Static Dread: The Lighthouse Review

I've mentioned before about how much I love Cosmic/Lovecraftian horror, but I've also realized I enjoy what I like to call "Checkpoint games". Games who's main gameplay loop is looking at documents and deciding where a person/thing/entity goes. This, "Papers, Please", "No, I'm Not A Human", and "Quarantine Zone" all fit into the category, all of which I've enjoyed enough to play. Does this game sail into the harbor? Or does it sink into the rocks.

STORY

A strange aurora has appeared in the sky, disrupting electronic navigation in ships. Thanks to this, the Blackfort lighthouse needs to reopen so ships can be manually led to their destination, and you are the new lighthouse keeper. Just a week of this, then you can go back home to your wife and daughter, you can do it. Everything seems normal, until you start noticing some things that are kind of off. Are they just strange occurrences? Or do they signify something worse?

I had a really good time with the story of Static Dread: The Lighthouse. Watching not just the world, but the characters change around this world that continuously delves deeper into madness. Dealing with soldiers, drug dealers, cultists, and the many residents of the nearby village means there are many different elements that add to the elements the story presents to you.. The characters are what really makes the special game special. From the mushroom seller and town elder, to the man who thinks his wife is trying to get with you, and even the character thats obviously a crossover character with "No, I'm Not A Human". Everyone has such a distinct personality that means so many characters will be remembered long after you play it.

GAMEPLAY

As the lighthouse keeper, its your job to guide ships into port, which will be done through various objectives and jobs. The goal is to survive 15 days, after which, depending on choices made throughout the game, you will receive one of.....I believe 7 endings. Days will start off with a knock at the door. This could be the courier bringing your pay, someone bringing items for you to buy, or townsfolk coming to talk. Items you buy could enhance either tiredness, sanity, or speed. Tiredness will help keep you awake during shifts, sanity will help keep you from fainting as wierd stuff takes place in the lighthouse, and speed increases movement speed. After that, your boss will give you a call on the radio and give you the details of that days ship directions. One day it might say "just send them to the ports they want, if their port isn't available, send them to blackfort" and the next might give you a depth map of the area and say "send ships to whatever port they are able to reach" or any other possible directions given to you. Then, feel free to contact your family or any other little things you want to get ready for your shift, ending with pulling the switch to turn the lighthouse on. Depending on things like the weather, or say, dark spirits, there are 4 things that could go wrong at any time: The power goes off, the antenna turns off, the lighthouse shuts off, or the light needs adjusted. Thankfully there is a board showing all of them as being operational or if any combination of them are off. Next comes the act of guiding ships. You will need to scan the radio finding a mixture of ship signals, characters trying to talk/advance the story, or random blips to either make you laugh or just give a little more backstory. There is one more person who may contact you...Unknown....who will help advance a darker side of the story, and its up to you to choose if you do as it says or not.... You will then use a piece of paper of mark the guidance lines of where the ship should go, then send it back to them.

PRESENTATION

I'm a fan of the visual style of the game, very pixely until you get to either writing on paper, or character design. And speaking of design, the art direction of the game is beautifully Lovecraftian and gross. Music and sound effects do a fantastic job making the game feel eerie and unnerving, to the point I had to take breaks during play sessions because I wasn't comfortable and didn't feel alone. If this game does ANYTHING best, its feel and vibe.

OVERALL

While the game isn't Perfect, it had a fun story that kept me engaged, characters that made me either happy or terrified to see them, and a sense of unease that led to me wondering "Does the lighthouse feel strange or does the room i'm sitting in?" Taking me 8 to 10 hours, this is a game that i'll constantly think about when I think of the best indie horror games i've played.

8\10