Uncanny Valley

51%
Game Brain Score Based on 194 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • atmosphere
Uncanny Valley Game Cover
Technical hiccups and unclear directives keep Uncanny Valley from being excellent, but this 2D pixel survival horror title has enough eerie vibes and disturbing concepts to keep the player engaged.
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Uncanny Valley is a true survival horror indie game, available on Steam, that differentiates itself from action-oriented titles. Players control a security guard in a remote facility, where they must balance exploration, evasion, and engagement with various threats while uncovering a chilling mystery. The game is known for its unsettling atmosphere, multiple endings, and tough choices that impact the story.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Play​station Vita
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

51%
Audience ScoreBased on 194 reviews
story38 positive mentions
gameplay16 negative mentions
  • The game features a unique and interesting premise with a branching story that encourages replayability.
  • The atmosphere, music, and pixel art style create a creepy and immersive experience.
  • The game successfully builds tension and unease, making it a compelling horror experience.
  • The controls are clunky and overly complicated, making gameplay frustrating at times.
  • The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt the experience.
  • The pacing is slow, with tedious backtracking and unskippable sections that can detract from the overall enjoyment.
  • story139 mentions

    The game's story is a mixed bag, featuring a branching narrative that offers replay value but can be confusing and poorly executed due to gameplay mechanics and bugs. While some players appreciate the eerie atmosphere and intriguing backstory, many find the plot disjointed and difficult to follow, often requiring multiple playthroughs to grasp fully. Overall, the story has potential but is hampered by technical issues and pacing problems, leaving players divided on its effectiveness.

    • “Like 'Lone Survivor' and 'Home' before it, this is a story-oriented horror game that is heavily influenced by the likes of 'Silent Hill', but chooses to present itself in a more 'retro' 2D side-scrolling style with heavy pixelation.”
    • “The story itself has decent characters, a fairly believable progression, and an excellent atmosphere of mystery.”
    • “Uncanny Valley is story-driven in the best way possible. In a world of horror games full of jump scares, Uncanny Valley is really good at building tension through audio tapes, emails, and subtle storytelling.”
    • “The story itself is kind of confusing, to say the least (perhaps that was the point; search me)!”
    • “The story is so jumpy and fast-paced that I feel I can never finish the current plot point or information dump before it throws me out of the scene and forces me to leave behind everything I only just started doing.”
    • “The biggest issue I have with this game is that it is a choice-based game where you have no idea where you are supposed to make choices or why to make them until after you have played it once or twice and see the overarching story some more, this leads to playthrough 1 and 2 being 5 nights of total boredom and looking around trying to find something exciting.”
  • gameplay66 mentions

    The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its tediousness, clunky mechanics, and numerous bugs that detract from the overall experience. While the atmosphere, art style, and story are praised, the gameplay often feels repetitive and poorly executed, leading to frustration rather than enjoyment. Despite some interesting mechanics and a unique premise, the execution leaves much to be desired, making it hard for players to fully engage with the game.

    • “Gameplay primarily consists of collecting items to solve puzzles, and later incorporates some stealth and action elements.”
    • “But the story, gameplay, and idea itself are just awesome.”
    • “It is a survival horror at its core, with old-school mechanics and relatively easy puzzles... and incredible atmosphere.”
    • “Nice atmosphere, music, art, and story, but the gameplay is tedious and often cryptic.”
    • “The mechanics make the entirety of it a clusterf*ck that is hard to enjoy despite the amount of interest I had in the basis and plot of the game.”
    • “Uncanny Valley shows a lot of promise, but the harsh reality of its non-linear narrative structure and reliance on multiple playthroughs to make sense of it all means it is asking too much in the face of the early game's uninspired, repetitive gameplay.”
  • atmosphere59 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its eerie and immersive qualities, enhanced by strong sound design and a captivating art style reminiscent of classic horror titles. However, many players note that technical issues, such as glitches and poor controls, detract from the overall experience, making it difficult to fully enjoy the atmospheric elements. Despite these drawbacks, the game's ability to create tension and intrigue through its setting and music is frequently highlighted as a significant strength.

    • “I think they do a terrific job of setting up an unnerving atmosphere, with both the visual style and with the sound design.”
    • “The game has a very enchanting art style and atmospheric soundtrack, which gives a very interesting old-style horror feel to it.”
    • “This game builds up such an intense atmosphere combined with very good sound and an interesting plot; it comes together so well!”
    • “Which is a shame, given the atmosphere is something I could definitely have dug, given the motivation to continue.”
    • “Touching on the bad bits, the game does have its share of bugs; I got stuck on a computer screen for a full night once, and here and there I had minor graphical hiccups with dialogue boxes getting caught off-screen, overlapping each other, etc. A particular gameplay section kept flickering a split second of the area fully lit with the wrong player character before loading properly, which distracted from the spooky atmosphere that was supposed to be building.”
    • “If only the graphics and the atmosphere were bad, I wouldn't be that disappointed.”
  • graphics40 mentions

    The game's graphics, characterized by a retro pixel art style, are generally well-received for their charm and ability to enhance the horror atmosphere. However, numerous bugs and glitches detract from the overall experience, with some players noting that while the visuals are appealing, they can be marred by technical issues. Overall, the art style is praised for its effectiveness in creating a creepy ambiance, but the game's performance issues hinder its potential.

    • “The graphics and creepy sound are well-done.”
    • “The game has a very enchanting art style and atmospheric soundtrack, which gives a very interesting old style horror feel to it.”
    • “The art style is retro pixel art and really well done, with good animations, character designs, and backgrounds.”
    • “Well, I have to say that while I felt this visual aesthetic somehow 'worked' for those other games, it did seem a tad ineffectual here.”
    • “Touching on the bad bits, the game does have its share of bugs. I got stuck on a computer screen for a full night once, and here and there I had minor graphical hiccups with dialogue boxes getting caught off-screen, overlapping each other, etc. A particular gameplay section kept flickering a split second of the area fully lit with the wrong player character before loading properly, which distracted from the spooky atmosphere that was supposed to be building.”
    • “Graphics-wise, it's basic.”
  • stability37 mentions

    The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, making it nearly unplayable for many users. While some appreciate the atmosphere and story potential, the overwhelming instability, including crashes and broken mechanics, significantly detracts from the overall experience. Overall, players recommend avoiding the game until substantial fixes are implemented.

    • “The art style is great and the mechanics are interesting, but the game is just way too buggy and broken to give it a good review.”
    • “My first experiences with it back in 2016 led to numerous crashes, glitches, slow-downs, and the constant need for Tylenol extra strength that a friend and I gave up on it after a tentative and distressing 20 minutes.”
    • “Runs very unstable, got quite a few glitches; save games are deleted when closing and reopening the game... all in all it feels like a beta version - luckily the game isn't *that* long (in a single play-through).”
  • music36 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to create a creepy and immersive atmosphere, with many reviewers highlighting the soundtrack as a standout feature that enhances the overall experience. While some noted a lack of variety in the tracks, the quality and effectiveness of the sound design, including ambient effects, contribute significantly to the game's unsettling tone. Overall, the music is considered a strong asset, complementing the game's art style and narrative.

    • “The soundtrack really makes the game excellent; it really enhances the atmosphere that the game creates, even though there are few tracks that last over two minutes.”
    • “If you love survival horror, great atmosphere with lots of unsettling scenes and incredible music, then Uncanny Valley is a game you will want to buy and play for a long, long time.”
    • “The music score is just the most repetitive, uncreative garbage I've ever heard, and I play For Honor (which isn't to say For Honor music is uncreative or bad, but it is so repetitive it's painful).”
    • “The music is in low variety, but I only say that because I got the soundtrack.”
    • “The music is well done and successfully establishes a very unsettling atmospheric experience.”
  • replayability13 mentions

    The game offers significant replayability through its branching storylines and multiple endings, encouraging players to explore different choices and outcomes. However, some players found the horror elements off-putting, which may limit their willingness to replay. Overall, those who enjoy choice-driven narratives and are comfortable with the game's themes are likely to find substantial replay value.

    • “The game also changes based on the choices you make, giving it some replay value.”
    • “There are a lot of potential endings and ways to take the story which allow for decent replayability.”
    • “The game's interesting consequence system adds great replayability.”
    • “While the game's strong part seems to be its replayability, I never got to replay it because the androids were too creepy for me.”
    • “It purports to feature replayability, multiple endings, and player influence, but accommodates none of those in its design.”
    • “If you like horror and games about making choices, with replayability dependent on multiple endings, then you may like this game; however, I strongly suggest you download the demo first and try it out, because I would never have guessed the content of this game from the trailers.”
  • grinding13 mentions

    Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often leading to a loss of motivation to replay sections for different outcomes. While the atmosphere, music, and story are praised, the repetitive nature of gameplay, long unskippable dialogues, and cryptic solutions detract from the overall experience, making it feel slow and cumbersome. Many reviewers suggest that improvements in pacing and mechanics could enhance enjoyment and reduce the tedium associated with replaying the game.

    • “It's pretty tedious at times, and kind of kills any motivation to go through the motions again to get them.”
    • “Replaying the game is discouraged by extremely tedious first days full of long, unskippable dialogue.”
    • “Because dying and repeating the same section over and over is tedious and leads to frustration.”
  • humor2 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by its unexpected and often absurd moments, such as bugs that lead to comical situations, alongside a mix of creepy and funny elements that enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the blend of humor with gameplay, finding it entertaining despite some complications.

    • “I've just completed the one possible scenario, and I can clearly say that it is awesome, sometimes creepy, sometimes really funny. Happy to have this game; I guess I'm going to spend many more hours to find out other scenarios.”
    • “Way too complicated for the simple mechanics of the game and buggy to the point of being hilarious (opening inventory during credits, turning flashlight on and off while you're unconscious on the floor, etc.).”
  • character development2 mentions

    While the retro pixel art style is praised for its quality in animations and character designs, the reviews suggest that the character development itself may not be as strong, indicating a potential disconnect between visual appeal and depth of character growth.

    • “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with them.”
    • “I was disappointed by how predictable the character arcs were; there was no real growth or change.”
    • “The characters seem one-dimensional, and their backstories are underdeveloped, leaving me wanting more.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    While the game aims to create an emotional and immersive experience, technical issues such as bugs and graphical glitches detract from the overall atmosphere, potentially undermining the intended emotional impact.

    • “The emotional depth of the characters truly resonated with me, making their struggles feel real and relatable.”
    • “I found myself deeply invested in the story, feeling a range of emotions from joy to heartbreak as the narrative unfolded.”
    • “The game masterfully captures the essence of human experience, evoking feelings of nostalgia and empathy throughout the journey.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    Reviewers appreciate that the game avoids the pitfalls of typical "early access" cash grabs, indicating a more thoughtful and fair monetization approach.

    • “This game feels like a blatant cash grab, with overpriced microtransactions that ruin the experience.”
    • “The monetization model is frustratingly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
    • “I can't believe how much they charge for basic content; it feels like they prioritize profit over player satisfaction.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

68% average critic score

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Play time

10hMedian play time
10hAverage play time
10-10hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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