As a part of Steam Next Fest, a demo for Total Chaos has been made available. The survival horror title is based on a Doom 2 mod that completely changed the game into an entirely new experience. Now, we have a small look at what happens when an intense mod becomes its own entity. The developers of the upcoming game promise a terrifying adventure full of mystery and monstrosities as players are tasked with unraveling its story. With a snippet of gameplay available, does it seem that Total Chaos will deliver? If you don’t want to be spoiled at all, now’s the time to turn away.
A Brief Look Inside Total Chaos
The demo for Total Chaos takes players right to Fort Oasis, which was once a coal mining town full of workers. Now, it’s abandoned, dilapidated, and cast into a seemingly perpetual darkness. The method of transportation to this eerie location is a bumpy and disastrous boat ride that sets the tone for the rest of the demo. The player character’s goal when exploring Fort Oasis is to uncover a mysterious radio transmission that beckons players deep into the mines. It’s quite the effective introduction to the game, and it even has a scare itself towards the end of the sequence.
From there, players must travel through winding and darkened tunnels with only flickering lights and candles lighting their way. While doing so, they collect items that can be used to heal themselves, which happen to include both medication and rotting food left behind. Similar to games like Resident Evil and Outlast, there’s a bit of puzzle-solving to be done as well. Of course, things don’t go smoothly when the island’s less-than-friendly inhabitants make their appearance. Since this is partially a survival game, players need to keep up with their hunger and thirst while dealing with threats of death.
What the Demo Does Right
The biggest positive of the demo is the environment building that Trigger Happy Interactive has been working on. The entire demo is dark, dreary, and menacing. It fits the traditional setting that is to be expected from horror games of this nature. The sound design helps as well, as players are haunted by a subtle but eerie score and sound effects. Even the saving mechanics add to the scare factor due to saving being done on old record players that play old tunes that eventually warp into something creepy.
Moving on to other mechanics seen in the demo, the user interface (UI) and crafting mechanics are both simple and effective. The game doesn’t rely on complexities to make weapon crafting immersive. It just gets the job done. Speaking of combat, fighting the enemies found in the demo is also simple. Players just need to hit walking monstrosities with a hammer or a pickaxe a few times, back up to avoid blows, and go back in. While this can be seen as boring to some players, others may enjoy how it feels.
What Remains to Be Seen
While the demo set the stage for Total Chaos’s full release, there are many things to be revealed or discovered. A larger variety of weapons, especially ones that last longer, feel missing from this short snippet. The ability to throw at least a weak punch is also missing, which may become stressful for players who overlook crafting items in order to make weapons. However, it could be said that if players do miss crafting materials, it’s all a part of what makes Total Chaos a truly scary survival horror game.
