In Fear I Trust: this game is so scary you will leave the lights on

IFIT 2I guess I’ve recently discovered that horror games scare me… a lot. A few months ago, I reviewed Indigo Lake and had the same experience. There is something about playing a horror game with a first person point of view (POV) that just freaks me out.

In Fear I Trust is a horror game that puts you in the first person POV of a prisoner with no memory and no way out. It is a mix between a room escape (or, prison escape in this case) and a point-and-click mystery game. If you are like me, you ‘ll play this game with the lights on and the sound off…

Design

The story takes place in what appears to be an abandoned prison. Or, is it a medical research facility? The imagery is always a grayish green tint to create a dark and disturbing atmosphere. While some objects can be viewed close up, there are others that are just out of sight, making them creepier than if you could see them properly.

The view is first person. So walking around is eerie because you can’t see what is behind you, or even next to you, unless you look around. Looking around requires you to swipe or rotate the virtual joystick. If you start to get scared, you’ll be swiping like a madman all around the room.

To move, you can either double tap the spot you want to go to, or use the virtual joysticks. The double-tap method will get you to your destination fast, but you may miss something important. Using the dual joysticks will give you more control over speed and movement, but it takes longer to get around. Use the left joystick to walk and the right joystick to turn. Don’t forget, you can swipe your finger across the screen to look around. Don’t rely on the joystick to rotate you all of the time. That just takes too long.

There is blood, a lot of blood. It is splattered on walls, pooled up on floors, and just everywhere. Additionally, there are lots of medical tools, including tables and chairs with straps on them. I think you get the picture. It’s scary.

Sometimes, you will see ghost images of past patients. Sometimes, you will see actual patients who’ve recently been tested on. Sometimes you will flashback to times when you were tested on.

The soundtrack just pushes everything over the edge and into spine tingling. I tried playing the game with headphones, but that only lasted about 15 minutes. I started thinking I was hearing things inside my house. After about 15 more minutes, I muted the game.

IFIT 1Gameplay

Players start off watching a cinema clip with some contextual information. When you first “wake up” you will be taken through a short tutorial that will explain how to move, interact with objects, read your journal – which includes items you’ve found – and use your special power of “Retrospective vision.” You will be directed to pick up a couple of items, but after that, you will be on your own.

As you walk around, you will find items to pick up. Some are pages of diaries or lists of patients. Some are items that will be needed later, like keys and beakers of medicine. Pick up everything you can and use Retrospective vision often. This will help you find things you may have otherwise missed. When you pinch to zoom, you will activate Retrospective vision. It will highlight areas where an object can be picked up. It will also offer clues, but not solutions, to solving puzzles. You can only use Retrospective vision for a short period of time before you pass out, so don’t stay in the hint mode for too long.

Let me just do you a favor and tell you that these puzzles are not as hard as you think they will be. Don’t overthink them. The second puzzle stumped me for more than a half hour. I tried to solve it like a Sudoku puzzle. I pushed in so many buttons on each row and so many on each column. The solution is way, way simpler.

Players move around the prison/medical research facility using two different types of controls. The main controls are dual joysticks. You can walk around and rotate by using the left and right controls. However, there is another, faster way to move, too. If you want to get across the room, double tap the floor in the location you want to go. If you want to look around, don’t use the joystick. Swipe your finger across the screen instead. It is faster.

To access your journal, swipe upward on the screen with two fingers. To put the journal away, swipe downward with two fingers. The journal can be very helpful with solving puzzles. Examine every item you pick up. Sometimes, extra information is given when you look at an item.

I made it through the first chapter without having a heart attack. What I learned from the experience is that I missed a lot of items. I highly suggest using Retrospective vision at least once in every room you visit so you will find more of the items.

IFIT 3The Good

I had a lot of fun playing through the first chapter. It is engaging, engrossing, and really makes my heart pound. Sure, I’m a bit of a scared-y cat, but that’s what makes these games so fun for me. They really freak me out.

Although I struggled to get through the first puzzle because it was easier than I expected it to be, I enjoyed solving the mini games. They offer just the right amount of brainteaser fun without driving you mad.

The Bad

The load time is excruciatingly slow. Every time. It takes at least 30 seconds to load the game when you open the app. Oftentimes longer.

Because I spent so long trying to solve the second puzzle, I realized that this game needs just a little bit more in the helpful hint department. The Retrospective vision is very useful, but sometimes, you just need to be able to skip a puzzle if you can’t figure it out.

Value

In Fear I Trust costs $2.99. Most room escape games and point-and-click games run about $4.99, so you are getting a great bargain. There is somewhat of a replay value because you might want to play again if you failed to find all of the objects the first time through. I know I’ll be replaying the game again after I’ve finished the second chapter.

Conclusion

Fans of room escape and point-and-click games should definitely play this. It is fun, scary, and has some challenging puzzles. It is not action packed at all. In fact, you don’t ever come across real people that you must hide from. The rooms are fully explorative, but will still leave you with a creepy taste in your mouth. This game is available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Download it in the App Store today.

Related Apps

Indigo Lake is pretty scary. Did you know that Slender Man 2 came out recently?

Are you a fan of room escape games? Does this horror-themed title look interesting to you?