Pneumata Demo Impressions: Improved Asylum Horror

Exploring a deserted asylum by yourself is rarely a good idea, and Pneumata enforces that. The narrow hallways, roaming enemies, and dim lights make your skin crawl as you find your way out. With better graphics and sound effects, the horror has never looked better. Do your best to avoid combat, but you aren’t helpless if you must fight a creature. Puzzle solving feels intense but not impossible; the solution is never out of reach.

You are thrust into the middle of the storyline, which means this is primarily a gameplay experience. Don’t expect to understand the story and know how to fight effectively. You will struggle and learn through failing. But looking at the gameplay and graphics, there’s much to look forward to. With a better tutorial in the beginning, it shouldn’t be hard to dive straight into this horror experience.

Pneumata is set for a summer 2024 release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Story – Escaping with Explosions

Unlike games such as Alone in the Dark, the story isn’t fully fleshed out. You are thrown just after the halfway mark in the story with no context about your situation. As this is a demo, there isn’t much context except you are trying to get out and other people made preparations to escape. There are the usual left-behind notes that are typical of a horror setting but they don’t provide much context.

Thankfully the story isn’t the main appeal and it is difficult to grasp a story when you are inserted halfway. You can’t piece together the motivations of your character or why people wanted to leave yet. It’s also hard to learn more about the enemies you fight or the threats you encounter. But those will likely get an explanation at the beginning of the game, giving you a better advantage when you interact with the game.

Something happened here but it’s not clear what it is.

Gameplay – Standard FPS Survival Horror

Unlike the early preview, you have more weapons to work with and more refined combat. There are still several aspects that you must figure out on your own which drags the experience down. Once you figure out how to fight, you get a generous helping of weapons and ammunition to survive. Items are also plentiful to give you an edge over enemies.

This advantage won’t stick when the game is released but it gives you a chance to test out melee and ranged weapons. There are also enough enemies to fight to find your preferred playstyle. It is a survival horror game and you can run out of ammunition, not to mention melee weapons can break. But if you avoid panicking during combat and aim for weak points, you can conserve your weapons.

Even if they can’t hurt you, the enemies are still frightening.

Enemies burst from dark places or from seemingly innocuous doors, surprising you when you least expect it. This keeps you on your toes and forces you to react quickly. There are also growths on some walls that hurt you if you stand beside them too long. You must move quickly or get hurt, reinforcing the terror aspect when you don’t know why you are hurt.

Some of Pneumata’s strongest points are shown during the gameplay. Enemies are sufficiently frightening to make you panic and you don’t know how they react. Situations with several enemies make you reconsider your combat plans and look for alternate routes. You must also pay attention to your surroundings because puzzle clues are everywhere. One wrong step and you’re doomed. Unfortunately, the lack of a tutorial still drags the demo down.

Saving your game is rare but mandatory.

Information – Scraps of Knowledge

It’s not immediately clear that you have storage you can utilise, or how you equip weapons. Melee weapon stamina isn’t covered and neither are crafting recipes. While there is some fun in learning as you go, it is intimidating to be thrown into a situation with no help. Since this is slightly past the game’s halfway point, it is expected you already know what you are doing.

Unfortunately, that blinds you to things that you should be aware of. Alcohol and cloth can become bandages, or hitting enemies drains your melee stamina. Even accessing weapons you find during the demo becomes a tough challenge without any control schemes. It makes the beginning more infuriating than horrifying.

Finding your position on this map is still a challenge.

Presumably, you learn all this at the beginning but it is jarring to expect to know this information up front. An experienced horror veteran might put two and two together, but a new player to the genre would struggle. Thankfully this is a demo and there will be more in the future, but the lack of tutorials is uncomfortable.

Audio & Visual – The Real Horror in the Dark

Some of the best parts of the demo are the creepy atmosphere and inhuman sounds. It’s apparent that something wrong has happened since the lights are dim and moaning is everywhere. It’s enough to jump at even the slightest hiss or scream because a door bursts behind you. Listening out for enemies isn’t always a smart strategy because the sound they make doesn’t pinpoint their direction. There’s little background noise to clue you in and doors don’t shut themselves. You are on your own, no help is coming, and the walls feel like they are closing in.

Your only light comes from a flashlight and whatever poor lighting is still on. That doesn’t hide the gunk on the walls or the fallen bodies of those who came before you. It all comes together to make you dread every step, even after you defeat an enemy. Who knows what else you must go through? Some minor graphics issues are easy to see like when enemy arms stick through grates or locked doors. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to look past them because the real appeal comes from enemies actually reaching you.

Pneumata was previewed on Steam with a code provided by Deadbolt Interactive.