Soul Walker – A Strange Meeting of Dead by Daylight with Alien Isolation
Last week I had the chance to play an early version of Soul Walker directed by Jeffery Thompson Jr. As someone who is not a keen enthusiast of horror games, Soul Walker had a unique charm to it that made me step out of my comfort zone and give it a shot. And I couldn’t be happier that I’ve made this choice.
Even though the version of Soul Walker I played is still in the early stages and will change a lot until the final product, it has the potential and core value to become a unique experience. The gameplay is simple but it has what it takes to make it fun and engaging. A person stuck in a room with a hunter, similar to what Dead by Daylight offered.
The twist is that currently, players are simply 1v1 against this hunter. While this does seem dull when explained in text, playing it is actually more fun. Especially since both the hunter and the person being hunted have their unique abilities that help them escape or chase. The fun thing is, that there will be a great storyline and lore underneath all of these actions that make every single encounter meaningful.
Had the opportunity to discuss more things with Thompson Jr. as he explained the game will dive deeper into generational trauma and trauma in general. That reminded me of movies like Us and Get Out by Jordan Peele and it seems the final game will share a similar tone. This was the secret charm that hooked me in the first place.
The art direction of the game is done so well that players can sense something more sinister is going on underneath the gameplay layer of Soul Walker by just eyeing more on the visual details of the game. There is an idea for why this entity is hunting this person, where is this place, and what is going on in general. Something that I cannot wait to fully understand and uncover once the full game is available.
Enough about the lore and story, let’s go back to gameplay. One of the great aspects of the game design of Soul Walker was the correct usage of the environment to convey fear as well as it being something that players can use. Both hunters and persons being hunted can use different items in their favor. Not to mention that the game has a good balance between the abilities of both characters.
What I mostly enjoyed was these unique abilities, especially the Sonar. It allows the hunter to find the victim through echolocation. Not only gameplay-wise it was neatly done, but in terms of visuals, I truly felt like I was using a Sonar. However, the important thing about using these abilities is the management of them. As it drains the ability bar, using them constantly will put players in tough situations where they can actually lose the round.
Soul Walker’s gameplay has one goal and that is to create a feeling of tension for players and it gets the job done. Surely in the final version, the amount of tension players feel will be much higher because of larger areas and new characters that will be added to the game.
Overall, Soul Walker is a unique game that even someone like me who isn’t a great fan of horror, enjoyed and feared the experience. It is the type of game that players must give it a chance, especially horror fans. More details will be shared about Soul Walker in the future, so stay tuned for that as well.
About the Author
S. Masoud Kazemi An admirer of art that doesn't stop talking about films and games.
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