Gloomy Eyes is a new self co-op horror game spearheaded by Fernando Maldonado Jorge Tereso and 3DAR with help from a few other groups. The game pulled off the coup of getting Collin Farrell to narrate too. In this Gloomy Eyes review I will detail what I liked most about the game and its atmosphere.
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Gloomy Eyes Review for Playstation 5
- Title: Gloomy Eyes
- Developer: Atlas V, Be Revolution Gaming, 3Dar, Fishing Cactus, ARTE France
- Publisher: ARTE France, Untold Games
- Primary Genre: Horror, Puzzle, Self Co-Op
Gameplay
The game, in my view, takes some inspiration from Little Nightmares by having an undersized MC in a dangerous setting and very few things they can actually interact with. In this, Gloomy and Nena are both just children in a world without the sun, zombies and cultists frequent the landscape and they must dodge every obstacle in their way.
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The setup is pretty simple, each one has their own abilities and weaknesses that I as the player have to navigate. Nena can’t walk past caged zombies, Gloomy can’t be caught under light, Gloomy is strong, but Nena can push buttons. These limitations are the basis of the game’s puzzle gameplay as navigating each task is usually a two-person job.
I made the comparison to Little Nightmares earlier and I find that to be a fitting comparison for how this game plays out pace wise. It is quite a bit slower and more deliberate, which sometimes made going back and forth for some puzzles a bit of a drag, but for the most part it was a fun gameplay loop.
Visuals & Sound
The Game looks fantastic. The sun being absent means the levels are mostly darker but they use different fixtures to provide light like some of the plants. The level where this all really stands out is at Gloomy’s tree, it’s absolutely beautiful. Bright white leaves fall down around Nena as she escalates the tree, bright plants blooming out from the tree, it’s a genuinely incredible visual.
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The occasional zombie grunt aside, the main sound that accompanied my journey was the excellent narration of the game’s story. Farrell set just the right tone, keeping it slightly mysterious but carrying the tone of a man with a lot of emotion and some regret, he makes the story playing out feel like the most important thing in the world. His work alone adds something to the game.
Story
The game has a pretty nice story that’s told in pretty broad strokes. Zombie Boy is a lonely zombie, cultlike humans have turned on zombies and blame them for the sun leaving. Nena wants to bring the sun back and escapes from her uncle’s home, not realising he was one of the leading cultists.
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Nena is drawn to Gloomy because of his bright yellow eyes, Gloomy is drawn to Nena because she helps him. Together they set off to avoid the dangerous world created by the corrupt humans to bring back the sun. It’s an easy story to get into and provides an important backdrop for each level.
Gloomy Eyes Review – Last Word on Gaming Viewpoint
Gloomy Eyes is a short but well-told story that builds an excellent atmosphere through an amazing narrator performance, strong visuals, and slow-paced puzzle gameplay where danger is always lurking. It tells an easy-to-enjoy story with broader strokes while only really being let down by the lack of a real legendary hook to take this one over the line to excellence.
