Nostalgia is deadly, but maybe not as deadly as a spooky mansion with lots of evil monsters. But with passing youth, many yearn for something that resembles something from their glory days, usually in the form of media (films, books, and games). 90’s Survival Horror, is a perfect incarnation for recapturing the youth of millennials and X-Gen. So, people like me and my friends, remember fondly the likes of Resident Evil and Silent Hill and maybe that’s why in recent years, so many indie developers have been capturing and reintroducing the essence of old-school survival horror back into modern gaming. Such as our review today of Tormented Souls, an old-school-inspired survival horror that aims to meet classic horror gameplay and structure in modern-day tech.
Does it work? Read on to find out.
If you read my previous review of Tormented Souls on PC, then you know the answer is yes. But maybe there are some things which I needed to look at a second time. What is Tormented Souls? 
Tormented Souls is an old-school 90 ’s-inspired survival horror game, where players take on the role of Caroline Walker, a young woman who’s been dragged into a sinister mystery at the Winterlake Hospital. After receiving a photo of an unknown pair of twin girls, Caroline feels something is seriously wrong, and having weeks of awful nightmares, she decides to go to the hospital. Upon arriving at the seemingly abandoned hospital, Caroline is knocked out and left naked in a bathtub with no means of escape. It’s up to Caroline to venture through the hospital and gather clues on the whereabouts of the twins, but also fend for herself against the horrors which lurk in the shadows.
Heavily inspired by the likes of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, players will explore a large, complex environment, find key items to progress further, solve plenty of brain-teasing puzzles, and obtain brutal weapons to fend themselves with. All with fixed camera angles, limited resources, and cheesy dialogue. Pretty much everything you may expect from a classic survival horror game.
The Horror …. The Old School Horror 
Tormented Souls has classic survival horror through every fibre of its body, with all the classic elements right here in such wondrous glory. From a B-Movie-inspired story/script, plenty of gruesome and spooky imagery, bad voice acting, fixed camera angles, and intense resource management. Plus a few other tricks and mechanics to spice things up.
Caroline, a young woman who is drawn to the sinister Winterlake Hospital is trapped within its walls for the night, and the only way to survive is by locating a pair of young girls she fears are in trouble. The story has the traditional beats from games like Resident Evil, starting off with little to no resources, piecing everything together through clues and finding key items, opening new areas, and discovering more horrors as the venture progresses. There are twists, turns, reveals of new and more dangerous monsters, and that classic trope of venturing into a sewer/underground area for the finale.
But as mentioned there are some neat additions to the formula and the developers have clearly been inspired by elements from other games, not just Resident Evil. There’s a mechanic who allows Caroline to visit the past via old VHS tapes and a projector (a nod to RE7 and other games), along with entering a much more intense and dangerous version of the real world through a mirror (kind of reminiscent of Silent Hill?). Both these gameplay components do add some dynamic layers to the general formula while keeping the general flow tight and varied.
Aside from these two compelling aspects, the other stuff is pretty engaging too. Many of the puzzles are challenging yet fun, the resource management is intense but gripping and the exploration is extremely compelling as you unlock new areas, discover secrets and progress deeper within the madness this hospital has to offer. Tormented Souls really does feel like a perfect homage in many ways yet does its own thing to make here and there to make it stand out. The ideas of all these components together might sound messy (and there are some issues relating to the story), but the developers have managed to put them together carefully and professionally. Especially as the team spearheading this was very indie and very new to games development.
I did find some puzzles somewhat tedious (there is a sound puzzle which is completely infuriating) but the remainder, along with the exploration was exceptionally grand.
The Tormented return of survival horror 
So, we have a creepy hospital with plenty of sinister activities happening, a good mystery at the core of the story, and all that good stuff that makes a great survival horror game. You got your exploration, challenging puzzles, and some neat mechanics to change the pacing up every so often. Combat and controls are what you expect and feel very much like a 90’s PS One horror game (for good and bad). I grew up with Tank Controls (where right and left turn your character and forward and back move them directly in that way) and never have so much of a problem with them. They can take some getting used to and can be a little annoying with some of the fixed camera angles. But there’s nothing here that really requires you to move in a more fluent way.
Even in combat, you have an option to jump back away from an enemy’s attack. A good enough means of defence and tank controls and evading aren’t something you would ever see. But combat is generally very one-note, where you find weapons, aim weapons, shoot, avoid any attack and keep shooting until the thing is dead. The enemy line-up is interesting visually, but amounts to nothing more than “run-up to player, slash and die if shot enough times”. The same goes for the “Bosses” as most of them just require avoiding their attack and shoot when possible. The last boss is generally quite simple but manages to mix things up and be quite fun.
There are enough resources to take on all enemies if you desire but thinking tactically like using melee when an enemy is downed to finish them off is useful. There are some cool weapons, from a makeshift shotgun and nail gun, but I wished there were a couple more included. Resident Evil always managed to include a powerful weapon or upgrade, which was hidden away and made you work for it. Whether it was the flamethrower in the RE Remake, the powerful shotgun parts in RE2, or the Rocket Launcher in RE3.
And there is a lack of unlockable content here upon finishing the game, which is rather odd. Old survival horror games would give you tons of stuff to get you to replay them again and again, but Tormented Souls offers nothing of the sort. Which is a big, missed opportunity.
End of a horrifying night! 
I would say that it’s best not to think too much into the plot, as there are some rather big plot holes. As mentioned, Caroline can travel to the past and change certain things, altering history as you clearly see. There are some baffling issues if you do think about the time travel aspect and even on a very basic level, it does raise a few questions. I didn’t mind the first time round but playing again, I did find myself asking way too many questions.
Tormented Souls also feels a little too long for its own good. By the time I reached the sewer area, which was quite a few hours in, I felt like it could end and end on a good note. But there is a rather large section which is the final area and by this point, I felt it wasn’t really needed or to be so long. There are quite a few underground sections in Tormented Souls and I had hoped for something a little more interesting, such as a trip to the weird other world.
The final stages are fine but could have been a lot more engaging. But the visual presentation and art for Tormented Souls is fantastic! I love the visual design of the hospital, the other world, and the creepiest parts of the underground. These all look amazing. Plus, the lore and history of the family, hospital and the cult at the end all really shine through. Reading all the diary entries again made me feel the pain and suffering this world had brought to so many and compared to the plot, they really do leave an impact.
I would also say the sound design is excellent, with some great music that really did unnerve me at times. Finally, I felt there was a lot of gravitas put into such a simple story. Making Caroline, who is nothing special in terms of a character, into someone I did feel an emotional connection with. Her pain, suffering, and redemption all felt meaningful, and I rooted for her from start to finish. There were a few cutscenes handled so well, matching the likes of even the top studios in terms of endearing quality.
Xbox performance So, I played this on both an Xbox One and Xbox Series X, and as you could imagine the Series X is the better option. Tormented Souls does play well on an older machine, such as the Xbox One, but there are some things to consider. Loading times will vary, with some area transitions taking anywhere between 10 to 20 seconds a time. With a game with plenty of backtracking dozens of areas, this can add up. But this played very well on even the older machines, especially my Xbox One version C, back from 2013.
Overall? While I did discover some things this time around, which made me feel somewhat disappointed on replaying Tormented Souls, I can’t deny this is a fantastic game still. I would keep it in my top ten of 2021 and while the bad is there, the good excel in every way possible. The engaging world, beautifully haunting art style and sound design, challenging puzzles, dynamic elements, and solid gameplay all make this one of the best survival horror games in modern gaming. I do admire the team behind Tormented Souls as they worked extremely hard with little experience to make a compelling and entertaining horror game, where so many AAA studios fail to do so. I want to see a sequel and I urge you to buy, play and support these guys as they have a serious talent for making horror games. If Tormented Souls is their first stop, I can only see their next works being even better.
++ Great setting, very creepy and visually beautiful
+ Good lore and world-building
+ Fun puzzles, cool enemy designs, and rewarding explorational elements
+ All that good survival horror stuff you love
- Third act feels overly long and uninspired
- Some questionable story elements
-Lack of any unlockable content An Xbox review code of Tormented Souls was provided by the publisher for this review.
