Lazaret

About

"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."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 274 reviews

atmosphere68 positive mentions

grinding6 negative mentions

The game has a fantastic atmosphere and sound design that keeps players on edge.
Puzzles are engaging and well-balanced, providing a satisfying challenge without being overly difficult.
The game is a solid experience for horror fans, with a decent length of 3 to 5 hours and a compelling story.

The game lacks a real sense of danger, as many enemies are non-threatening and the protagonist cannot die.
There is excessive backtracking and key-fetching that can make the gameplay feel tedious and repetitive.
The ending feels rushed and anticlimactic, leaving some plot points unresolved.

atmosphere
118 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
40%
3%
The atmosphere in the game is widely praised for its creepiness and tension, effectively immersing players in a haunting environment filled with well-executed sound design and visual details. Many reviewers highlight the game's ability to maintain suspense through its eerie ambiance and jump scares, making it a standout experience for horror fans. While some noted that the gameplay mechanics could detract from the overall tension, the atmospheric elements remain a strong point, contributing to a compelling horror experience.
- “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 overall atmosphere of this game...the location, the graphics, the sound design....is fantastic!”
- “The game knows how to pull you into its world, with a creepy atmosphere and enemies that keep you on edge without being too difficult to navigate.”
- “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.”
gameplay
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
78%
4%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing the whistling mechanic as underwhelming and largely ineffective in creating a sense of danger, as most enemies are easily avoidable and do not pose a significant threat. While some elements, like the ship's statue mechanics and basic puzzles, provide a degree of enjoyment, the overall experience is described as simplistic and repetitive, lacking the depth and challenge that could enhance player engagement. Despite these shortcomings, there is potential for improvement in future iterations, particularly in fleshing out gameplay mechanics and increasing the sense of danger.
- “The gameplay is very enjoyable and relaxing.”
- “The gameplay gimmick is that the ship is full of statues, and some of them move when you're not looking; so you can have some fun trying to identify which ones are dangerous and which are just set decoration.”
- “Some of the scares are jumpscares that don't do much, but there are other elements of the gameplay they've incorporated that builds a tension as you roam about in the ship.”
- “With no way to die, several crashes, and pointless game mechanics, the only thing left was a pretty bad walking sim.”
- “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.”
story
72 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
61%
6%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it intriguing and engaging, particularly regarding the mystery of a ship lost at sea, while others criticize it for being basic, lacking depth, and having an abrupt ending. Many appreciate the atmosphere and horror elements, but feel that the narrative could benefit from more lore and a more satisfying resolution. Overall, it offers a decent experience for its price, especially for newcomers to the horror genre, despite its narrative shortcomings.
- “The story really surprised me and I thought it would either drag on or disappoint, but in about four and a half hours of gameplay, it stayed tight and captivated me to see what the hell was going on on this ship.”
- “Aside from that, great puzzles, intriguing story, and a very good job on all the horror elements and jump scares, keeping things tense.”
- “The story is an awesome plus, being very detailed.”
- “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.”
graphics
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
33%
8%
The game's graphics have received mixed reviews, with many praising the smooth visuals and atmospheric design that enhance the horror experience. While some players noted that the graphics are solid for an indie title, others found certain elements, like the appearance of dead bodies, lacking in realism. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the game's eerie ambiance, making it a worthwhile experience for players.
- “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.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game exhibits some minor stability issues, including occasional glitches like falling through the floor, but these are generally not game-breaking and are mitigated by quicksave features. It runs smoothly on various platforms, including the Steam Deck and Linux, with players reporting good performance overall despite a few bugs.
- “Runs great on a Steam Deck too.”
- “Played on Linux using Proton Experimental, it works and runs great. Nice graphics, amazing sound, and the atmosphere is unlike any other horror game. The gameplay is very well done and comparable to bigger game names.”
- “The game will take you around 3 hours to complete, which is a lot better than most horror games that only offer 30 minutes to 1 hour of playtime.”
- “I fell through the floor once; luckily, it did a quicksave, so I didn't lose any progress.”
- “A little buggy here and there, but nothing game-breaking.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
13%
75%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly in later sections where key-fetching becomes repetitive and detracts from the overall experience. While the game starts off engaging, it ultimately leads to frustration as players are forced to backtrack frequently after dying.
- “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 ([spoiler]the medical wing[/spoiler]) 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.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
50%
38%
The music in the game is noted for creating an eerie and atmospheric world, enhancing the sense of dread and suspense. However, some players have criticized the lack of variety and the presence of chase music that feels misplaced, as there are no actual threats to escape from. Additionally, technical issues have been reported, with the game's music causing performance problems on some systems.
- “The mystery, the aesthetic, the ambiance, and the soundtrack all create this eerie, atmospheric world of dread and suspense.”
- “You can see the cut in budget with one human NPC model used a lot for every human NPC and the lack of music.”
- “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?”
- “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!”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is polarizing; while some players find the slapstick elements genuinely funny, particularly the character's misfortunes, others feel that the comedic execution falls flat and is ultimately underwhelming. Overall, the humor may appeal to those who enjoy physical comedy, but it does not resonate with everyone.
- “Honestly, it's really funny; the character of this game just gets his butt kicked; it's slapstick.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
Overall, the game's optimization is praised for its excellence, allowing it to run smoothly at the highest settings, even in 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 highest settings.”
- “The game runs smoothly even with the rain at the start.”
- “The game has some minor performance issues.”
- “The optimization is lacking, leading to noticeable frame drops during gameplay.”
- “There are frequent stutters and lag, making the experience less enjoyable.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Players find the game offers decent replayability primarily due to its length and the presence of collectibles, which encourage completionists to aim for 100%.
- “The length of the game is decent, and collectibles give it some replay value if you want to achieve 100% completion.”