Crow Country Review: "An Atmospheric Throwback To Genre Classics"

Summary Crow Country features an engaging mix of old-school gunplay and varied puzzles.

Beautiful low-poly art and a rich atmosphere bring an intimate park setting to life.

Crow Country is a delightful love letter to classic survival horror games that stands out on its own.

From Silent Hill to Resident Evil, the legacy of survival horror games for the original PlayStation still looms large in the general gaming sphere. There's something in the straining efforts of early 3D that beautifully conveyed the uncanny, and even as the franchises that spawned from the era embrace technological leaps, plenty of smaller games have looked back in attempts to recapture that original feeling. Rarely, however, do any do it with the polish and imagination of Crow Country, a new title from SFB Games that might just deliver the whole package.

Crow Country tells the story of a young woman named Mara venturing forth into an abandoned amusement park, a foray into the weird that kicks off with a gunshot aimed at the lock outside. Unlike Arthur Mole, a heedless teenager that can be found inside, Mara isn't there for kicks. She's on a mission to find Edward Crow, the missing owner of the park, and it doesn't take long to deduce that the game is playing her real motivations for seeking him out close to its chest.

Crow Country 9 / 10 Pros Great adventure and puzzle gameplay

Fun writing that keeps mystery alive

Atmospheric environments make game extremely memorable Cons Retro trappings won't be for everyone

Combat & Puzzles Are An Engaging Gameplay Mix

Crow Country's Design Shines Through Its Blend Of Mechanics

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The intersection between this charged purpose and inquisitive urban exploration is where Crow Country's beautiful balancing act lies. All sorts of staggering, crawling, and oozing threats lurk within the park, and dispatching them with bullets punctuates the course of the story. The gunplay is decidedly old-school, built more around the idea of managing ammo and health supplies than gunning down aggressive hordes.

There's an option to turn off combat altogether, but even with it on, the greater pleasure comes from winding between enemies to check out crumbling curiosities. Despite a possible oversupply of hints early on, Crow Country has a good understanding of puzzle progression. It doesn't follow any blandly obvious set of rules — moving forward could require fixing something up or breaking it down further — but there's a consistent logic that grows more satisfying as the scope expands.

Some extra puzzling challenge can be found in the form of Secrets, which are a bit more refreshingly cryptic than the main story requirements.

The way the environment of Crow Country opens up might be the game's most impressive strength. Mara has to trek back and forth between several themed areas, but as she gains more access to buildings and backrooms, interconnection steadily increases. Maps can be found everywhere, but they're never truly needed. Over the course of a playthrough that might last six hours or so, the run-down park becomes intimately familiar without wearing out its charms.

Beautiful Art & Atmosphere Make The Park Real

Crow Country's Unique Aesthetics Make It Memorable

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True to its inspirations, these charms are delivered in a low-poly package, where Mara's doll-like model soldiers forth into a fog of faux-analog fuzz. The park is magnificent, retaining the detail and personality of pre-rendered backgrounds despite the camera's ability to spin around in 3D. Small surprises of interactivity bolster its appeal, even in minor fixtures like the animation of keys turning in locks. A supporting role is occupied by the strong sound design, and gunshots and ringing telephones alike feel harsh against its carefully curated quietude.

Even if the classical approach of Crow Country isn't for everyone, it's not attempting to resurrect any 90s frustrations.

Crow Country isn't necessarily all that scary, but it also doesn't need to be. It lingers in the richly weird atmosphere that PSX games so frequently evoked, where the discomfort almost becomes a comfort in its own right. The story, likewise, isn't notably incisive or complex, but something that just works. A simple picture of the past unfolds as Mara moves through the park, and by the time she finally confronts what she's come for, both melancholy and hope have built up in rewarding ways.

Final Thoughts & Review Score

4.5/5 - A "Must-Play" Title On Our Scale

Even if the classical approach of Crow Country isn't for everyone, it's not attempting to resurrect any 90s frustrations. Tank controls are an option — and kind of fun when the mood strikes — but a more standard scheme is recommended. The puzzles erring on the side of caution keeps it from ever running into a risk of roadblock, even without employing the dedicated hint system. Items are scarce enough to make them matter but plentiful enough to make conservation very manageable, and a pistol ammo box in Mara's trunk means she can always step outside to resupply if she absolutely must.

Crow Country might not be a new genre-defining title, as its aspirations in both scares and scale are reasonably modest. It is, however, an excellent journey into a deftly rendered setting, and it's hard to find significant fault with its intimate understanding of what makes this sort of thing tick. Crow Country is an assured love letter to the original crop of classic survival horror titles, but what really matters is that it's a delightful new entry in its own right.