The Park

The game was just my speed! Due to the game art emphasizing the park's chipmunk character, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was some kind of Five Nights at Freddy's animatronic jumpscare game - it's not. Instead, it's more of a traditional 'walking sim' as much as those can be considered to have traditions.

You're playing the perspective of a mother running after her bratty kid who ran back into the park after it closed. You are walking along, exploring, and reading as the story unfolds. You don't have to RUN for safety, and you're not in danger if you take a leisurely pace to explore the creepy park. It's pretty intuitive where you need to go, following the path, and towards the end, there's a brilliant sequence going through a portion of rooms repeatedly as little things change each time, revealing more of the story and getting scarier.

It took just about an hour and a half to beat with all the achievements, and most of them were unlocked by naturally exploring the different areas. I only returned for one or two, which I missed at the end. It was a great break between long 100+ hour jrpgs. Give it a whirl if you're looking for a short, creepy tale to unfold.

Protagonist Lorraine has to cope with serious, drastic issues from the past. Set in a creepy amusement park hiding a dark and sinister secret, the player gets into the mind of a traumatized, broken mother.

This part of the storyline qualifies for the psychological horror aspect of the game. Beware, if you are a parent yourself, the topics used can be very disturbing and emotionally distressing.

Attention has to be paid, however, to the narrative. If the player wants to get the maximum experience, all notes have to be read carefully and interpreted. There are clips available on YouTube as well, with content creators explaining the story, after having done their research themselves.

Make sure not expecting a survival horror game here, the player cannot die on any way in this game. There are a few jumpscares here and there, but most of the creepiness comes the captivating, intensifying and ultimately climaxing psychological storyline.

Also note this title qualifies as a walking simulator as well, with the movement speed being very slow. There is an option to run, by toggling the shift button, but the movement still is not fast. At some walks, when there is spoken monologue, the option to run is disabled as well. The Park is definately intended not to be rushed.

Graphics and aestethics do a very good job trying to immerse the player into the world. At the time of writing this review, the game has been released more than 8 years ago, and the graphics still hold up fine. Developers used the Unreal engine to accomplish this. It runs extremely well and flawlessly on newer PC’s. Moving flora, mist, reflections in various objects,... it is all there.

Music and sound effects are what one expects from games similar to this one. On given times the sound effects enhance the experience for the player. Spooky, grinding sounds to create a creepy atmosphere.

Duration of The Park is very short, the amusement park itself is not very large, with only a few attractions in it. Game can be completed easily under 2 hours, without having to rush anything. Consider purchasing on a sale, because of this fact, also taking into account, the game also has nearly no replay value.

Fourtheen achievements can be unlocked to achieve a perfect game. Some of them are missable, but are very easy to retrieve later on during the playthrough or on a subsequent playthrough. The hardest achievement, the one that has the least percentage of players completed, is at the very start of the game. All this can be done in one playthrough and easily under 2 hours, which lends The Park excellently for achievement hunters and completionists.

To conclude: When buying The Park on a discount sale, i did not do any research beforehand. Simply assessing the screenshots on the Steam store page, my mind was creating its own horror game in an amusent park, what a great setting! I was dissapointed at first, when i found out the game is very linear and non-action focused. Later on, when the storyline unfolds, i started to enjoy myself more and could see what the developers had in mind. Make sure to do your research yourself about the game before making the purchase. As this does not qualify as a game, more as a story in my opinion.

Recommended for: narrative & psychological horror story loving people, walking simulator fans, low-non-survival horror gamers, achievement hunters and completionists.

Cheers,
SultanK

The Park is a horror walking sim, set in what seems to be the late 1970s (or early 1980s). Worth noting that while this game is a spin-off game to the MMO The Secret World, which I've played a bit and found very fascinating (I have however not played the quests that ties into the story of this game), it is completly stand-alone and can be enjoyed without any knowledge of it.
You play as Lorraine, having visited the Atlantic Island Park, as her son runs back in to the closed park looking for a Teddy bear. As you get into the park, you right away notice that not everything is as it seems. The park is now abandoned, and has seemed to be abandoned for years. Finding notes you slowly put together what has happened, and maybe why the park shut down. And her son Callum? He seems to be still missing. The story takes various turns, and is at time quite heavy - dealing with topics as such abuse, grief, family trauma. However, the ending might fall a bit flat if you don't pay enough attention as it isn't always fully clear what's going on.
The gameplay is quite simple, you explore the theme park as you also find notes and sometimes equipment. To progress in the game you also ride all the attractions in the theme park (or at least visit them) which I honestly found pretty fun. There's also a few cheap jumpscares here and there, which honestly did get me at times - but it could be good to know that there are no actual enemies and no way to die in this game.
I enjoyed this game more than I thought I would, despite it maybe not being the best horror game. I felt it played too much into certain tropes at times, but at the same time getting through the message of the story worked out. It's definitely worth a play if you like these types of games but don't go in and expect a Silent Hill 2 or similiar masterpiece.

I actually really enjoyed this game, it is rather slow with not alot of action but the further you get into the game you begin to see another twisted side of the character you play, it kept me wanting to play until the end of the game

Bought while on sale, its a decent horror game but you're in no actual danger while playing. The fact it ties in an MMO or some kind makes it...hard to recommend at full price. It is a walking simulator in the end with some horror elements and I will admit I jumped a few times playing this but I finished it in three hours. Do not buy this at full price, wait for a good sale and then give it a go. In the end, recommended when its on sale, NOT recommended at full price since at best you'll get four hours of it and that's if you REALLY take your time.

The beginning started relatively slow and the gameplay is very linear with very little explore beyond that. There isn't much deviation you can do, since one action triggers the next. You mostly find out about the characters and lore from the notes you read and from some of the dialogue. Personally, this game wasn't too crazy interesting until the last part of the game. It gave off PT-esque style of gameplay with disturbing (and sometimes funny) notes and a creepy atmosphere. I wish I could have seen more of that instead! It really helped bring the game alive. The main character doesn't have any likeable qualities since all she focuses on is how much her kid ruined her life. The ending was also strange and it felt rather unsatisfactory. Overall the game was still fun to play and the graphics were beautifully made. I enjoyed some of the mystery, too! If the devs can do something similar to the last part of the game and develop a story that is carried more by the characters than notes, that would help improve it significantly. I would get this game only if it's on sale!

A trip just in time for Halloween. Fun for the whole family, my son loves it here.
Atlantic Island Park were kind enough to give us the whole place to ourselves too. Chad the chipmunk was a great guide, all the rides were free (shock therapy was my favorite) and I even got this bloody ice pick souvenir too.
Tell your friends, bring your kids.