Lazaret
- February 20, 2024
- Aegon Games
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Lazaret is a single-player, first-person horror adventure game with light puzzle elements and impressive graphics. As a rescue team member, you explore a long-lost ship filled with eerie stone statues of its missing crew. To survive and uncover the mystery of the ship's disappearance 4 years ago, you must hide, run, and solve puzzles while avoiding the supernatural dangers lurking below deck."
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a fantastic atmosphere and sound design that effectively creates tension and immersion.
- Puzzles are well-designed and engaging, providing a good balance of challenge without being overly difficult.
- The game runs smoothly without major bugs, and the graphics are impressive for an indie title.
- The game lacks a sense of real danger, as enemies are often non-threatening and can be easily avoided.
- There is excessive backtracking and key-fetching that can become tedious and disrupt the pacing.
- The ending feels rushed and leaves several plot points unresolved, which may disappoint players looking for a satisfying conclusion.
- atmosphere59 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 37 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and creepy qualities, effectively creating a sense of dread and suspense throughout the experience. Players appreciate the combination of strong sound design, detailed graphics, and a well-crafted environment that enhances the horror elements, making it a standout feature of the game. While some reviews note that the atmosphere can diminish if players feel safe or if the gameplay mechanics detract from the tension, the overall consensus is that the game excels in delivering a chilling and engaging atmosphere.
“With its meticulously crafted horror atmosphere and a narrative that grabs you from the start, the game invites you to solve puzzles and explore the ship as you try to unravel the fate of the missing crew, with remarkable graphics and an outstanding sound system.”
“The mystery, the aesthetic, the ambiance, and the soundtrack all create this eerie, atmospheric world of dread and suspense.”
“The overall atmosphere of this game...the location, the graphics, the sound design....is fantastic!”
“It's the same style as their other game, a door in the basement, where the atmosphere and sound effects were driving me insane.”
“Visuals were decent but the audio and atmosphere were seriously lacking.”
“The instant I realized I wasn't in any danger in about the fourth 'part' or so, the atmosphere evaporated.”
- gameplay46 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 76 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing the whistling mechanic as underwhelming and largely ineffective, as it fails to create a genuine sense of danger from the game's enemies. While some appreciate the atmosphere and the potential for engaging mechanics, others find the gameplay simplistic and repetitive, lacking meaningful challenges or threats. Overall, the game offers a relaxing experience with some enjoyable elements, but it falls short in delivering a compelling and dynamic gameplay experience.
“The gameplay is very enjoyable and relaxing.”
“Some of the scares are jump scares that don't do much, but there are other elements of the gameplay they've incorporated that build tension as you roam about the ship.”
“The gameplay is designed to entice you into a memorable experience.”
“The gameplay is pretty weak.”
“The whistling mechanic is useless as it is fairly easy to avoid the statues without them being able to inflict any damage to the player.”
“The game sets up several mechanics that it then forgets about, under-utilizes, or were never important to begin with.”
- story36 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it intriguing and atmospheric, while others criticize it for being basic and lacking depth. Many appreciate the tension and horror elements, but feel the plot is often underdeveloped and concludes abruptly without meaningful resolution. Overall, it offers a decent narrative experience, especially for an indie title, but leaves room for improvement in lore and storytelling depth.
“Its pretty good at about 4 hours for the cost, decent atmosphere and story.”
“The story really surprised me and I thought it would either drag on or disappoint, but about a 4 and a half hour gameplay, it stayed tight and captivated me to see what the hell was going on on this ship.”
“While there may be a lot of clichés, its atmosphere and story tends to outweigh the cons, making it an enjoyable and tense experience.”
“The only negative was that the story was very basic, and the ending wasn't well done.”
“The setting was interesting at first but it felt like the plot went nowhere and answered nothing.”
“The story abruptly ends without any meaningful resolution.”
- graphics20 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the smooth visuals, detailed environments, and effective use of lighting that enhance the horror atmosphere. While some players note that the graphics are impressive for an indie title, others find them basic or lacking in certain areas, such as the depiction of dead bodies. Overall, the game's graphics contribute positively to the immersive experience, though they may not be groundbreaking.
“With its meticulously crafted horror atmosphere and a narrative that grabs you from the start, the game invites you to solve puzzles and explore the ship as you try to unravel the fate of the missing crew, with remarkable graphics and an outstanding sound system.”
“Graphically, the game is amazing, super smooth.”
“The overall atmosphere of this game...the location, the graphics, the sound design....is fantastic!”
“Visuals are basic.”
“Graphics aren't going to melt your eyes, but they do the job.”
“Visuals were decent but the audio and atmosphere were seriously lacking.”
- stability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is generally positive, with minor glitches reported, such as falling through the floor, but quicksaves mitigate any potential loss of progress. Players have noted that it runs well on various platforms, including the Steam Deck and Linux, with only a few non-game-breaking bugs. The experience is enhanced by impressive graphics and sound, contributing to a stable and immersive gameplay environment.
“Runs great on a Steam Deck too.”
“Played on Linux using Proton Experimental, it works and runs great. Nice graphics, amazing sound; I mean, it is used in this game like no other horror game has ever done before. It adds so much atmosphere and really creeps you out. Gameplay is also very well done and up there with the bigger game names.”
“I fell through the floor once; luckily, it did a quick save, so I didn't lose any progress.”
“A little buggy here and there, but nothing game-breaking.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the grinding aspect of the game starts off engaging but becomes tedious, particularly in later sections where key-fetching and repetitive tasks overshadow more interesting gameplay elements. Players express frustration with the need to backtrack frequently after dying, which detracts from the overall experience.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“It would be tedious to need to go back and get whatever key/code you just obtained every time the monsters got you.”
“I do agree with another reviewer that that one section toward the end (the medical wing) felt a little more tedious than interesting, especially since that particular area had more to do with key-fetching and spooks than any interesting puzzles.”
“It starts promisingly but becomes tedious towards the end.”
- music4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The music in the game contributes to an eerie and atmospheric world, enhancing the sense of dread and suspense, although some players noted a lack of variety and instances where the chase music felt misplaced. Additionally, technical issues such as lag were reported, affecting the overall experience, including the performance of external music and media.
“The mystery, the aesthetic, the ambiance, and the soundtrack all create this eerie, atmospheric world of dread and suspense.”
“You get the objective, 'escape the ship,' and hear chase music start playing, but as far as I could tell, you aren't running from anything.”
“You can see the cut in budget with one human NPC model used a lot for every human NPC and the lack of music.”
“It did in fact lag my computer just from being on the main menu: made my YouTube music stutter, my stream preview also was choppy as hell, even GIFs on Twitter were lagging, GIFs!”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is polarizing; while some players find it underwhelming and lacking genuine comedic value, others appreciate its slapstick elements and the character's misfortunes as genuinely funny. Overall, the comedic execution seems to vary significantly among players.
“Honestly, it's really funny; the character of this game just gets his butt kicked. It's slapstick humor.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is praised, with smooth performance at high settings and even during challenging conditions like rain. However, some users have noted minor performance issues.
“Optimization, a usual main concern in similar games, is excellent, and everything works smoothly at the highest settings.”
“The game runs smoothly even with the rain at the start.”
“- has some minor performance issues”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the game's length satisfactory, and the inclusion of collectibles enhances its replayability for those aiming to achieve 100% completion.
“The length of the game is decent, and the collectibles provide significant replay value for those aiming to achieve 100% completion.”
“Each playthrough offers new challenges and experiences, making it easy to dive back in for another round.”
“The variety of choices and outcomes ensures that no two playthroughs feel the same, enhancing the overall replayability.”
“The length of the game is decent, and collectibles give it some replay value if you want to achieve 100%.”
“Once you finish the main story, there's little incentive to play again; the side quests feel repetitive and uninspired.”
“While the game offers multiple endings, the differences are minimal, making it hard to justify a second playthrough.”
