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Dead Take

Dead Take Game Cover
88%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:story, optimization
Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, stability
88% User Score Based on 618 reviews

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PCSteam DeckWindows
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Dead Take Game Cover

About Dead Take

Dead Take is a single player survival simulation game with horror, mystery and thriller themes. It was developed by Surgent Studios and was released on July 31, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Find your missing friend. Uncover the secrets within. Brave a luxurious and haunting mansion in Dead Take, a first-person psychological horror crafted by Surgent Studios.

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Reviews

88%Audience ScoreBased on 618 reviews
story151 positive mentions
grinding4 negative mentions
  • Outstanding acting performances by Neil Newbon, Ben Starr, and the supporting cast enhance the emotional and narrative depth.
  • Excellent atmospheric design and sound, creating a sustained sense of unease and psychological tension throughout the game.
  • Engaging puzzles that are generally satisfying and well-integrated into the story, providing a good balance of challenge without frustration.
  • Reliance on cheap jump scares which some found predictable and detracting from the horror atmosphere.
  • Story delivery can be fragmented or ambiguous, leaving some players confused or desiring more clarity and depth.
  • Gameplay is largely walking simulation with moderate backtracking and simplistic puzzles, which may feel repetitive or slow-paced to some.

  • story

    406 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    37% positive mentions, 61% neutral mentions, 2% negative mentions

    The story in "Dead Take" is widely praised for its psychological depth, atmosphere, and compelling exploration of fame and identity within the film industry, brought to life by strong performances and innovative FMV storytelling. While some find the narrative fragmented and ambiguous, requiring active player engagement to piece it together, others feel it lacks emotional impact or cohesion, particularly toward the ending. Overall, it offers a haunting, slow-burning horror experience that emphasizes emotional tension over traditional scares, though its pacing and puzzle integration may not satisfy all players.

    • “Dead take is a psychological horror experience developed by Surgent Studios and published by Pocketpair Publishing that blends cinematic storytelling, environmental exploration, and emotional tension into a disturbing narrative centered around fame, obsession, and personal collapse.”
    • “The result is a slow-burning horror experience that focuses more on emotional unease and hidden trauma than traditional survival horror mechanics, creating a story that feels haunting long after it ends.”
    • “As the story unfolds, the line between reality and psychological breakdown begins to blur, creating an increasingly unsettling atmosphere filled with paranoia and emotional instability.”
    • “The story has all these elements going on that most of them go nowhere.”
    • “It's a pivotal moment that also highlights the biggest gripe I have with the game: why did we spend so much time watching audition tapes of other cast members, and hearing how rude the director was, and the backstory of him and his wife and how they dealt with the loss of their baby when the idea of working actors struggling to find work would've easily been the most engaging and emotionally poignant part of the game, had we had a moment to build toward that without distractions of developing tapes, solving puzzles, stitching together clips by symbol-matching etc. Time that should've been spent to build the emotional side of the narrative was instead wasted on basic logic/pattern recognition puzzles.”
    • “The story is lost on me too, which is extremely frustrating given how rudimentary everything else was, even asset wise.”

  • optimization

    147 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    56% positive mentions, 39% neutral mentions, 5% negative mentions

    The game suffers from notable optimization issues, including frame skips, stuttering, and high GPU usage at default settings, which can detract from the experience unless players adjust settings like enabling DLSS or Frame Generation. Despite technical hiccups common with Unreal Engine 5 titles, the performance problems rarely make the game unplayable but do impact smoothness. However, these technical flaws are often overshadowed by the game's stellar live-action performances and immersive atmosphere.

    • “There's a few optimization issues - just standard UE5 stuff - but nothing to the point where it detracted from my enjoyment.”
    • “Interesting indeed find your missing friend and uncover the mysteries behind a nuts director, very creepy. The only real negative I have is performance is abysmal unless you go to the Nvidia app/settings and start tinkering, and then in the game's settings enable Nvidia DLSS and Frame Generation etc. to get it just right, as the standard settings do not help.”
    • “However, I'd like to point out that the game is not that well optimized and kept pushing my GPU at full throttle on default settings.”
    • “The performance of the game is pretty bad; I kept running into frame skips and laggy areas, but it was okay enough to play with a little discomfort.”
    • “However, the actual performance of the game just got worse and worse.”
    • “Interesting indeed, find your missing friend and uncover the mysteries behind a nuts director. Very creepy. The only real negative I have is performance is abysmal unless you go to the Nvidia app/settings and start tinkering and then in the game's settings enable Nvidia DLSS and frame generation etc. to get it just right, as the standard setting does not help.”

  • atmosphere

    146 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    56% positive mentions, 42% neutral mentions, 2% negative mentions

    The game excels in creating a deeply unsettling and immersive atmosphere through detailed environments, realistic lighting, strong audio design, and outstanding performances. Its psychological horror relies more on tension, emotional instability, and slowly building dread than on traditional monsters, with jump scares used sparingly but effectively. While some find the jump scares predictable or excessive, the overall consensus highlights the atmosphere as the game's strongest and most memorable element, enhancing its narrative and puzzle exploration.

    • “Instead of relying heavily on combat or constant jump scares, the game builds fear through atmosphere, fragmented storytelling, and psychological discomfort.”
    • “Built using Unreal Engine 5, the mansion environments are filled with realistic lighting, detailed interiors, and cinematic visual direction that reinforce the game’s oppressive atmosphere.”
    • “Dead Take's atmosphere is top notch, with a special mention to the way some clever camera trickery occurs to help both boost the tension in certain climatic scenes, and depending on individual interpretation can also be seen as a way to help get into the shoes of the character you play as throughout the game.”
    • “There was one or two moments where it got me but overall the atmosphere was lacking slightly and I never felt truly scared of the situation.”
    • “All I found were cheap jump scares that were easily anticipated, and an atmosphere that didn't strike me as scarier over time.”
    • “The mansion is very modern, open and minimalist which makes creating a truly tense atmosphere quite difficult. I respect the ambition but a sleek spacious mansion doesn't instill any sense of dread or fear into me.”

  • gameplay

    98 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    28% positive mentions, 64% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions

    Gameplay in this title centers on slow-paced exploration and puzzle-solving within a mansion, blending live-action footage with in-game elements to enhance narrative immersion. While puzzles are generally simple and the splicing mechanic adds a unique twist, the gameplay is often described as repetitive, limited in challenge, and lacking traditional horror excitement, which may not satisfy players seeking action or deeper gameplay complexity. Fans of story-driven psychological horror and narrative integration tend to appreciate its emotional impact despite some underwhelming gameplay execution.

    • “Gameplay itself is straightforward, closer to an atmospheric “walking simulator.” You’ll explore rooms, solve puzzles, uncover documents, and piece together film reels to unravel the mystery.”
    • “The majority of gameplay is spent exploring the producer’s mansion, searching for clues, keys and number codes to unlock doors, and items to repair broken statues or machines such as a cinema projector.”
    • “The acting and the puzzles and gameplay, all just amazing; I highly recommend this if you need something to take up a few hours of your time, it’s highly worth it!!”
    • “Some story elements feel a little too separate from the gameplay - I would have liked certain parts of the story to feel more tied into what you are actually doing in the mansion.”
    • “This kind of fetch gameplay really grinds my gears and unfortunately it bothered me enough to drop this.”
    • “Puzzles are way too easy to solve, map is needlessly big (80% of your gameplay is going back and forth pretty much), and the jumpscares are just startling people yelling at your screen except Alan Wake 2 did it better.”

  • graphics

    43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    53% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions

    The game's graphics are widely praised for their immersive atmosphere, detailed visuals, and strong integration of FMV cutscenes, creating a stunning and eerie experience. However, performance can be demanding, with some users reporting low frame rates on high settings, especially on mid-range hardware, requiring compromises such as using DLSS or lowering graphics settings. Overall, the visuals effectively enhance the storytelling and tone, though the graphical fidelity during gameplay segments receives mixed feedback regarding polish and resource intensity.

    • “The atmosphere is incredibly immersive, and the graphics are absolutely top-tier – from the lighting to the FMV integration, everything looks stunning.”
    • “The graphics are really well made, the layout of the house is fun to explore, and the game has a nice sheen / polish to it.”
    • “I highly recommend this game to whoever likes bizarre, twisted, almost insane plots, with great writing, acting, sound, ambience, graphics, clever puzzles, and little details like trying certain numbers on the cell phone, and still get surprised after 30+ years of gaming.”
    • “For a non-action walking simulator with not particularly mindblowing graphics or art direction, it has a full array of graphic options that don't seem to add much other than a really chuggy framerate and overly shiny everything.”
    • “It’s another Unreal Engine 5 game that doesn’t look or run great. I think I’d get more than 90fps but nope, the game tanks to 30fps when playing at max settings on an RTX 4070 at 1440p. Using DLSS fixes this, but for these kinds of visuals I’m not exactly privy to using DLSS.”
    • “Haven't finished the game yet, but wanted to leave a review to warn anyone playing on Steam Deck: while the game does work well on the Deck, this is only with the graphics on the lowest settings, which can make some puzzles hard to see.”

  • emotional

    28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Dead Take delivers a haunting psychological horror experience that emphasizes emotional tension, atmospheric storytelling, and character breakdowns over traditional scares or gameplay complexity. The game's powerful performances and carefully crafted narrative evoke deep feelings of unease, obsession, and personal collapse, leaving a lasting emotional impact. While some puzzle elements occasionally detract from the narrative flow, the authentic acting and emotional moments resonate strongly, making it a memorable experience for fans of story-driven horror.

    • “Dead Take is a psychological horror experience that blends cinematic storytelling, environmental exploration, and emotional tension into a disturbing narrative centered around fame, obsession, and personal collapse.”
    • “The result is a slow-burning horror experience that focuses more on emotional unease and hidden trauma than traditional survival horror mechanics, creating a story that feels haunting long after it ends.”
    • “Fear in Dead Take often comes not from monsters or supernatural threats, but from watching emotionally unstable people unravel under pressure, obsession, and desperation.”

  • music

    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    33% positive mentions, 56% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions

    The music in the game is highly effective at building tension and enhancing the horror atmosphere, often used sparingly to amplify key emotional moments rather than as constant background noise. It adapts to different areas, contributing significantly to the sense of dread and immersion. However, some players experienced audio bugs and occasional abrupt or unnecessary music cues that disrupted the experience.

    • “The soundtrack is used sparingly, allowing tension to emerge naturally from the environment itself.”
    • “The atmosphere and music build up a wonderful sense of dread and horror.”
    • “The music does so much for the ambience of the game and makes it much scarier.”
    • “The music was both abrupt and unnecessary throughout the game.”
    • “When you first enter the mansion, music kicks up with a sense of impending doom... when nothing is even happening.”
    • “Several other audio bugs include entire ambience tracks cutting out, or music being silent when there should be music playing.”

  • grinding

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game tends to become tedious and repetitive, especially toward the end, with some puzzles feeling more annoying than enjoyable. While most challenges and lore hunting are manageable, certain tasks like the book puzzle and full completion achievements can feel like a grind.

    • “It's got a great creepy vibe and most of the puzzles/mysteries are fun to solve, but it does get a bit tedious by the end.”
    • “Some are quick and fun, others are a little more tedious and annoying (looking at you book puzzle).”
    • “100% completion was straightforward, though one achievement was mildly tedious - the “read all the lore” one.”

  • stability

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game has a strong premise but suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs and glitches. While some users experienced smooth performance, problems like audio glitches and general unoptimization negatively impact the overall experience.

    • “Tldr; great premise, but unoptimized and buggy as heck.”
    • “Buggy af.”

  • humor

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The humor in the game is a mix of corny and intentionally cheesy elements, with some scenes feeling overly exaggerated or hackneyed, leading to laughable moments. However, this playful tone adds to the overall enjoyment, making even scary moments amusing and engaging.

    • “I found the writing of a movie that a 'top Hollywood producer' is working on to be quite corny; it was pretty funny.”
    • “I also couldn't help but roll my eyes as Duke Cain is made out to be this blindingly genius, legendary film director, and the few scenes of 'The Last Voyage' we see are hackneyed, hamfisted, and hilariously bad.”
    • “The game had a few moments that scared me, but it scared me in a funny way, which made playing it in one go more enjoyable.”

  • replayability

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game offers limited replayability, with most users feeling it provides a one-time experience lasting around 5-7 hours. However, the lack of replay value is generally not seen as a significant drawback.

    • “Not much replay value, so pay whatever a 5-7 hour experience is worth to you.”
    • “And to me, personally, there is no replayability.”
    • “Feels like there is no replayability (though I don't really consider this a true con).”

  • character development

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The character development is praised for its depth and intensity, effectively exploring the psychological motivations behind characters' transformations into monsters, compensating for the game's lack of typical horror elements like jumpscares or gore.

    • “What it lacks in the usual jumpscares or gore of horror, it makes up for with deep, intense character development and the dread of seeing what truly drives people to become what we see as a monster.”
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Play Times

4h Median play time
3h Average play time
2-4h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Dead Take is a survival simulation game with horror, mystery and thriller themes. Common tags for Dead Take include first-person, indie, trading, surreal, psychological and others.

Dead Take is available on PC, Steam Deck and Windows.

On average players spend around 3 hours playing Dead Take.

Dead Take was released on July 31, 2025.

Dead Take was developed by Surgent Studios.

Dead Take has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked Dead Take for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Dead Take is a single player game.

Similar games include REVEIL, The Medium, Still Wakes the Deep, ROUTINE, Stories Untold and others.