DISTRAINT Critic Reviews

Distraint is a phenomenal experience that all gamers should play. It explores guilt through the lens of a horror title which is rather unique in the video game space. Despite the fact that it can become frustrating at times, it takes a lot of risks that pay off. The twists in the game are unexpected and disturbing.

Distraint’s terror comes from the simplest, most eerily familiar source of them all: our inner, survival-wired, do-whatever-it-takes, petty self. In its two short hours, this inspired little indie adventure will ask you some very tough questions. And you may not like your answers.

If you’re looking for a great way to kill a few hours with a story-focused psychological horror, you could certainly do worse than Distraint.

Indie games of this kind, rise or fall on the creator’s ability to weave a narrative that engages the player on not just a gaming experience but also on that all important emotional one. The cost of this game is a worthy one to experience Price’s journey.

While the story isn’t especially long, it’s absorbing and gives you a lot to think about.

It makes a lot of sense that a game made under such conditions would feel unpolished. I would love to see this game built on and improved upon. There’s so much potential in the creepiness that hovers over every step you take.

Considering the atmosphere and the story Distrain is a job well done – instead of ostentatious horror it scares mainly with its realism and spooky normality, wrapped in occasional psychedelia. From time to time I lacked the option to control the game with a mouse and some game mechanics could be more user-friendly. These minor flaws, however, do not change the fact, Distrain is very pleasant experience.

A modest but oddly compelling adventure steeped in perpetual darkness, the surreal side-scrolling Distraint is a low-cost exploration of the high price of selling one’s soul.