Them: The Summoning
- May 15, 2014
- Gamatic
Get on Steam"Them: The Summoning" is a horror-adventure game where you, framed for murder, must uncover the truth behind your friend's suspicious death and his wife's haunting visions. Solve puzzles and mini-games in a chilling paranormal world to prove your innocence and rid yourself of a vengeful ghostly specter. Experience immersive hidden object scenes in this suspenseful, supernatural journey.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has an interesting plot with some twists that keep players engaged.
- The hidden object scenes provide a classic gameplay experience for fans of the genre.
- The soundtrack is decent and adds to the overall atmosphere of the game.
- The graphics are low resolution and often blurry, making it difficult to find hidden objects.
- The game lacks proper resolution options and is locked at 4:3, which is outdated for modern displays.
- The story ends on a cliffhanger with no resolution, leaving players unsatisfied and frustrated.
- story39 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 74 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story has received largely negative feedback, with many reviewers noting that it feels incomplete and unsatisfying, as it is only the first chapter of a planned trilogy that may never be finished. While some found the plot to have potential and a few interesting twists, the overall execution is criticized for being dull, poorly written, and lacking resolution, leaving players frustrated with its cliffhanger ending. Additionally, the game's reliance on tedious pixel hunting detracts from the narrative experience, making it difficult to recommend.
“However, I wanted to review it, so I replayed it and I can say that the plot is interesting.”
“Them - The Summoning is the first chapter of a more complex story.”
“The music set the mood, I was creeped out by the surroundings and I loved the plot twist.”
“The story overall is nothing to write home about.”
“The murder mystery plot is slow to evolve, and the FMV style photo assets were not all that enjoyable.”
“The story had some potential, but it's an unfinished job, and it seemed they were just getting more and more lazy as time goes on.”
- graphics19 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 37 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game have received largely negative feedback, with many users citing low resolution and poor quality that detracts from the overall experience. While some players found the artwork acceptable, they noted issues with object clarity and hit detection, making it difficult to engage with the gameplay. Overall, the lack of customization options and the blurry visuals have left many feeling frustrated and disappointed.
“Firstly, the scenes are reasonably clear and the graphics are good enough, and most of the hidden items are decently placed, so the game is playable enough.”
“The story and cut scene graphics are fine.”
“~ nice graphics, could be improved.”
“There's no options to change the resolution for the game or customize the graphics settings.”
“The graphics are so low quality and blurry, I couldn't make out half of the objects in the scenes.”
“Terrible graphics resolution makes it awful to play.”
- music7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding the soundtrack decent and effective in setting the mood, while others feel it lacks depth and replay value. Overall, it is described as good but not memorable, with a few standout moments that enhance the atmosphere.
“The soundtrack is also good.”
“But on the really positive side, the soundtrack is nice.”
“The music set the mood; I was creeped out by the surroundings and I loved the plot twist.”
“The music was fine, but I would not listen to it for long.”
“Decent music.”
“The music set the mood; I was creeped out by the surroundings and I loved the plot twist, but where is the rest and a proper ending!?”
- gameplay7 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for being monotonous and frustrating, primarily consisting of hidden object puzzles that are made difficult by low-resolution graphics and poorly defined items. Players find the mechanics repetitive and confusing, with many objects blending into the background, leading to a lack of engagement and enjoyment. Overall, the gameplay experience is deemed unsatisfactory, with a score of 1/10 reflecting its shortcomings.
“The gameplay is purely a hidden object game, with an inventory to complete items or to find others.”
“The gameplay itself is super boring, not to mention with the low-res graphics it was a pain to go through each level, looking for 20 items that basically blend into mush.”
“All the objects were made to be true to real-world proportions, which is a really bad idea once you put it into gameplay.”
“Then for the gameplay, you can either think of it as 'very difficult' or 'stupid and impossible' - some of the things are too generically named, or just a few pixels shown in the image.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game suffers from poor optimization, as it is locked to a 4:3 aspect ratio and does not support modern display resolutions, resulting in a lack of smooth performance on contemporary gaming PCs.
“The game lacks proper widescreen aspect ratio support (it's locked at 4:3) or support for any modern gaming display resolutions, which limits the experience on contemporary gaming setups.”
“The resolution is locked and can't be changed, making it difficult to enjoy the game on modern hardware.”
“The game hasn't been modernized or updated to run smoothly on modern gaming PCs, which affects overall performance.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized due to a lackluster and boring story, which detracts from player engagement and investment in the narrative. The decision to only release one part of a planned trilogy has left players feeling unsatisfied and disconnected from the characters and plot.
“The story was very boring; they were planning three parts but ended up only releasing this one. You can imagine why.”
“I felt no emotional connection to the characters, making it hard to care about their struggles.”
“The attempts at emotional depth fell flat, leaving me feeling indifferent to the outcomes.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game is relatively short, lasting 1-2 hours, and, like many hidden object games, lacks significant replayability.
“The game isn't very long (1-2 hours depending on how much you want to rely on the hint button) and, like most hidden object games, isn't particularly replayable.”
“Once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to play it again, as the experience doesn't change.”
“The lack of varied outcomes or different paths makes replaying the game feel redundant.”
