Buried: An Interactive Story
- January 22, 2016
- Bromoco Games
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Buried: An Interactive Story" is a playable, text-based game where you play as Roger Hastings, a logger searching for his missing crew in a forest with a haunting atmosphere. Your choices affect the plot, determining the outcome of danger, trust, and life or death situations. With a stunning photo display, immersive soundscape, and 5 intense chapters, uncover the hidden secrets and face the consequences of your decisions. Music by Gimu.
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Reviews
- The story is engaging and immersive, drawing players in with its suspenseful and well-written narrative.
- The game offers a variety of choices that create a sense of consequence, making players feel invested in their decisions.
- For its price, the game provides a substantial amount of content and replayability, with multiple endings to explore.
- Many choices do not significantly impact the overall story, leading to a feeling of linearity and reduced replay value.
- The game lacks a manual save system, which can be inconvenient for players wanting to explore different paths without replaying the entire game.
- Some players noted grammar errors and inconsistencies in character behavior that detracted from the overall experience.
- story376 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The story of "Buried" is a gripping sci-fi thriller infused with Lovecraftian horror elements, featuring a well-crafted narrative that keeps players engaged despite its short runtime of about three hours. While the game offers multiple endings and choices, many players noted that these choices often lead to similar outcomes, limiting replayability. Overall, the writing is praised for its immersive quality and character depth, making it a compelling experience for fans of interactive storytelling.
“The story is like a sci-fi thriller with pseudo-Lovecraftian horror elements and multiple endings.”
“Nail-biting, and beautifully done, the backgrounds are amazing, immersive, the sound design is incredible, the story takes such a turn so fast it gives you whiplash. I love text-based interactive story games, so this is right up my alley.”
“The story is intriguing, often times downright spine-chilling, and always pulling you to take one more step into the unknown.”
“Very few of your choices actually seem to matter and some even get completely contradicted by what the story will describe later.”
“Literally none of the choices have any impact on the story (believe me, I went back and re-did choices to see the differences) and that bothered me a lot.”
“My biggest qualm is that regardless of what you choose to do, the greatest differences of the outcome are only made in the end of the game (which you can only get to by playing through the rest of the game first, as there is no saving) and thus the plot was extremely linear and reduced the replay value to once or twice at most, which is disappointing for a 'choose-your-own-adventure' style story.”
- music40 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its atmospheric quality, effectively enhancing the overall experience and setting a grim tone. While some reviewers found it basic or unremarkable, many appreciated its subtlety and ability to maintain emotional engagement throughout the gameplay. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a key element that complements the text and visuals, contributing significantly to the game's immersive atmosphere.
“Great atmosphere, ambient soundtrack, kept me on edge.”
“The soundtrack was well done and served its purpose to set a grim tone.”
“The game immediately drew me in with its story and music.”
“The soundtrack was eh.”
“This soundtrack doesn't stand out – it looms in the background.”
“While the soundtrack and visual pictures in the background aren't anything special, they're a good fit for the environments described, and really do add to the overall experience.”
- atmosphere26 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for its oppressive and engaging qualities, enhanced by a compelling story, well-paced writing, and an effective ambient soundtrack. Reviewers note that the atmosphere builds progressively, drawing players in and maintaining tension throughout the experience. Overall, it is highly recommended for fans of atmospheric and text-based adventures.
“Great atmosphere, dark and oppressive thanks to good writing and good background sound, highly recommended for those who enjoy text-based adventures (and there are quite a few choices to make, many minor, several major).”
“Immediately the game had me drawn in with its amazing writing, compelling story, and the ongoing intense atmosphere.”
“The oppressive atmosphere created by the sound, simple visuals, and well-paced writing made for a two-night playthrough that was frankly tough to stop on the first night.”
“The speed of the text and button reveals feel appropriate to the atmosphere, but it's painfully slow when you're just trying to power through a replay.”
“The pacing of the story is good; it never has a boring or drawn-out section, and the writing does wonders to keep a thick atmosphere throughout it all.”
- graphics24 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are minimal yet effective, complementing the immersive storytelling and atmospheric sound design. While there are no stunning 3D visuals or elaborate animations, the simple graphics and ambient soundtrack enhance the overall experience, drawing players into the narrative. Users appreciate the cute visuals and the way they fit the mood, despite the lack of visual complexity.
“The graphics are cute, and the text is completely understandable and has me unable to look away; the different possibilities for endings are amazing!”
“Buried is a solid interactive story game with interesting visuals and wonderful audio.”
“No amazing 3D graphics, dazzling explosions, or killer AI enemies... what is amazing is the terrific, immersive story you are drawn into.”
“The visuals are minimal but effective, the sound is spooky and immersive, and the writing is simplistic and a tad underwhelming but gets the job done.”
“A minimally-graphic episodic novel that features a combination of sci-fi, mystery, thriller, and action genres that will make you go nuts over what's going on.”
- replayability24 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 46 % neutral mentions
- 42 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is criticized for being limited due to a lack of significant variation in endings and impactful choices, leading many players to feel that it can only be enjoyed once or twice. While some reviewers acknowledge a degree of suspense and a solid story that may warrant a second playthrough, the consensus is that the linearity and predictability diminish its long-term appeal.
“This is an awesome game full of suspense with a decent amount of replay value.”
“I would give it an 8/10 for the replay value and the ability to play with a group of people.”
“Oh, and for those greatly concerned with such things: it would also appear to have some small degree of replayability due to the variety of choices on offer, even if one suspects that most if not all of the story's main mysteries are revealed in a single playthrough.”
“Replayability is not great.”
“Little variety in endings leads to little to no replay value.”
“My biggest qualm is that regardless of what you choose to do, the greatest differences of the outcome are only made in the end of the game (which you can only get to by playing through the rest of the game first, as there is no saving) and thus the plot was extremely linear and reduced the replay value to once or twice at most, which is disappointing for a 'choose-your-own-adventure' style story.”
- gameplay10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Buried" is characterized by a simple, text-based narrative where players make meaningful choices at key decision points, leading to hours of engaging gameplay without the need for extensive time investment. The limited choices mechanic allows for a streamlined experience, making it accessible for those seeking an atmospheric game without overwhelming complexity.
“Hours of gameplay, which is awesome.”
“No action or actual gameplay, but your decisions matter.”
“The core gameplay of Buried is simple: text is read to you on your screen describing the story, and when you come to a fork in the road, you're given two choices on what to say or do.”
“I was in the mood for an atmospheric game that wasn't going to require 50+ hours of gameplay and my firstborn to complete, and I stumbled upon Buried.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the game presents choices that could significantly impact characters, the emotional effects of these decisions are fleeting, lasting only about 30 seconds. This diminishes the overall emotional weight and resonance of the narrative.
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players express a sense of relief when the grinding aspect of the game comes to an end, indicating that the repetitive nature of grinding detracted from their overall enjoyment, particularly in the latter half of the story.
“While there were many pluses to the first half of the story, I was quite happy when it finally came to a grinding halt.”
