Signalis (PC) Preview

Among everything that’s released this year or is set to release in the coming months, Signalis has sat high on the list of titles I’m looking forward to. From the familiar horror game influences to the retro-tech aesthetic, I was immediately interested after seeing a trailer for it. The Steam demo available back in June only solidified that it was ticking a lot of boxes for me.

I’ve had the privilege to spend some more time with it recently. Even though the following accounts for a little under three hours of playtime, which coincided perfectly with a boss fight, I’m thrilled to say it has met all of my expectations so far. It’s a fantastic tribute to what inspired it and a wonderfully intense experience in its own right.

The story has some familiar survival horror tones at the beginning as it follows an android Replika named Elster who is in search of someone. This naturally takes her to a location where everything has gone terribly wrong and hostile monsters await behind almost every door.

Further exploration does begin to reveal a much more complex story though. All of the many notes and the people to encounter paint a backdrop of a society run like a well-oiled machine by an authoritative force. The chaos that takes place in the story creates an enthralling disruption that’s felt across the environments and on the former cogs of that symbolic machine. Piecing together what happened through various short interactions is a huge part of the charm.

Just as charming are the grim fifth-generation console-era visuals. If the corpses and screeching monsters aren’t enough to make one feel vulnerable, the typically low-lit areas will for sure. Most of the rooms I’ve come across in these first hours have featured little lighting. That might initially sound a bit negative, but the diverse use of lighting and light sources leads to a lot of dark rooms feeling unique from each other.

They also lend themselves to creating some great moments with shadows. Nothing feels as intense as watching a long shadow stretch toward you as an enemy shuffles onward. Every shot momentarily illuminating a room also looks fantastic.

Everything is mostly seen from the same downward camera angle, with bigger rooms having it pan with Elster. It feels more accommodating than fixed camera angles but still manages to achieve that anxious feeling of hearing something walk around off-screen.

Some sections do mix it up by featuring a first-person viewpoint with visuals akin to early 3D games in the 90s. They initially worked with an on-rails control scheme as they did in the demo, although a later moment did allow for full movement and camera control. Despite the fact that none of these have had combat so far, they are delightfully creepy.

I repeatedly found myself comparing what I was playing with other popular survival horror series. Resident Evil came to my mind every time I stared at the inspired inventory screen. Debating what items/weapons to take with me in my limited inventory space and what to leave behind in omnipresent item boxes was just as familiar to me.

Saving ammo by avoiding enemies and stomping on them to finish them is just as indicative of Silent Hill as being uncomfortably blinded by a blood-red screen whenever I saved. Flipping through notes to deduce the answers to puzzles reminded me of both, all the while providing pure dopamine nostalgia.

At the same time, there are enough differences for it to be satisfying in its own right. Combat adds an interesting layer of strategy by allowing shots to be more powerful the longer an enemy is locked on. Committing the time to lock on is more difficult when being swarmed by multiple enemies though. I can confirm that even in normal mode it didn’t take long to recognize the consequences of being a little too trigger-happy.

Another notable combat aspect is that enemies can become active again upon further revisits to a room. I wasn’t able to discern a pattern based on time or number of visits, but besides for a sparse item that can kill them for good, all enemies are capable of getting back up. Planning my routes back to an item box because I needed a particular item felt a lot more fun thanks to the uncertainty of whether an enemy would be a threat again. Backtracking is a part of the experience, and it thankfully hasn’t felt tedious after the first few hours.

Those who enjoy puzzles are sure to have a great time here. Their difficulty is comfortably nestled between what’s expected from the two previously mentioned series. There is no convenient green text to heavily imply an answer, but I never had to figure out complex riddles with random objects. A couple have required some out-of-the-box thinking with other mechanics that felt very satisfying once I solved them.

I’ll also say the number of puzzles has been a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting there to be so many, and I’ve happily taken notes to figure out a few of them. The inventory-management lover in me also appreciates this because a lot of puzzles mean a lot of key items. As much as I would already enjoy deciding whether my seven inventory spaces can afford a spot for health or ammo, that temptation to bring along a key item on the off-chance that I need it and can avoid backtracking is a strong one.

Wrapping all of this in an unsettling bow is the presentation. Propaganda flyers are everywhere to remind everyone of their place. Monotone voices speak in German over the radio. Certain scenes display ominous phrases and hints of a darker psychological story. Atmospheric sounds only give way to tense confrontation music. A slightly static glitch appears over knocked-down enemies, implying that these unnatural monsters are still dangerous. Exiting the save menu without saving leaves the simple menacing message of, “You’ll regret this later.”

I’m not sure how long Signalis is, but I sincerely hope that I have a lot more ahead of me. Everything feels just right so far, and I’ve had nothing but fun. If this continues without problems and introduces more mechanics and fun puzzles, it definitely has the potential to be a new favorite of the genre. Signalis is set to release on October 27th for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It will also be a day-one release for the Xbox Game Pass service.

An Early Access PC preview copy of Signalis was provided by Humble Games for this preview.