On several occasions, the solution or way forward is not particularly apparent, which can result in a lot of deaths in an extremely short length of time.
Or it least it would be an extremely short length of time was it not for the loading times. Each death can lead to a load time of almost 30 seconds, which is not terrible in isolation but quickly stacks up during a tricky section where some trial and error is needed. In scenarios where you may only live for 15 seconds, having to wait for double that to make another attempt can feel extremely punishing. In a strange way, it adds to the stress of really not wanting to get caught, but there was more than one occasion throughout the game where genuine fear quickly turned to frustration.
The camera, as atmospheric as it is, can also sometimes lead to the odd cheap death due to it occasionally being difficult to judge depth on narrow walkways, and sudden huge drops when walking through a door from one room to the next before the camera catches up. These moments are a shame, as they snap you out of the absorbing world that the game goes to such lengths to create, but they’re infrequent enough that it’s still easy to recommend the entire experience.
This complete edition features the main game as well as The Secrets of the Maw, a trio of DLC packs released post-launch telling the story of another kid stowed on board the Maw. Some parts of this tale will see you cross paths with Six on her adventure, whilst others will have you exploring entirely new areas. The packs each offer some new gameplay mechanics, such as The Hideaway, which has you utilising the little gnome-like creatures that inhabit the Maw to solve puzzles and make your way through the level. The Secrets of the Maw provides some welcome variety to the overall package, doubles the length of content on offer and nicely wraps up the story alluded to in the main game.
Little Nightmares is a dark, gripping and unsettling horror game. It succeeds in transporting you to a place where you’ll be biting your nails and sharing every pounding heartbeat with your on-screen counterpart. Some frustrating sections can pull you out of the moment and the game mechanics themselves are not particularly original, but the much like the grotesque inhabitants of the Maw this game will grab you and not let go until the end.
Rating: 4/5
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