Shadows 2: Perfidia

The Graphics are nothing special but not ganna lie the game had me spooked at times.

Super amateurish game but surprisingly it's full of fun. The game has a really tense atmosphere and cool mechanics. Level design was extraordinarily good. Most lame thing in the game is chasing sequences, they were really awful.

it was fun making my friend play who is scared shitless of this kind of stuff

Ok... I quit after I was screamed at by a ghost without pants... At least I got an achievement... Play at your own risk of getting a heart attack.

The game is pretty scary if you are afraid of darkness. A few jump scare here and there, the rest is just looking for key and go to elevator. The battery runs out so annoyingly quick so I had to use crouch all the way to save battery. The game feels laggy at highest quality, and looks like Lego at lowest quality. Maybe its just me. I find that the footsteps and heartbeat sound too weak. I can barely tell when the enemy is coming. When I first started playing, my character died from fast heartbeat a few times. I didn't even realize it because the heartbeat sound was barely audible.

The game is alright as a survival horror game for its price at discount.

Having paid $0.49 I can honestly say I got my moneys worth with this game. I enjoy the elevator floor mechanic in horror and feel it isn't done enough. Was a lot of fun to 100% and had me on the edge of my seat throughout!

Jump scares around every corner. Super scary game that will constantly give you the chills and scare the poopoo out of you. There are more than 1 ending, so you can replay the game. Also you can play as 2 characters that have different paths and puzzles.

I dunno. On what basis am I supposed to rate this on exactly? Horror games are weird.

I won't give it any points for scaring the shit out of me because that's a very easy thing to do and really nothing to brag about. Go try scare Ryuko or Master Chief or something if you want to impress people. Still, isn't the whole point of a horror game to scare you? I dunno. But then again, do you really need a video game to get scared? Well I don't, idk about you.

I'll try to tackle the basics; its design, playability and mechanics.

Design: I'm pretty sure every room is a carbon copy of the one on the floor above it

Playability: Stumbling around in total darkness isn't gameplay, it's the equivalent of minesweeper if you don't know how minesweeper works. Minesweeper is actually pretty simple once it's explained to you once, but here, you can't really explain the complete lack of visibility away.

Mechanics: Eh same as every other horror game ever made. You have a flashlight with limited battery and you run from every sound you hear. Until you run out of stamina because stamina is a REALLY FUN mechanic we have in the world of video games.

To reiterate, I'm not giving this a negative review because I'm a massive pussy, I'm giving it a negative review because I wouldn't like it even if I weren't a massive pussy. Anyway, I'll never buy another horror game while I live.

Well , this game is not that bad at all but....

There are a few flaws, the layout of the levels never changes. Some of the paintings made me smile, but then again it's always the same corridors. This does mix up when you play the second character storyline, but then again it is still the same office and hallways.

Jumpscares are boring, some of the puzzles were intresting. Other then that it is a nice but very generic horror game to add to the pile. Not that it is bad, but it just doesn't bring anything new + you cannot shoot stuff (I hate that).

It's hard to recommend this game, got boring to quickly for me.

Spooky, but lots of room for improvement.

This is an alright game-- when it works. If you're not careful while playing, it's very easy to glitch things out and get stuck. Then you're forced to start ALL over again. Which isn't awful since the game is so short; but at the same time, is a real pain in the patootie.

Due to the length and the large amount of game breaking bugs, I'd say buy this on 80%+ sale. $10 is waaaaay too much for a game that breaks this easily.

Low quality simplistic horror game which basically works the same as "The Backrooms" game which is also on Steam and FREE. You're just imprisoned in a suffocating office trying to get out of it. The graphics quality is mediocre and is reused quite often, the office itself is quite unbelievable considering nobody would want to work in such a place longer than 10 minutes before feeling some serious discomfort due to the lack of windows, ventilation, weird portraits and generally speaking room design.

I know the purpose of this game is to make you scared but to be honest the tools they use are pretty cheap.

Considering that the game was priced 5$ and the dev seemed to have doubled the price without adding or updating anything, I do not recommend this game at all. Also there are just two levels which is basically nothing for the price they ask for this "game".

Eh. It's a nice horror escape the room puzzle game. But it gets repetitive because it only have two layouts for the puzzles. Would I recommend? Meh, if you can get it on sale. Sure.

It's not worth the retail price though.

Jumpscares aren't scary, they're just obnoxious and loud. Nobody gets scared by them, only annoyed. Especially the ones like those in this game.

So the goal of this game is to get down about 10 different floors (or 'levels'). The first few floors surprisingly contain a lot more jumpscares than the last few, which is good in the sense that it means the game gets better as you play it. I guess the developers realised jumpscares are awful partway through development so added fewer of them. Though there are still a few later on in the game.

Some parts of the game are pretty spooky and don't rely on jumpscares with loud audio cues, so that's ok. Plus the shadow monsters look and sound spooky.

Also, definitely not worth the asking price of £7.19, especially since I'm pretty sure it's free on Gamejolt. I bought it when it was on sale for about £1-£1.50, and it is worth that much, given it can take 1-1.5 hours to complete.

But yeah I can't recommend this game for the gameplay regardless of the price, simply because of the content (relying mainly on jumpscares).

However there are some people who do like jumpscares so I guess you should definitely buy this (only when it's on sale for about 70% or more off).

So rating for this game is 3.5/10 (first half of the game 1.5/10, second half 5.5/10) but if you like jumpscares its a 6/10.

pros:
+ very narrow, creepy rooms

cons:
- I'm not afraid of this game, but jump scares and is really silly
- exaggerated system requirements (few static things across entire game and i need better pc to get full detail)
- movement bugs
- boring, stereotypical

Apparently, Perfidia seems to be an update to Shadows 2 as it now includes the original game along with a new chapter. You will notice this as you begin the 2nd office clerk's chapter as the levels are longer and some of the tasks are more varied.

But firsts things first: two chapters to choose from (meaning two protagonists) to wander around in an office building following a party. As usual there is nothing creepy at first but we gradually hear more and more noises, see more apparitions (jumpscare aficionados will appreciate the game) and get stalked by various types of ghosts or monsters. And, naturally, collect more notes that try to shed some light on the background story.

While the store page lists 18 levels it is a tad bit misleading: the end of a level is always to find the elevator but due to the similar layout the next level will be all too familiar. The 2nd chapter tries to include more varied occurrences or more sections open up to make gameplay a bit more interesting.

Our task is usually to find a key and open closed doors - there are some randomised encounters (but most are scripted I think) during which we'll have no weapons at our disposal. If you are familiar with the Penumbra series or Outlast you'll know here running and hiding will be the only way to survive. From Amnesia the creators borrowed the concept of worsening headaches as we see more horrors - while a soda is a quick remedy we can simply close our eyes for a while to solve this problematic situation. Another great idea is not punishing the player for not noticing / picking up enough batteries for our flashlight - a glowstick will later be available which lasts forever (though emits a much dimmer light).

Shadows 2 is a low-budget game utilising the Unity engine and (some might say) relatively cheap jumpscares. I found it interesting and wanted to escape the office and did so in one sitting. As an added bonus we can unlock some trivia on the development and also a new gameplay mode that pays homage to the Slender Man phenomenon as we have to collect 8 pages before reaching the elevator.

Although it is a case of nothing new under the sun Shadows 2 manages to remain an entertaining game - navigating through some of the mazes towards the end can be frustrating, albeit challenging enough to keep you going. Currently, the game has a 75% discount and for this 3-4-hour long entertainment half a euro is well worth it.

So, this was my experience of this game so far (not that far in but will pick it up... later).

"Hmm okay, decent graphics, it has a sprint function and crouch function. Cool! Why is this office building so damn dark? Where am I going? What's happening?" Walk around a bit... "Okaay, getting a bit bo... holy what the fuck!!" *pants liberally shat* "no no no fuck you! Fuck you, whoever made this game!! Exit, exit! I'll pick you up later!"

Worth it.

The game locked-up on me mid-chapter 2 playing as Joe. Could not access the main menu or in-game menu. I could turn on/off the flashlight and walk around using the camera I found. Had to use the 3 Finger Salute to quit the game.

Room layouts are the same. Some difficulty opening/closing doors; the use icon would not appear unless I was standing in the doorway.

I liked it and could over look the little things that bothered me (identical room layouts, the battery mini game, clocks being wrong, no windows), but having it lock-up spoiled it. Try it for yourself, but buy it on sale. I'll be farming for cards.

holy fck this game is good, for u cheap skates out there looking for a genuinley good scare, play this game. scared me shitless. im trying to find the will to keep going.

For the price i paid ( 1 $ ) very honest effort into the genre. Very indie but it does have it's spooky moments and altough it is very repetitive i had fun clearing the game with one of the 2 character. Won't bother with the other cause i had my fill. Worth checking out during a sale if the horror genre interests you.

Shadows 2: Perfidia decidedly takes after games like Penumbra and Layers of Fear; however, what characterizes this game as a good entry into the survival horror genre is that it polishes the effective aspects of the Slenderman series while introducing a new setting and twist for the lore. While Shadows 2: Perfidia does not reinvent the wheel for survival horror, it does effectively incorporate a very interesting philosophy to their main gameplay, and that is, making the familiar strange. You play through an aggregate of about eighteen levels that on a surface-level blueprint look incredibly similar. However, small details really help disorient, terrify and scare -- keeping you on edge, not knowing when the monster is going to strike, or even if the monster is real at all. Which brings me to a core element of this game that it shares with other successful titles of the genre, and that is that it effectively ascribes to the horror game theory of accomplishing more by showing less. You barely get a clear picture of the ‘monsters’. They’re always shadowy figures, humanoid silhouettes or loud growls – and that’s brilliant, because it lets the mind fill in the gaps and instead of running and hiding from an identifiable threat, you’re escaping a very personal and subjective fear. Whatever that may be, it becomes the main antagonist of this game.

Shadows 2: Perfidia is a very literary game. Perfidia is a Spanish word that means treachery and deceitfulness which are, not coincidentally, two main thematic points of this game. You have the option of playing two characters on their way out of a seemingly normal office party, when strange happenings begin to occur -- you witness shadowy figures moving in the dark, you hear something stomping through the halls or you see the first mutilated coworker. The narrative doesn’t revolutionize survival horror storytelling, but it engages the player enough to suspend, scare and introduce a fun twist at the end – through journal entries illustrating the protagonists interior monologue and scattered notes left around by the ‘shadow people’.

Let’s briefly return to Shadows 2: Perfidia philosophy of making the familiar strange. Every building floor has a similar visual design – there’s a meeting room, there’s a bathroom, there are halls with brown wooden side desks, there’s a storage room, a play room, office rooms and an occasional guest room. The objective is to navigate through each floor maze and find the elevator so you can get to the ground floor and escape your worst nightmare. However, you have to deal with ‘shadow monsters’ that lurk in the dark, and that to your knowledge, have slaughtered your coworkers in a brutal and ritualistic manner. At first, the floor levels might seem repetitive, but then sound design kicks in: you hear door creaks in the distance, you hear a growl two feet behind you, a mirror breaks, lights flicker or someone turns them off in a room you just were – these technical mechanics help increase the overall scare factor of the game and add a unique aspect to each level in a creative way.

Moreover, in an attempt to combat repetitive gameplay, Shadows 2: Perfidia also displays a wide variety of disturbing, creepy and gross paintings throughout the levels. Not only do they startle the player occasionally but they add a level of surrealism to the gameplay that would be absent in corporate setting. At times, I also found myself just pausing and admiring a painting or the other that displayed a gruesome monster because they are genuinely interesting pieces of art – there’s a museum characteristic to each level that I truly appreciate. Other technical aspects that help add variety to each level are randomized item locations, good use of lighting, puzzling secret item locations and gruesome mutilated body parts as office decor.

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