Interference: Dead Air

Nice short game that can be finished in a single sitting

Wasted potential in my honest opinion. I'm not sure if I've missed the mark or something? I remember watching this game on YouTube and actually really enjoying it. I have almost completely forgotten the game since, and decided it'll be a fun idea to play it myself now. First off, I really love the general plot of the game - this secret lab, things go wrong, blah blah blah SCP and Black Mesa, yada yada yada. All sounds great! Exactly my kinda jam! The interesting part of the whole game is the fact that we as a player are far away from the centre of the events, and we can only see things happening outside the window. I thought that was really unique and cool, something like the first The Last of Us did at the start of the game, where you could see a broadcast on TV of events happening down couple of streets away from you, which both games manage to capture quite well in that sense - of this like surreality, but also you don't feel like the main character. This part is great! Sadly, the game fell really flat for me, very quickly too. Some things are just designed in such a way here, it's almost like they're [b] meant [/b] to piss you off. Valerie is one of those things, which is really unfortunate given her literal key role in the story. I liked her voice, I liked her performance, but holy sh*t did talking to her get on my nerve xd The biggest offender however, for me personally was this stupid map navigation c*ap... You're given a map of the entire facility, along with room numbers, exits and a compass. Valerie gives you a room that she's in and asks you to take her to an exit. Simple. Well, think again! You tell her a direction, and she listens. Then she keeps asking for more directions. Makes sense, except you have no way of knowing how far she actually goes. Does she walk room by room for some unknown reason, instead of going as far as she can? If she stops at a door just before a crossroad - will I have to tell her to go forward a little bit more [b] before [/b] telling her the direction she should take at said crossroad? Despite following her movements as closely as I could, she would just [b] never [/b] end up where I would anticipate her to go. And at no point can I ever ask where she actually is! Oh, did I mention that she probably should already know her way around the lab anyway? It doesn't help that in a life or death situation, this lady behaves like a spoiled toddler with ADHD and continues to go into rooms on her own, talk to random people, argue with the player or literally yap about nothing. Either way, she totally lost herself on my playthrough and just went in a direction that didn't feel possible, the game then happily autosaved 1 step before she choked to death, and loading it now I don't imagine it's possible to save her, which concludes the whole game for me. I didn't feel like re-playing it since.

Great small game, was looking for something similar to Killer Frequency and this has been a nice addition for few hours Love the soundtrack

Took 2 attempts to beat it but a really fun time nonetheless, I like the interactions in the station and the dialogue between Val and the player. The trophies seem pretty easy to get if not a bit time consuming. I do wish there was a bit more in play of the mystery element ( the game sort of just gives you the answer ) and I do wish that you could ask Val what room she's in. I know that'd probably make the game a bit too easy, but my first attempt ended in a loss because I had apparently lost Val somewhere. Fun all around.

Enjoyed.

Caused massive amounts of trash, drank too much coffee, and missed the hoop 40 times before making it, 10/10 game

I’m giving this a thumbs up, but in reality it’s more of a meh. There’s truly only two “puzzles” in the game, using the map to guide Valerie, and fixing the power outages, and truthfully calling them puzzles is a stretch. It’s not very long, and you’re not with the characters long enough to care one way or the other. If you want a more fun puzzle story game, Killer Frequency. I had a blast with that one. If you want a more relationship-story game, Firewatch. Frequency is a combo of both, but not as good in either facet. That said, I still give it a thumbs up because I just like the moody 80s horror vibes. I enjoyed my time listening to the story unfold, the voice acting is pretty good, and I got it for $5. Bottom line: I like what it’s going for, but it’s not great in any of those areas.