Hello friends! It has been a while. So let’s ease our way back into things! Today, we’ve got a little early access action with Confronted! Confronted comes to us from Grumpy Rock Studios, a solo developer. By now, everyone knows I am extremely sceptical when it comes to early access. I’ve played a lot over the years, and been disappointed by most. However, Confronted is promising.
What is Confronted?
Confronted is a first-person survival horror, with a gothic aura oozing from every crevice. You play as Dorinela, a woman lured back to Radu Castle. Dorinela is searching for her husband Nicolae, hoping for a better future for them both. However, she soon learns that she has been lured back to the Castle under false pretences. Nicolae does not want to let Dorinela go, and will stop at nothing to ensure she is his.
Confronting early access
Currently, the first chapter is all that’s available of Confronted, which comes in at roughly an hour of playtime on average. This chapter introduces us to Dorinela, Castle Radu, the unique (for horror) mechanics and the beginnings of the story to be told. Chapter one essentially establishes that Dorinela’s husband, Nicolae, is emotionally abusive. He will do anything to make sure no one else can have Dorinela, no matter what. There may be far more to it than that, but that is my interpretation after playing the first chapter. If the developer reads this and I’m wrong, please let me know! I’m really curious about this story!
Confronted has a very interesting mechanic that has really caught my attention. You can hide, but once in a hiding spot you must build a little blockade. Different enemies will force you to adapt how you hide. I’m looking forward to seeing how this develops in future chapters. The environmental design is also pretty nice, very much encapsulates the gothic aura of this kind of castle.
There was only one area where I really did not have a good time, and that is with audio. In settings, the only options are master audio and dialogue audio. The SFX audio needs work. At the time of writing this, SFX audio is very poorly balanced. Some moments they’re far too loud, some they echo a bit too much. It’s completely fixable, and I hope it will come with one of the next patches.
Parting thoughts… for now
So far, Confronted shows a lot of promise. It’s got an interesting story with some unique gameplay elements. This is an early access game I can definitely see myself keeping up with, and revisiting down the line. Definitely after the audio has been fixed though. Audio issues is one thing I can’t get past in games, especially as someone who prefers to wear headphones when gaming. Other than that, I look forward to what the future holds for Confronted and Grumpy Rock Studios.
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