Crow Country

Crow Country
Developer(s)	SFB Games
Publisher(s)	SFB Games
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S
Release	9 May 2024
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player

Crow Country is a 2024 survival horror game developed and published by SFB Games for PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S. Set in a visual style and design similar to PlayStation 1 horror titles including Resident Evil and Silent Hill, the player is an investigator exploring an abandoned theme park. Upon release, Crow Country received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed to the game's design evocation of earlier horror games, writing and narrative, and mixed views on the implementation of combat and puzzles.

Gameplay

Crow Country is a survival horror, similar to Resident Evil and Silent Hill, in which players explore Crow Country to find objects, solve puzzles, and defeat monsters. Gameplay features two modes: 'Survival', which features combat and enemies, and 'Exploration', which dispenses with enemies. Combat requires the player to aim and shoot at monsters encountered throughout areas using various weapons, including a handguns, a shotgun, and flamethrower, some of which are unlocked by the completion of optional puzzles. To shoot at enemies, players can run and shoot, or lock into position to focus their aim. Players have limited health depleted by hits from enemies and environmental hazards, which can be replenished using bandages, medkits and antidotes. Items and ammunition are collected by players through interacting with vending machines and containers. Players explore the game's environment and slowly expand their access to new areas by locating keys or solving puzzles, such as by combining items found in different locations.

Plot

Taking place in 1990, Mara Forest, a special agent investigates Crow Country, an abandoned amusement park. Crow Country has been shut down two years prior, with its founder, Edward Crow, mysteriously disappearing. Upon arriving at the park she meets an injured reporter name Arthur, who warns Mara of dangerous creatures. She helps him back to her car and continues her investigation, meeting Natalie, Tolman, Julie, Harrison, and Marvin, who are all there investigating as well.

While investigating Crow Country she discovers that it secretly had a dig site which manufactured gold, but in return the dig site also opened a poisonous pool that turns people into other-worldly creatures. With the pressure of the government questioning where the gold was coming from, as well as a young girl getting seriously injured at the park, it was forced to shut down. It is revealed that the creatures manifesting the park are actually former park visitors who got exposed to the poisonous pool and turned into monsters.

As Mara travels deeper into the park, Harrison is found shot dead and Marvin is accidently knocked off a ledge into his death. Mara tells the remaining survivors to escape to her car while she goes down to the core of the dig site, eventually meeting Edward Crow, who has now become grotesquely mutated by being exposed to the monsters. He reveals that any person who comes into contact with an infected is infected themselves. The first person who got infected was the only one who was able to talk, explaining to Edward Crow about what he saw on the other side of the pool. It is also revealed that Mara is actually the young girl who got seriously injured years ago, and had become infected due to being in contact with the poisonous pool. She escaped from the hospital in search of Edward Crow to tell him that she is dying and there is no cure. Edward Crow is relived as he initially thought she had come back to kill him as revenge.

Edward Crow reveals to Mara that he has developed a cure after doing multiple tests on the creatures, but he only has five vitals. He tells Mara to use it to save herself and the others, as he plans to jump into the pool to see what the other side looks like, making Mara promise to kill him if he returns back mutated. He jumps into the pool and returns as a grotesques monster, forcing Mara to kill him. Mara escapes with the remaining survivors in her car. Their fate is left unknown as they are seen 4 miles out of Crow Country, relaxing by a fire as they each take the cure. Mara monologues about her hope for the future, but also her fears of the unknown.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	84/100
OpenCritic	90%

Review scores

Publication	Score
Destructoid	9/10
GamesRadar+	4/5
PC Gamer (US)	77%
The Guardian	5/5
Game Rant	4/5
Press Start	7.5/10
Screen Rant	9/10
Slant Magazine	3.5/5

Crow Country received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Reviewers generally praised the game's visual presentation and design as evocative of PS1 horror games. Zoey Handley of Destructoid commended the "detailed" pre-rendered environments and "clever lighting" to replicate the "awkward 3D of the era". However, Leon Hurley of GamesRadar critiqued the player character's "blocky toy shape" and "cartoonish" enemies. Alice Bell of Rock Paper Shotgun highlighted the game's "fantastic" and "sinister" setting. Wes Fenlon of PC Gamer highlighted the game's effective jump scares and variety of "demented monster designs".

Critics praised the game's narrative and writing. Sarah Maria Griffin of The Guardian described the game's narrative as complete and richer than anticipated, highlighting the "levity and playfulness" of the game's tone and "bold" ending. Similarly, Wes Fenlon of PC Gamer praised the "wry" writing for its "cheeky nods to game and horror tropes". Leon Hurley of GamesRadar noted the "rewarding" and "refreshingly unfamiliar" story and commended its "feeling of surprise and uncertainty". Zoey Handley of Destructoid praised the game's narrative twists and satisfying conclusion, although finding it lacked more distinctive psychological themes.

Reviewers expressed mixed views on the implementation of puzzles and gameplay mechanics. Leon Hurley of GamesRadar considered the game's puzzles to be effective as they were self-contained and balanced in difficulty, although found themselves stuck with some puzzles. Alice Bell of Rock Paper Shotgun praised the design of the puzzles in relying on player observation and intuition, but expressed that the game's combat and survival horror aspects lacked a sense of threat and were easy to manage. Describing the game as "too easy", Wes Fenlon of PC Gamer felt the game's combat was simple and did not view the puzzles as memorable. Willa Rowe of Kotaku considered that the enemies, resource management combat felt "lackluster" and "unimportant", and critiqued the "inconsistent" design of simple and in-depth puzzles.

External links

• Official website