In this series, I look into the free games given out by EPIC Games every week and decide whether it’s worth your time to actually play it.
This week, EPIC Games is giving out a first-person thrilling game with lovecraftian theme that will be sure to send a chill down your spine, but is it worth your time? In this article, we look into Conarium, the EPIC game of the week.
Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s novella At The Mountains of Madness, Conarium is an interesting game to say the least. You play as an explorer that woke up in a expedition base alone, and all your expedition mates are nowhere to be seen. While exploring the base, you frequently stumble upon notes about hallucination, a shadowy figure that seems to follow you around and even some alien-like life form.
While the premise of the game is interesting, the execution is lacking. In my short playthrough, I’ve ran into several problems that made the game less enjoyable. For example, the back story was conveyed through a bunch of text which gets tiring to read as time goes on. Besides that, there were also a few sections where there weren’t any clear direction and I had to refer to a walk-through to proceed.
The one thing they nailed with this game however, is its atmosphere. I was quite terrified during a few sections during my short play-through because of how spooky the setting is and the utter loneliness that really makes you feel like whatever that happened to your crew mates might happen to you too.
Verdict: Meh
The frustration of not having a clear direction isn’t really worth it despite the interesting premise. I circled around the base before learning from a walk-through that I had to try and open a door multiple times to open it. This is akin to those old games with puzzle elements that is more frustrating than challenging. You might be better off playing games like Devotion, which is similar but with more emphasis on cults and horror (Devotion was taken down from Steam store due to controversy regarding some of its content at the time of writing).
If these games caught your attention, you can claim it for free in the Epic Games store here until the 19th of September 2019. Do let us know what you think about Conarium, and stay tuned for our next article on EPIC Games of the Week. Till then!
