Silver Chains |

After his car hit a tree in a stormy night, Peter wakes up in an old abandoned mansion, somewhere in England. He can´t remember why and how he got here, but soon he realizes that the house is not as abandoned as it seems. While trying to find a way out of the house, Peter has to uncover the dark secrets of what has happened in this place. This is the premises of Silver Chains, and it does sound appealing, doesn’t it? Silver Chains is a first-person horror game by Cracked Heads Games. In the game, you have to find clues while exploring the story of what happened. I’m not going to keep you waiting any longer, so let’s get into it!

Sound: In my opinion, the sound is a very important aspect of a horror game. Boring sounds can take away any tension but scary and well-timed music can make you concentrate even more on the game, leading to moments feeling scarier and the game feeling more intense. Silver Chains did a great job with the music. It keeps you focused and keeps you on the edge. The notes that you find aren’t read out loud but your character does react to them and that is voice acted. I must say I really enjoyed that because it wasn’t the usual way of using voice acting. Since it was also really well-executed, it definitely deserves some praise.
Scary but not too: You’re in a haunted house so you’re expecting some scary shit. Silver Chains is scary but it’s not like so scary that it makes you scream. It’s a good kind of scary. If you’re an adrenaline junky, skip this title. If you like some jump scares during gameplay, this game might be more up your alley.

Of course, an ouija board in a horror game

Story: The story really starts out amazing. From the beginning, you get sucked into it and want to know more. Throughout the game, you’ll learn more about what exactly happened and how everything is connected. However, towards the end of the game, the story feels quite rushed. I mean the developers had such a beautiful story and the way they ended it just threw everything away, it seems. Well, not exactly the way it ended but more the pace that was used. Everything felt rushed like the game had to be done and over with and so did the story. Too bad, really.

Too short: Silver Chains takes like three hours to finish. Could be a little longer if you dwell on every detail. That’s okay, nothing wrong with a short game. But charging 25 bucks for such a short game? Yeah, I’m having some trouble with that. If there was some replay value, sure, I’d consider paying that amount. But there simply isn’t. You play for a few short hours and it’s done with.
Pretty boring house: A spooky house is supposed to be fun to discover and fun to roam around in. The house in Silver Chains wasn’t really like that. There were cool things like the dolls hanging in a random little room but the lack of detail literally everywhere made sure it didn’t feel quite complete. There were plenty of pictures and paintings to be found in the house but none had detail, just vague images you couldn’t make out. Besides this, there wasn’t really much to do in the house, besides the absolutely necessary stuff. You know how you sometimes like putting a light on and off, just randomly? That’s just a small thing that would’ve added a lot more depth to the game.

Score: 65%
I’m finding this a hard game to give a score to. It took me a while to think about this so I think you’d best consider buying this or not since it’s a fairly high price for not a lot of gameplay. So, I am going to recommend this game because even though it has its flaws, I still really enjoyed myself while playing Silver Chains. The sound, jump scares and story are all great. Yes, the story wasn’t perfect and felt rushed but it was still a pretty amazing story. The main problem for me remains the price-length aspect. I can live with the boring house, even though it’s a real shame there wasn’t more detail put into it. Anyway, long story short, this is not the greatest game out there but if you have the money to spare and you enjoy a good horror game, Silver chains could just be a great new asset to your Steam library.

Developer: Cracked Heads Games Publisher: Headup
Played on: PC
Perfect for: Horror game fans with money
Steam game store link: Click here