Draugen

From Red Thread Games that brought you Dreamfall Chapters, and the creative team behind The Longest Journey and The Secret World comes the first-person psychological mystery Draugen set in 1920s Norway. Draugen has been called “a Fjord Noir tale of suspense and mystery.” The brand new game for PC is also set to release on consoles soon, so we figured we’d take a look at what it has to offer.

• Exciting gameplay: The game starts off very slowly and quiet in a small boat. Upon entering the land, things quickly turn more vague and mysterious. Draugen is actually a psychological mystery game where you look for clues and try solving some sort of mystery. You’d think it’s some sort of puzzle game, but it isn’t quite that. It’s more a story-driven game and it works perfectly here. The searching for clues, the walking around carefully, it all adds to exciting gameplay.
• Intriguing story: Edward (the first person perspective) and Lissie are looking for Betty, who seems to have disappeared. They are invited by a family, who upon their arrival, seems to have left their house for some reason. Or at least they’re not there. It looks like nobody is present in the village, really. This immediately creates an interesting and intriguing story, giving you a boost to find out what the hell went down there.
• Graphics: We are treated to some stunning graphics, my friends! The developers obviously didn’t go for a real life looking scene or characters, and I’m glad they didn’t. However, they did create an adorable Norwegian piece of land set in the 1920s. You’ll get to enjoy the detailed surroundings throughout your journey, which is simply amazing. The characters, or should I say character, since we’re of course seeing Lissie all the time and only see Edward’s face upon looking in a mirror, isn’t looking realistic either, but she’s a very fun gal to travel around with.
• Soundtrack: Okay but just play this game and you’ll immediately get what I mean. The musical score is simply B E A U T I F U L. Apparently it’s composed by the award-winning Simon Poole. Both the music and the landscape perfectly fit in with the atmosphere the game is delivering.

• A tad repetitive: Even though, as I mentioned above, the gameplay is exciting, it also tends to get just a little repetitive. There’s no combat and no real ‘action’. You walk around, enter a dialogue with Lizzie, and search for clues. It’s basically more of a story, rather than full gameplay. And honestly, this is fine, but a little more action would’ve been fun!

• Short gameplay vs price tag: Altogether, Draugen lasts about three to five hours. Not a very long game, as you can tell. But like I mentioned, it’s a story-driven game so this seems like the right amount of gameplay. STILL, the game is so much fun and the ending is probably not what you expect, meaning some extra content would’ve been cool. For this limited amount of content, you’ll be paying 20 Euros nonetheless. I found this to be a high price tag.

Score: 85%
Exciting gameplay, an intriguing story, and killing graphics and art. This is the perfect way to sum up Draugen, a game that seems to have it all. But if I’m being completely honest, I don’t know if I would pay the 20 Euros for the three hours of playtime I’d get. Maybe if you’re not convinced by the trailer and reviews, you better wait until the game is on sale.

Developer: Red Thread Games Publisher: Read Thread Games
Played on: PC
Also available on: PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (both soon)
Time to beat: 3-5 hours
Perfect for: platformer fans
Steam game store link: click here