Signalis: Redefining the Horror Experience
By Jacob Guynup
Staff Writer
Horror is one of my favourite types of media, and it is, for the most part, done very well when it comes from a gaming standpoint. Installments like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and the more recent Crow Country have only increased my appreciation of the horror genre. In my opinion, none of these come even remotely close to Signalis.
Developed by Rose-Engine, which consists of two illustrators and developers based out of Hamberg, Germany, Signalis is a survival horror game released in 2022 for all platforms. It draws heavy inspiration from other iconic pieces of media, listing them as inspirations in the game description and sometimes even referencing them within the game. These include Ghost in the Shell, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The game takes place in a retro-futuristic empire that is populated by both humans, referred to as Gestalts, and Replikas, which are sentient cybernetic androids with organic skin coatings created by the oppressive nation that rules over the solar system. You play as Elster, a Replika unit assigned to a space exploration shuttle who crashes and must survive against hordes of Replikas corrupted with a mysterious disease, all while unravelling the mystery of what happened to her human copilot she was designed to assist. This description does not even cover the surface of what the story has to offer. Still, most of the story and lore can be found by the player while they are exploring their environment, and talking about it would ruin the experience of seeing it and piecing it together without being spoon-fed the answers.
Something else the game absolutely nails is the atmosphere. Signalis does not spend much time on cutscenes. In fact, there are only around 10 real cutscenes in the entire game. Signalis wants the player to be engaged at every possible moment, so it doesn’t put energy into making cutscenes that might bore the player and leave them out of the experience. It also takes heavy inspiration from early Resident Evil by using a fixed camera to make the player feel more claustrophobic. It also uses previously established horror titles to develop the scariest part of any horror game: a limited inventory. The game only gives you six slots to hold items and weapons in, which is very unforgiving even by survival horror game standards.
Overall, I can’t recommend this game enough, not only to people who already like Resident Evil or Silent Hill but also to beginners. Signalis has a giant list of settings that can drastically change the difficulty, which makes it accessible for anyone new to the genre while still providing a challenge to experienced survival horror players.
Personally, Signalis is a contender for my favourite game I’ve ever played. Despite having started playing almost two years ago, I still think about this game on a weekly basis. This is a 10/10 experience with a breathtaking story with one of the most memorable endings in gaming.