Cold House
- May 2, 2022
- Menge Studio
Get on Steam"Cold House" is a psychological horror adventure game where you play as a detective investigating a mysterious house with a dark past. Solve puzzles, uncover secrets, and confront supernatural forces as you delve deeper into the house's ominous history. Your sanity and survival are at stake as you try to escape the icy grip of the Cold House.
Reviews
- The game features impressive graphics and a creepy atmosphere that enhances the horror experience.
- Some puzzles are engaging and provide a challenge, contributing to the overall gameplay.
- The game has potential for future updates and expansions, which could improve the experience.
- The game is extremely short, lasting only about 30-45 minutes, and lacks substantial content for the price.
- Many puzzles are poorly designed and make little sense, leading to frustration and reliance on external guides.
- There are numerous bugs and technical issues, including problems with controls, inventory management, and game mechanics.
- atmosphere11 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 9 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its intensity and immersive qualities, with many reviewers highlighting its creepy and dense ambiance that enhances the overall experience. While the visual and sound design contribute positively to the atmosphere, some players express disappointment with the game's content and polish, feeling that it doesn't fully deliver on its atmospheric promise. Overall, the atmosphere stands out as a strong point, even if the gameplay may not meet all expectations.
“The game looks great and it has a creepy atmosphere that builds as the game progresses.”
“They're generally pretty fantastic and lend a lot to the atmosphere, immersion and 'feel' of the game.”
“The atmosphere conveyed in the game can definitely be described as intense and you can also immerse yourself in it.”
“If you're into a dense atmosphere and willing to be extremely forgiving, pick this up.”
“- spooky atmosphere”
- gameplay9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 44 % negative mentions
The gameplay has been widely criticized for its lack of coherence and purpose, with poorly designed puzzles, frustrating controls, and janky mechanics that detract from the experience. Players have noted issues such as excessive walking, confusing objectives, and a sprint cooldown that feels artificially imposed. While the graphics are praised, the overall gameplay experience is deemed short and unsatisfactory, leaving many feeling disappointed.
“Based on the approximately one hour of playing time for the first part, I hope that the further chapters will be included in the purchase price or that the playing time, gameplay, and quality will increase significantly.”
“Additionally, the controls are a bit loose, and the stamina and heat mechanics feel bolted-on for little to no reason, as they neither add to nor subtract from the core gameplay in any meaningful way.”
“To put the most glaring problems first: the gameplay is very janky, the sprint cooldown is insane and probably an artificial feature to increase game time, and the very precision-oriented platforming inside the house is very tone-deaf.”
“So I thought why not... but the gameplay is horrible, the puzzles make no sense, a lot of walking around with no purpose, no explanation on what to do, and I even got stuck in a few walls/floors.”
“Great graphics, but gameplay is lacking.”
“Tired of getting scammed by these games with nice atmospheric screenshots, and then the gameplay is short and garbage.”
- graphics8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their impressive quality, especially considering the low price point, with many users noting the beautiful visuals and eerie background sounds. However, some players have reported issues with graphical bugs and poor interaction mechanics, which detract from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the visuals remain a standout feature of the game.
“Really nice graphics for the price, and kind of nice and eerie background sounds.”
“It looked terrifying and has impressive graphics for a $5 game.”
“The graphics and audio are the highlight here.”
“Apart from the numerous graphical bugs, such as doors that cannot always be opened easily, the interaction with required objects does not always work properly or is fiddly. It is absolutely incomprehensible to me why there are always games where you cannot change the key assignment.”
“Adjusting the graphic options also didn't seem to change anything that I noticed.”
“At least, visually speaking, the visuals are pretty, but everything else is very, very rough.”
- story6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's story revolves around a car crash survivor seeking refuge in an abandoned house, only to encounter an unwelcoming resident. Currently, the narrative is minimal and lacks depth, with promises of future chapters and cooperative gameplay, but no substantial plot to engage players at this time. Overall, the story feels incomplete and lacks a compelling hook.
“The story is simple: as a car crash survivor, you take shelter in a supposedly abandoned house, and the hobo living there isn't having it.”
“The developer promises to add chapter two (yes, the story isn't over) and co-op mode (I have no idea how he wants to realize it).”
“The game lacks any other information or story at all but wants to tout that two more future titles will sometime come out in the future.”
“Not only that, but the game also has no hook or story to care about.”
“If Cold House had a complete story to tell, it may be worth revisiting.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The music in the game is largely considered forgettable and lacks variety, with players unable to turn it off completely, only lowering the volume. Additionally, there are concerns about copyright issues with chase and suspense tracks when streaming or recording gameplay.
“The chase and suspense music adds an exciting layer to the gameplay, but be careful when streaming or recording due to DMCA regulations.”
“The sound effects and occasional music enhance the experience, making it more engaging.”
“You can't turn the music off completely; you can only lower its volume until it's low.”
“Chase/suspense music is DMCA protected, so be careful when streaming or recording.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is criticized for several issues, including a lack of control remapping, persistent on-screen reticle, a fixed fish-eye field of view, and overall poor performance.
“You also cannot remap the controls, the game starts in Steam VR, the reticle dot remains on-screen at all times, the field of view is fish-eyed with no way to adjust, and optimization is also poor.”
“The game suffers from severe performance issues, making it nearly unplayable on lower-end systems.”
“Despite the interesting gameplay, the lack of optimization leads to frequent frame drops and stuttering.”
