The 9th Charnel is a single-player horror game with survival gameplay, developed by Saikat Deb and published by SOEDESCO. This first-person psychological story is a slow-burning tale of uncertainty and terror, built on elements of tension and fear.​

You play as Michael, a scientist, along with his colleagues Daniel and Sara, who become stuck in a nightmare valley after a horrible car crash. Unfortunately, a religious cult controls this area and, having found that both Daniel and Sara are missing, you begin searching for them, finding rundown buildings, narrow paths, rituals, and puzzles along the way; an unnatural ease morphs a simple search-and-rescue into something far more sinister.

In the early stages of the game, stealth is your best friend; you are extremely vulnerable, and staying hidden is necessary. Gathering clues and searching every drawer, cabinet, and desk takes time; you’ll find yourself looking through these quite frequently, all while hiding from the terrible monsters that chase you.

Mix all this with the headache of limited space and an inventory you will have to manage with ammo, first aid, batteries, and making choices for your survival and story progression will be a tough one to make.

Shifting from stealth to combat weapons, join the fray. Even with a gun in hand, you are still weak. Hard enemies and hard-to-find ammo make using a gun extremely risky, and it should be left as a last resort. Much is left in a laughing state when dealing with monsters.

Whilst being chased to hide in closets, it’s more of an out-of-sight, out-of-mind; even when watched, you get in a closet, and the monster just turns around, forgetting you exist. It does ruin your game immersion.

What can we say about graphics? From what we are used to with our higher-end games, we are spoilt for choice. If we keep in mind that for mostly one-person development, they are quite good! Although still a long way to go.

The pathing is quite linear; there is a lot to look at, broken buildings, dark overtones, grunge, and fire. It really sets the mood; religious fanatic artwork really puts you in a horror state of mind. That being said, the character model leaves a lot to be desired, with clunky sliding cutscene animations and creepy mouth movements that feel fake and pull you out of the horror illusion. It is really lacklustre and immersion-breaking.

The sound design for many things here leaves a lot to be desired. Overbearing music, dull chase sounds, and random loud noises at the wrong time. Music, at times, seems out of place, leaving me asking why?

As a huge horror fan, the game seems to lack the ability to immerse me. A poor sound mix with low-end graphics creates a constant immersion break. Although if you put yourself in the seat of a small team, it’s not half bad. My overall experience with the 9th Charnel was mostly a letdown, although the game has potential and lots of room to grow. For now, it leaves me frustrated, confused, and looking for the volume button.

Written by: Matiyus