Title: Victor’s Video Vault (demo)
Developer: Stingbot Games
Publisher: Stingbot Games
Release Date: TBD 2027
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Reviewed On: Steam Machine
This game would be great for those who love: The 90s, nostalgia, pixel-art, blended action and horror, first-person POV, indie games
Synopsis
Who isn’t feeling nostalgic for the 90s these days? In Victor’s Video Vault, you play as a store clerk at a very familiar-looking video rental store back in 1995. However, your shift is far from mundane once the store closes each night. It seems that whatever movie the last customer rents ends up transforming into a reality within your store walls! Each night, you need to survive whatever scenario is thrown your way–perhaps leaving you to wonder if you get paid enough for this crap.
Continue reading for our initial impressions from the demo. Please also check out the Steam page and consider wish listing it!
Analysis
Gameplay
The demo for Victor’s Video Vault takes place on the third night to provide you a sampling of a haunted shift. You play in first-person with your typical mouse and keyboard. Controls include sprint, dodge, crouch, and flashlight–all of which doesn’t seem applicable to your basic tasks like tidying up, restocking shelves, and ringing out customers, right?
After you complete your tasks at the Video Vault in a checklist fashion, the last customer leaves, and supernatural events occur. It’s clear that the haunting is malevolent in nature, although without much direction, I wasn’t quite sure what to do at first. Your character doesn’t even really speak to themselves to give you a hint as to whether you need to escape, hide, or fight. After some trial and error, I quickly found out that night three was a little mix of survive and fight.
Art Style and Sound
The pixelated graphics mixes well with the 90s aesthetic. There’s lots of bright (blue) colors and blurry covers of movies and video games that provides lots of pop culture references and Easter eggs. The sound design is simple yet works well with what the demo was trying to convey. It wasn’t too distracting and kept me spooked throughout the haunting.
Final Score:
The demo of Victor’s Video Vault was a nice snack-sized preview of what’s to come. In understanding that the game will primarily revolve around surviving several nights and each haunting will carry a different story or genre to survive through, I’m looking forward to the varied experience. Admittedly, it also left me longing for the days of Blockbuster…
Overall, I recommend that you try the demo for yourself. It is short enough and does not overstay it’s welcome. Because you do not start at the very beginning, it may be difficult to understand the objective once the haunting starts, but the penalty for failing isn’t severe.
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Featured Image Source: Stingbot Games
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