The Alien Cube
Spiritual prequel
the GameThe Alien Cube is a Lovecraftian first-person horror adventure, spiritual successor to The Land of Pain. You play as Arthur, a lonely man whose life is about to change dramatically when strange events start to occur after finding out about the disappearance of your Uncle Edgar. The world around you hides a terrible secret, a dark and occult reality in which your uncle seemed to have played an important part somehow. Tormented by nightmarish visions, you will need to embark on a journey to find out the truth and survive the darkness that is haunting you.
(The Outer Middle Show)
You wake up, bathed in sweat: you’ve been having bad dreams again. The strange cave, the occult symbols, the ritual site… and then that strange cube-shaped whispering artifact falling from the sky -it all seemed so real. But you are awake now, and true reality hits like a bucket of cold water: the breakup with Jenny, the move, your uncle Edgar’s mysterious disappearance… The doorbell catches you off guard: it is a letter, a testament from no less than your uncle, leaving you his apartment and a warning to get rid of all his manuscripts. It is time to finally go there and try to find some clues. What you don’t know yet is that this search will unchain a series of terrifying revelations, secrets that should stay buried forever, and that your worst nightmares will soon come out to the light of day.
Main Features
- Survive the perils you will encounter while facing hostile weather conditions, wandering through snowy forests, forgotten dungeons, and other otherworldly locations.
- Explore horrifying places and interact with the items you will find along your journey to solve puzzles and seek out clues to unravel the mystery.
- Immerse yourself into a powerfully visual world of unnamed horrors thanks to the CryEngine 5-powered graphics with photogrammetric technology.
- Intensify the Lovecraftian experience with high-quality ambient sounds and an atmospheric soundtrack extracted from the abyss of your worst fears.
- Delve into the truth of unspeakable secrets behind the past of your uncle, the protagonist of the game The Land of Pain, and find out the connection between these two games.
Quotes
- David Jaffe (Lead Designer and Game Director of GOD OF WAR on PS2): “The story in Alien Cube is PHENOMENAL. THE ALIEN CUBE is one of the best horror games of the year! In fact, this indie game- made by ONE PERSON!- ‘gets’ horror better than even the classic AAA horror franchises! It’s really quite impressive!”
- The Outer Middle Show: “THIS GAME WILL BLOW YOUR MIND! The Alien Cube is better than a movie. Its the most dark and atmospheric game Ive ever played.”
- CRYTEK: “Stunning solo-developed game demonstrates the power of CRYENGINE”
- SHIRLEY CURRY: “(…) my favorite horror game developer of all time; Alessandro Guzzo!! He’s the only one who knows how to do it right!! IMHO”
Game Discussion
Steam User 19
Following "The Land of Pain", this game continues the same eerie world and atmosphere, building on it in all the right ways. The fact that this game was made by just one developer is pretty crazy. The visuals are beautiful, the atmosphere immersive, and it really feels like a passion project full of great Lovecraftian horror elements.
I liked the horror parts, they are not super intense, but they set a nice creepy mood. Most of the time is spent exploring the world, getting a few good scares, and trying not to accidentally walk off a cliff to your death, which I definitely came close to more than once.
There is plenty of walking and exploration, balanced with solid puzzles that are clever without being frustrating. It kept me engaged without ever feeling stuck.
A great pick for those who enjoy atmospheric exploration mixed with horror elements and cosmic mystery.
Steam User 4
Well, its a walking simulator with lovecraftian themes, and there isnt that much to say about it other than; if that interests you, get it on sale.
It's short (sub 3 hours) but entertains you for an evening around halloween-times.
My enjoyment score for this one is 60%
There just isn't much to do other than walking and looking, theres like 1 puzzle.
I most probably wont play it again ever.
Steam User 3
Warning : The main character is so dumb and / or suicidal that you might end up humming "Dare to be Stupid" through the first 5 chapters.
With this said though... you'll probably be humming it to steel yourself as you enter one of the most effective short horror piece I ever played.
Even on low the cry engine photogrametric and real time lighting are amazing!!! If your GPU is under the specs, still give it a try, you might be surprised how well it run up to "High".
The downsides? The game is way too short, and very linear... which means you will get about no replayability from this. Not even to fetch the missing secrets, as trying to load by chapter erase your secret progression... and doing it with a guide would ruin it. While incredibly beautiful, and trying to keep your eyes in the right direction in the critical moments... you will miss some of the things the protagonist sees. Also, if you want to feel less alone and actually get a good look at the enemies, you'll have to let yourself be killed... because they are mercyless.
I wished the ending wasn't such a handwave...
But since I got this under 10 bucks and had a solid heart pumping 8 hours of awesome out of it, I'm not complaining. In fact, I strongly encourage you to try it. Just don't expect any epiphany from the "mystery" here.
Steam User 2
Sometime the steam ratings system doesn't really work out.
Do I like this game? Absolutely!
Is there any jankiness? Yeah, here and there. A few rough edges, especially when it comes to menu navigation with a controller, and a little with the occational platform elements.
But it saves, it has checkpoints, and a solid idea that drives the story and good ways of portraying things even if they sometimes fall flat in the telling.
The problem is, not matter how much I like this game and rate it highly I don't really think I could recomend it to a friend. Thats not to say I wouldn't tell them about it but it lacks a certain polish that makes a good game, truly great. Its a rough gem. I can't recommend it as such as the jank and walking sim heavy style is love or hate.
But I love it.
Steam User 1
The game is quite atmospheric but apart from that it doesn't have that much of an interesting story. It was fun though.
Steam User 1
Alessandro, you mad man. This was a nice, almost pleasant, walk into madness. lol thanks I guess. I recommend playing The Land of Pain before taking this "journey". I liked it. The jump mechanics are AWFUL though. You jump by releasing the space bar, not by pressing it. I've died way more times to jumps than to, let's call them enemies. Thanks for am otherwise fantastic game.
Steam User 0
loved this, so beautifully graphically, ran very smooth, no fps drops, there is a creeping dread with this game, very lovecraftian, just what i needed