Faith, the Game so Scary it’ll Make you Mortis
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MAGE COURTESY OF new blood
What’s your favourite scary game? For the longest time, I didn’t have one, that is, until I gave Faith: The Unholy Trinity a chance. With most horror games these days being kid-friendly walking simulators, this amazing game has easily become one of my all-time favourites. Halloween may be over but horror isn’t.
The story
Like a lot of horror games, the story of Faith is told out of order through a bunch of scattered lore notes. While this does sound like it would make the lore a pain to understand, most of the notes act as supplementary material and aren't needed to get a basic understanding of what's going on.
Without spoilers, Faith is the story about John Ward, a priest who returns to the sight of an incomplete exorcism in order to finish what he started but discovers that this is only part of something bigger. And once you get past the pixelated, rotoscoped surface, you come across a story that is equal parts horrifying and hopeful.
The scares
You wouldn't expect something that looks like it was made on the Atari to be scary, but Faith delivers. Unlike a lot of horror games, Faith rarely relies on jumpscares and instead creates a tense atmosphere, which keeps the player on their toes with its game mechanics and sound design.
Throughout the game, you never truly feel safe. There are usually demons just around the corner ready to turn John into a pile of red and blue mush. And while John is far from helpless, no two demons behave the same, and you'll never know what to expect especially on a blind playthrough.
The music is also fantastic at creating an oppressive atmosphere by combining music with noise that can convince the player into thinking there is something after them.
The gameplay
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Faith flips the script of horror protagonists being completely vulnerable by giving John the ability to ward off demons with his cross. While this does give you the confidence to face whatever hell has to throw at you, John is still pretty vulnerable; he's slow as hell and he’ll always die in one hit.
The developers do an excellent job of making you feel safe when you use your cross, making it extremely terrifying in the rare instances where it's ineffective or taken away.
The style
Taking all of that into consideration, Faith isn't complete without its iconic visual style. The whole game was made to look and feel like it was actually made in the time period it’s set in. Although some aspects of the games are too technologically complex for something that came out in the 80s, it still looks like a real Atari game right down to the simplified controls that mimic the Atari’s one joystick and one button.
What really sets Faith apart, however, are its rotoscoped cutscenes. For those unfamiliar: rotoscoping is when an animator traces over live-action footage to create realistic animation and it gives the game a unique visual style that also makes it easy for fans to replicate.
In conclusion
Faith: The Unholy Trinity is a terrifying masterpiece that shows you just how scary demons can be. It has simple controls that can be used in complex situations, and it does all this while looking fantastic. This is as much as I’m willing to talk about without spoiling the experience too much. So, if you're at all interested in this the trinity can be purchased on Steam right now.
Just remember, Gary loves you.
iMAGE COURTESY OF airdorf games
I’m Nicholas, an aspiring author who’s too busy playing games instead of actually writing something. I love fast-paced boomer shooters, really long metroidvanias, and hardcore action platformers. My list of favourites includes Ultrakill, Hollow Knight, Deep Rock Galactic, and Blasphemous. If you're tired of big-budget AAA games letting you down and want to dive into the world of weird obscure indie games, I’m your guy.
