Transliminal: Beyond The Backrooms
- November 15, 2022
- Corey Jeffries
- 5h median play time
Get on SteamIn "Transliminal: Beyond The Backrooms," players wake up in a never-ending maze of monotonous rooms, with only a faulty video camera as their guide. The game's visual style, reminiscent of retro VHS recordings, reflects the character's physical and mental state, adding to the eerie atmosphere. However, the low-resolution, grainy visuals may not appeal to all players. The goal is to navigate the labyrinth and uncover the mystery behind this disconcerting place.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Transliminal is widely regarded as the best Backrooms game on Steam, offering a unique and immersive exploration experience with procedurally generated levels that keep gameplay fresh and engaging.
- The game features a rich atmosphere with excellent audio design, including music cassettes and narrative dialogue that enhance the overall experience, making it both creepy and captivating.
- Players appreciate the option to toggle entities on and off, allowing for a more relaxed exploration of the beautifully crafted environments without constant threats.
- The game suffers from performance issues, particularly in certain levels like the pool rooms, where frame rates can drop significantly, impacting the overall experience.
- Some players have reported minor bugs and glitches, such as clipping through walls or encountering areas that fail to generate properly, which can disrupt gameplay.
- While the game is praised for its exploration elements, some players feel it could benefit from additional horror elements and more diverse entity interactions to enhance the tension.
- story6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's story is highly praised for its engaging narrative and strong voice acting, which enhances the exploration experience. Players appreciate the procedural generation of levels that keeps the gameplay fresh while unraveling an intriguing plot that encourages deeper investigation. Overall, the atmosphere and storytelling are considered well-executed, making for a compelling experience.
“The story is interesting enough and leaves you wanting to piece more of it together; the voice acting is great, and they don't refrain from having dialogue and monologues, which you get to experience in abundance.”
“Atmosphere is spot on, the story is done very well, and the procedural generation of the layout of levels as you play keeps it from getting boring.”
“The main focus is just exploring and unraveling the story.”
“Everything is easy to find if you stay in level 0 long enough, so it doesn't take long at all to really develop the story.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its immersive and chilling qualities, featuring unique areas and well-executed designs that enhance the experience. The procedural generation of levels keeps gameplay fresh, while the sound and creature design contribute to a truly captivating ambiance. Overall, it stands out as one of the most atmospheric entries in the backrooms genre.
“Tons of content, lots of unique areas; you're almost always experiencing something new. The events, entities, atmosphere, and designs are all really well done.”
“Atmosphere is spot on, the story is done very well, and the procedural generation of the layout of levels as you play keeps it from getting boring.”
“The sheer power of the atmosphere and the ambiance makes for a truly chilling experience through and through. Despite being in early access, it is easily worth the money at full price!”
“The sheer power of the atmosphere and the ambiance makes for a truly chilling experience through and through and, despite being in early access, is easily worth the money at full price!”
“The game has a true backrooms atmosphere.”
“Tons of content, lots of unique areas; you're almost always experiencing something new, but the atmosphere feels lacking.”
- music5 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The music in the game is highly praised, featuring a fantastic soundtrack that includes cool synth tracks found on collectible cassettes throughout the levels. Players appreciate the variety of music, which enhances the atmosphere and provides an engaging auditory experience as they explore the game's unique and eerie environments.
“Oh, and one of the best parts is that you can find music tapes along your journey, so you don't always have to walk in silence.”
“Also has tons of cool synth music on cassettes you find during your exploration along with spoken research cassettes.”
“The music is great.”
- gameplay4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The gameplay is praised for its depth and detail, encouraging players to return for new experiences, despite some criticism regarding the stamina mechanic. Overall, it features engaging mechanics that enhance environmental interaction and survival, complemented by a strong story and voice acting.
“A lot of thought and detail continue to be put into gameplay, and while admittedly I'm not very accomplished at it, I keep coming back to see what's new and have not been disappointed!”
“The story is great, the gameplay is great, and I really like the voice acting, even if at some points it might just seem a little off.”
“Plenty of great game mechanics to interact with, which makes me pay attention to clues in the environment on how to survive.”
“The implementation of stamina feels like an unnecessary mechanic in a game like this, in my opinion.”
“While a lot of thought and detail has been put into gameplay, I find it frustrating and not very enjoyable.”
“The gameplay can be quite repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged for long periods.”
- graphics4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed feedback; while some users find them lacking, others praise the unique art style and the overall visual experience. The game features a variety of environments, including horrifying settings and gross entities, which contribute to its immersive atmosphere. Overall, the graphics are considered a minor drawback compared to the game's other strengths, such as its clever design and fantastic music.
“Unique art style, uncanny rooms, tons of levels with multiple pathways, clever dialogue, gross entities, horrifying environments, fantastic music; I could go on.”
“This game has it all: graphics, entities, and a randomly generated environment.”
“Great graphics, extremely large procedural levels (infinite).”
“The only thing I don't like is the graphics, but I guess it's not a big deal because every other aspect is great.”
“This game has it all, but the graphics leave much to be desired.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the game highly replayable due to its engaging and interactive elements, with many considering it one of the best in the backrooms genre. Ongoing updates are expected to further enhance its replay value, making it a compelling choice for repeated playthroughs.
“So far, this is genuinely one of the most fleshed out and entertaining, replayable backrooms games I've ever played, and I've played quite a few.”
“Fun, scary, interactive, and replayable.”
“With continued updates, I'm sure it'll increase replayability for me.”
“The game lacks enough variety to make me want to play it again.”
“Once you finish the main story, there's little incentive to replay.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
While players appreciate the game's overall quality, many report significant performance issues, with frame rates dropping to around 20 fps even after optimization updates. Overall, there is a strong desire for better optimization to enhance the gaming experience.
“Other than the wonky performance, this is by far the best backrooms game I've played!”
“Wish it was optimized better, but cool game.”
“Even after the level 0 optimization update, the game performs at about 20 fps.”
“The optimization is so poor that it feels like I'm playing on a toaster.”
“I expected better performance after the latest patch, but the frame drops are still unbearable.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users have reported encountering a few glitches, indicating that while the game generally runs smoothly, there are occasional stability issues that may affect the overall experience.
“I've encountered a few glitches so far.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it hard to enjoy.”
“There are constant stability issues that disrupt gameplay.”
