Almost randomly in 2024, SFB Games revealed that their next major release would be a survival horror game. You know, the studio behind Snipperclips and the goofy Detective Grimoire games. That was certainly unexpected, but what was even more unexpected is just how much people liked the game, giving it buzz almost on the level as the ambitious Siganlis. It’s even stranger when you play it, because Crow Country ended up not having that same level of ambition. Instead, its ticket to success ended up being polish and a strong understanding of the fundamentals.
The most unique aspects the game has going for it are the story and the look it went with. Said story starts with a US agent of some sort named Mara Forest coming to the currently shut down theme part of Crow Country to look into…something. That something may have to do with the strange monsters roaming around the park, starting with zombie-like people and then quickly expanding into all sorts of unexplained creatures. However, the plot goes in some odd directions, including some sort of gold mining and smuggling scheme and a reoccurring number being painted around the park, and the question starts to arise just how all these seemingly unrelated pieces come together. That’s not even getting into who Mara actually is, as she proves to be suspiciously cagey around other characters, while also lacking surprise at a few of the secrets hidden in the park…
The answer to all the questions is quite bizarre, but ultimately really satisfying. It helps the cast is full of well defined and likable characters, and how they bounce off Mara helps show some interesting sides to her character as well. The game even goes out of its way to constantly justify the strange puzzles you’d find in an old school Resident Evil, and not just through the theme park theme. Tons of notes are littered through the titular Crow Country written by the park staff, not just offering hints but helping to explain the puzzle set ups as quickly thrown together solutions to technical problems, staff tricks and signals, or even intended solutions for attractions based around puzzle solving. There’s a ton of care in every part of the game’s world, giving a lot of life to the now very dead fun land.
The actual look of the game steers closer to SFB’s Nintendo-centric, old school sensibilities, very specifically pulling from the SNES and N64 era of pre-rendered models, further simplified into collections of simple shapes. It almost seems child friendly, matching well with the theme park setting and arcade games scattered around. That makes the horror elements stick out more, from the foggy, night time lighting to the horrific details on some of the monsters. It’s a unique look that creates a fitting atmosphere, capturing the more innocent elements of the plot and cast, while matching well with the grotesque invaders and concepts at play.
As for gameplay, if you have ever played a classic style survival horror game before, all of this will feel very familiar. Mara controls with tank controls, and you have to plan how you approach combat due to a limited aiming system and the importance of positioning to use items like grenades. Turning is reasonable but limited, so you have to take note of where you’re facing as you explore and approach situations.
Aiming your firearms is handled with an aiming stance with a laser pointer to line up your shots, sort of like the style Resident Evil 4 popularized, but you remain in a top-down camera angle. This means you need to be close to enemies and get them in camera frame to line up head shots, or else shots you fire off screen may not hit a good spot. That’s important, since resource management is still a large part of the experience. This gets pushed further with a lack of melee in a first playthrough, meaning breaking boxes to check for ammo and health items means sacrificing a bullet.
This is more a beginner’s survival horror game, though. Ammo and health is plentiful if you’re able to get used to making good shots or avoiding combat (since enemies will respawn over time) and there’s rare few areas you can end up trapping yourself in a low resource state. Exploration is also constantly rewarded with new weapons, story notes, and adorable little mascot mushroom boys who mod your guns to make them kill things better (cute!). Some puzzles can be a tad esoteric, but most are fairly straightforward or rather clever, becoming satisfying to figure out. The team’s adventure game knowledge definitely came into play here, with only a few head-scratchers thrown in, and often just for extra stuff.
The real glue that brings everything together is definitely Crow Country itself, using a mixture of charm and mystery to combine the horror and whimsical elements into a satisfying whole. All the story beats are happening around settings like hidden backrooms in a mushroom and fairy themed ride, cheesy haunted houses and fake crypts, and an arcade with a nearby pizza party plaza to celebrate birthdays. It makes the more realistic stuff behind the rides stick out more, and occasionally catch you off guard when the truth of what secrets have been hidden here start to cement. At the same time, the fun time attractions are played straight, like doing some shooting practice in a fake submarine for a prize, or playing an arcade quiz game or using the nearby basketball game to get in some hoops. The whimsical charm of the Vian brothers is present as always, but there dramatic chops really get pushed further then they usually get to as the plot unfolds.
There’s little to complain about or criticize, honestly. Crow Country doesn’t aim for the stars, but it does nail down everything it aimed to accomplish and then some, resulting in a smooth and charming experience that sticks out from most of its contemporaries in theme. It’s not hard to see how it managed to gather so much buzz, and gets a very easy recommend for any survival horror fiend or anyone who wants to try the genre out. It’s just a flat out great game in every respect.
