There have been so many “horror games in first person perspective” that ignoring them is my first reflex. In Sound Mind looked potentially curious, but from the looks and description it reminded me of Cry of Fear type of games, that work like a horror focused FPS action adventure, which could be interesting. Buuuut it also seemed to be delving into psychology and so few games handle this well (while so many are just edge lord crap, like the aforementioned Cry of Fear) that I decided that this game wasn’t worthy of a closer look.
Many months later, I’ve started hearing positive buzz about the game from people who have a similar opinion on these types of games, so I got curious. And I’m very glad that I did, because In Sound Mind is great.
As mentioned, this is an FPS action adventure title with a horror setting and themes. It’s also heavily story-driven, yet at the same time it manages to balance the storytelling and gameplay in a way not often seen in the past 10 years, especially from the indie development teams. Oh and it also says something about “survival horror” in its menus that at first annoyed me a bit, but after playing the game I have to say that while this isn’t the “classic survival horror” as far as the pillars of the genre go, it’s extremely close to being one. Like Alien: Isolation was, even though this is a wildly different game. Although stealth is an option in many cases, just like in that game.
The game does play like an FPS, as far as the basic controls and movement goes, so exploring locations is a fun process in itself. You do have to balance the “stamina” when sprinting, but it’s not too limiting and in addition you can upgrade it (and other basic stats) with hidden items you can find in levels, some of which just require exploration, some have puzzles/problems for you to solve before you can get the reward. The combat is not fantastic, but it’s decent, as is the selection of weapons. Weapons are… not quite conventional here, I’d say, and also often work as tools to deal with problems other than combat. And I was extremely surprised by the variety and creativity with these weapons/tools.
“Surprising” is the word that would describe the game the best for me. To the point where, I don’t want to even get into the details of the game structure and how it progresses, because figuring it out for yourself is part of the fun. Not that it’s complex or takes a long time to reveal, but it’s how the entire experience of playing the game is a never ending series of positive “oh!” sounds by the player. Even the story, while not astonishing in itself, is told so well, handling the mental issues topics with such grace, that I couldn’t help but be… well, again – surprised. It feels as if the Nightmare on Elm Street series might’ve been at least a bit of an inspiration, at least in how creative the game gets and how much fun it has with its own story and gameplay.
And here I might’ve lost you, the person looking for a gritty dark cynical horror experience. Yeah, if you’re looking for that – this game is not for you. It’s not that kind of horror and it’s not even about the horror, really. Even if the game gets pretty scary more often than not, smartly setting up unexpected situations and using its simple, but fun mechanics. This is the fun of an action adventure, played via FPS mechanics, focusing on exploration, story and cool surprising ideas. And it’s awesome.
Also far from flawless. I must say that if it wasn’t having so much fun with ideas and implementing most of them so well, it would’ve been a rather average game instead. Because looking at it in the most emotionless way possible, just judging it as a collection of mechanics and locations to use the mechanics in – it’s decent, but not much more. And there are some pretty annoying elements too, like most of the final location. But the game is so much fun to play and it feels so fresh and well put together, that it elevates it above what it technically is.
Often times when i highly recommend a game, it’s the kind of a title that I’d urge you to drop everything and get, if you’re into what the game is. In case of In Sound Mind – it’s fine if you don’t check it out immediately, because at its core its just “nice”. But you’ll be seriously missing out if you ignore the game completely, as there are very few (if any) games in recent years that are having this much fun with what they are and, as a result, are extremely fun to play.