‘Crowded. Followed.’ is a horror game that has a fairly simple horror plot, i.e., you are being chased by a ghastly entity that looks like the long-lost twin sister of the ghost girl from the movie ‘The Ring‘ and you have to escape off a ferry just in time. The ghost in ‘Crowded. Followed.’ will follow you nonstop amongst crowds with the ruthless determination of a murderous maniac who has taken a bounty to hunt you. We played ‘Crowded. Followed.’ and found it to be imperfect but mind-blowing in the terrifying sense of things. Here’s our review of ‘Crowded. Followed.’.
Crowded. Followed. Review
1. It all begins with a briefcase
The game begins with you holding onto a weird, blood-stained, and almost satanic briefcase from a gravely wounded stranger, who is advising you to leave on a ferry and protect the suitcase from a strange entity. As soon as you take up the briefcase, you will witness a white patient-like gown-wearing ghost with creepily straightened hair move towards you at an unpredictable pace that seems to increase as soon as you look back. After evading the alley with the dying man and entering the subway, a game-defining and harrowing struggle will begin. You’re going to feel like you’re stuck in a hellish loop when this cat-and-mouse-like chase matures.
2. The visuals are immersive and psychedelic
The visual feel of the game is very gritty, rough-around-the-edges, sandpaperish, and grainish which almost makes it feel like an out-of-body experience. The old-school, grainy video game graphical style of ‘Crowded. Followed.’ has a proud and roaring retro vibe to it that says, “I don’t care if you don’t like me, but I know that it’s impossible to not like me.” The graphical style feels as if the in-game world feels very still despite the endless chaos caused by the crowds, but the bright colors pop very strongly in a psychedelic fashion whenever they appear, like a sore thumb, in an otherwise very dark, grim, somber, and depressingly gloomy visual world. You’re going to adore this retro vibe.
3. You are going to operate in panic mode throughout the game
This tall, dark, gruesome, and malnourished ghost is going to creep the bejesus out of you. The scariest thing about this poorly dressed ghost is that she can take on the shape of a human by jumping from one person’s soul to another, capturing their bodies and using them as a vessel to create Hollywood-level, mind-numbing terror during the gameplay. You can outsmart her by getting inside locked spaces or closed doors, but she will somehow get inside, and the heart-pounding pursuit will ensue. Whenever you turn around, there she is, with her forward-tilted head and chilling presence. To make things worse, you will have to complete objectives while maintaining distance from her.
4. A heart pounding chase
The game is literally heart-pounding, as you will have to wait for the inhaler bar to fill, or else you won’t be able to run. The act of using the inhaler during the chase makes it even more terrifying. You will have to face the haphazard motion of the people in the subway station, extremely crowded bars, and a stampede-like situation involving the police, all while being chased by this creepy ghost. The zoomed-in visual effect of the ghost getting extremely close to your face will make your heart palpitate with extreme anxiety and anticipation of the worst things possible that could happen. If you’re a horror nerd, then you’re going to absolutely love this chase.
5. A climax that will make you breath in peace
As the game nears its climax, the chaos increases multifold as you can hear police sirens blaring, people shouting in fear during the stampede, and tense background music building up only to remind you that someone is emerging abruptly out of the crowd and walking towards you with awkwardly mismatched footsteps, i.e., the ghost. You will have to walk through dark alleys and penetrate the aggressive horde of people running scared so that you can jump onto the ferry and away from the ghost. It’s one hell of an exciting climax. Overall, the game is a little rough around the edges, but it’s extremely entertaining, as a game should be.
We would give ‘Crowded. Followed.’ a rating of 4 out of 5.
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