The Tartarus Key Will Have PS1 Style of Horror Gaming
The Tartarus Key, a PS1-style horror game from Vertical Reach and Armor Games Studios, is officially coming to PC and Nintendo Switch consoles. The official announcement was made alongside a trailer that showed how players navigate their way through a terrifying mansion as Alex Young through a first-person POV.
As seen in the announcement trailer, The Tartarus Key will have low fidelity textures and polygonal characters that will intentionally make players nostalgic to the classic atmospheric horror vibe features on retro consoles. Classic PlayStation titles like Silent Hill and Resident Evil have been immortalized in the gaming genre, despite having outdated graphics and controls compared to their more modern alternatives.
The Tartarus Key looks like it is primarily focused on puzzles and an exploration type of gameplay with a thorough inventory system. The quick trailer gave fans of horror games a look at one of the puzzles that needs solving—which, in this case, was assessing plastic human anatomies.
The Tartarus Key’s main character, Alex Young, is shown trapped in a mysterious mansion, with absolutely no idea on how she got there or even how to get herself out. Given the PS1 style of graphics, gamers who miss old-school type of horror games will certainly enjoy re-living the retro horror experience. It is filled with puzzles, traps, and other secrets that they have to uncover in order to make their way out of the mansion.
There are portraits shown all over the place, and are even animated during certain dialogues—seemingly pivotal to the game’s narrative. There are strange mysteries afoot, where some of the in-game characters act perfectly composed despite their circumstances.
A demo to The Tartarus Key is currently available on PC via Steam as part of Steam Next Fest 2021. The event kicked off today and will end on October 7th. Unfortunately, it remains unknown when the full launch of the game will be.