The Black Masses
- October 3, 2024
- Brilliant Game Studios
- 10h median play time
Get on Steam"The Black Masses" is a first-person shooter game that takes place in a grim, demon-infested world. As a member of a secret organization, players must fight their way through hordes of nightmarish enemies using an array of weapons and abilities. The game features intense, fast-paced combat, as well as a dark, atmospheric setting that will keep players on the edge of their seats.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a unique concept of combining medieval settings with zombie hordes, providing a fresh take on the genre.
- The sheer number of zombies on screen at once creates thrilling and intense gameplay moments.
- The climbing mechanics allow for creative exploration and add a fun dimension to navigating the environment.
- The game suffers from severe optimization issues, causing frequent lag and crashes even on high-end PCs.
- Many gameplay mechanics, including combat and AI behavior, feel clunky and unpolished, detracting from the overall experience.
- The lack of meaningful content and repetitive quests lead to a feeling of emptiness and boredom after a short playtime.
- story237 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 76 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally perceived as weak and lacking depth, with many players noting that quests are vague and repetitive, often revolving around simple objectives like killing zombies. While some find the narrative intriguing and appreciate the lore found in notes and books, others criticize the limited character interactions and the overall lack of engaging content, leading to a feeling of fragmentation in the storytelling. Overall, the story has potential but requires significant improvement and expansion to enhance player investment and enjoyment.
“The story has a good base, just started, and still has more to come, with expanding areas, dungeons, cities, and a large world to explore.”
“Great atmosphere, great combination of story, loot, and action.”
“The story exists but is fragmented beyond reason.”
“The narrative of the game is simple, pushes you forward as fast as possible, and forgets about every plot point and character once you are done with their quests.”
“The storytelling leaves a lot to be desired.”
- optimization130 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 51 % neutral mentions
- 36 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players reporting severe performance issues, including frequent stuttering, freezing, and high CPU usage, even on high-end systems. While some users acknowledge the game's potential and fun gameplay, they emphasize that the current state of optimization is a significant barrier to enjoyment, leading to frustrations and calls for urgent updates. Overall, the consensus is that the game is poorly optimized and requires substantial improvements to be playable for a wider audience.
“If the devs fix the optimization, I'll 100% come back, because this game and concept is such a fun time!”
“The main bragging points of this game is definitely the massive scale at which the game can throw enemies at you without major performance issues.”
“With this being such a new game and having a small dev team, it does have some optimization issues as well as some bugs, but from what I see the devs are pretty active and work towards fixing issues as they arise.”
“Unfortunately, the optimization got so bad that I can't even run the game on potato mode and get a smooth experience.”
“The game is riddled with bugs and performance issues, and for just ten dollars more, you can buy Dying Light.”
“It's horrible optimization is something to behold; my computer can run something like Rainbow Six Siege on max settings, and I can't get more than 10 frames in the first town on potato settings.”
- gameplay120 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the fun combat mechanics and parkour elements, while others criticize the lack of polish, optimization issues, and repetitive quests. Although the core mechanics show potential and can be enjoyable, numerous bugs and a simplistic gameplay loop detract from the overall experience, leaving it feeling unfinished and in need of significant improvements. Overall, while there are enjoyable aspects, the game is still considered rough around the edges, typical of early access titles.
“The gameplay is incredibly solid and the hordes don't make my PC cry, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes zombies.”
“The climbing mechanics are a very neat touch and expand the potential for exploration; it isn't glitchy nor does it make the game too easy.”
“The core gameplay is there and solid, the parkour is very good, graphics are good, and the game world is excellent.”
“The quests are pretty vague, and the climbing/parkour mechanics are basically non-existent, so parts of the game where climbing was required were really difficult.”
“The gameplay loop is sincerely boring as sin.”
“This game is still in early access so take this with a grain of salt; stuttering on the lowest settings when my PC can run other games just fine on max, barebones looting system, quest markers don't appear, the intro sequence played 3 times in a row before it ended, each time the ship bugged out, and had objects popping in and out of view, the intro sequence freezing for 70% of the cutscene, and poorly done mechanics.”
- graphics100 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the decent visuals and consistent art style, while others criticize the poor optimization and performance issues, leading to lag and graphical glitches. Many users note that despite the game's aesthetic appeal, it struggles to run smoothly even on lower settings, resulting in a frustrating experience. Overall, while the graphics have potential, they are hindered by technical shortcomings that detract from the gameplay experience.
“The graphics are gorgeous and I love the combat animations.”
“Graphics are beautiful and run smoothly at maxed settings.”
“The core gameplay is there and solid, the parkour is very good, graphics are good and the game world is excellent.”
“Unoptimized mess, graphics are terrible yet it runs like garbage.”
“My GPU is a Nvidia 1080 which can run Arma 3 at ultra graphics at 60 fps, yet somehow it still gets 100% used at potato graphics. I don't know what they're doing; the game stutters, glitches, and gets little to no updates. I cannot recommend this game in its current state.”
“I'd like to see how the game looks when it is finished, but as far as it is now, on ultra settings it looks like you're playing a game from 2005 graphic-wise.”
- stability70 mentions
- 4 % positive mentions
- -1 % neutral mentions
- 97 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and performance issues, including frequent freezes and poor optimization even on high-end hardware. While some players acknowledge the potential of the game, they emphasize that it feels unfinished and often unplayable due to its numerous technical problems. Overall, the consensus is that the game is currently too buggy to recommend, especially for those seeking a polished experience.
“No glitches or bugs found so far.”
“The game runs smoothly without any interruptions.”
“I appreciate the stability; it allows for an immersive experience.”
“Massively buggy, largely unfinished, could be a lot better.”
“The game is badly optimized and very, very buggy.”
“Not even 10 minutes into the game, after around five stutters, I've picked up the health potion and the key and after leaving the building, the game freezes and crashes.”
- music46 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising the soundtrack as beautiful and immersive, enhancing the overall experience during gameplay. However, some players find the music repetitive and not fitting the game's theme, leading to immersion-breaking moments. Additionally, technical issues such as overlapping tracks and sound cutouts detract from the overall enjoyment of the music.
“The music in this game is genuinely beautiful and even enchanting, making you want to look around and take in the environment.”
“The soundtrack is phenomenal and triggers to match your environment and mob interaction.”
“Music plays at nearly all times and it always makes the game feel more like a journey.”
“Everything from the animations, music, sound, visuals, etc. are dated.”
“I previously left a negative review because I was unable to use the volume settings to turn down or disable the awful and repetitive music that plays on an endless loop.”
“The whole time I was playing, the battle music was overlapping with other music, so I would be hearing two music tracks at once even if I wasn't in battle.”
- grinding12 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players have mixed feelings about the grinding aspect of the game; while some find it enjoyable and rewarding, particularly when discovering new weapons, others describe it as tedious and repetitive, especially when it comes to combat and looting. The necessity to constantly manage resources and the lack of efficient looting mechanics contribute to a frustrating experience for many, leading to a sense of burnout after extended play sessions. Overall, grinding can be a double-edged sword, offering both satisfaction and tedium depending on the player's perspective.
“Another thing is the combat; it can either be incredibly satisfying or very tedious, especially when enemies are at high levels and it's just mashing the left mouse for ages.”
“Looting feels like a tedious grind with potatoes and tomatoes here and there to heal, odd potions, and tiny items like bullets, so it's a bit harder to just quickly loot. It's all single item pickup (at least that I know of).”
“I poured 12 straight hours into this game just mindlessly grinding away.”
- atmosphere10 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 30 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive and handcrafted feel, effectively combining elements of mystery, tension, and darkness. Players appreciate the solid direction and the way the environment enhances the overall experience, although some suggest that a more somber tone could heighten the tension further. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
“I love the atmosphere and feel of this game.”
“Great atmosphere, great combination of story, loot, and action.”
“-the atmosphere is amazing, the game looks and feels handcrafted.”
“Rather, I feel a somber and low tone would've given a more tense atmosphere.”
- monetization7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is heavily criticized, with multiple users labeling it a "cash grab" and expressing skepticism about the developers' intentions. Many feel that the game prioritizes profit over quality, using low-effort assets and lacking genuine engagement. Overall, the sentiment suggests a strong disapproval of the monetization strategy employed.
“These developers are just here for a cash grab.”
“This game is a garbage cash grab.”
“This is nothing but a shameless cash grab with store-bought assets, and I don't believe any of the other reviews are from real accounts.”
- humor7 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mix of absurdity and self-awareness, with players enjoying the comedic elements such as feeding zombies into a windmill and the intentionally poor voice acting. Subtle humor is woven throughout the game, particularly in short notes that offer both comedic relief and useful hints, enhancing the overall experience without disrupting immersion.
“There's more than enough game here to be worth $20 right now; any game that lets me feed zombies into a windmill like squirrels into a woodchipper, whilst laughing insanely...”
“The voice acting is hilariously bad.”
“Lore and humor can be found throughout the game as short notes.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Character development is present but players express a desire for it to be significantly expanded, along with a wish for options in character creation and editing.
“Character development is present, but I hope to see it expanded immensely. Additionally, I would love to have some level of character creation or editing.”
“The depth of character development really enhances the storytelling, making each character feel unique and relatable.”
“I appreciate how the game allows characters to evolve based on player choices, adding a personal touch to the overall experience.”
“Character development is present, but I hope to see it expanded immensely. Additionally, I would like some level of character creation or editing.”
“The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
“I was disappointed by the limited character arcs; they felt predictable and uninspired.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional impact of encountering the first horde to be significant, particularly at night when the limited visibility heightens the tension and fear. However, this emotional intensity diminishes during the day, as the horde appears less daunting in the light.
“When encountering the very first horde, it was impressive in size and had a significant emotional impact, especially at night due to the limited light provided by your lantern. During the day, it was just a big mass of zombies.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users feel that the game's replayability is currently limited, citing a lack of content and playability, with some expressing a willingness to revise their opinions once more content is added.
“It's a cool concept, but I'll change my review when the game is in a more playable state and has more than 5 hours of content.”
