this pasta is a bit creepy | The Complex: Found Footage
3just turn sv_cheats on and noclip back xd
REVIEW
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The good old backrooms. A popular urban legend citing anomalous indoor spaces that warp reality and are home to otherworldly malevolent entities. What's curious about the backrooms is when any "threat" is taken away, it provides an opportunity of appreciation for the eerie vibes these environments exhibit, an aesthetic that flip flops between peaceful and anxiousness. This is where The Complex: Found Footage shines.
There really never is a story associated with these types of stories involving the backrooms. Oftentimes it will be individuals with camcorders/video cameras that noclip out of reality and fall into this relatable yet foreign domain, exploring the unsettling habitat either alone or evading any abominable creatures along the way. With this game however, the male protagonist must simply get his bearings and traverse the backrooms alone in an effort to make his way back to his own reality taking place in 1990.
Gameplay is akin to the colloquial "walking simulator", where the player has only to move themselves to areas that serve as points of interest. The overall interaction this game has to the player is soaking in the visual/aural impacts of the environments they find themselves in. There is no traditional "threat", no enemies to avoid or defeat, only to find immersion in the atmosphere and ambience of the backrooms. If you allow yourself to engage in the fictional worldbuilding of this mystery, the game does a pretty good job influencing paranoia in your reactions as uncertainty, subtle audio cues and the aged filter of a video camera sparks this illusion excellently.
Honestly, this variation of the backrooms might very well be a mixture of eye candy and a haunted house simulation. Many areas are visually appealing, the feel of the game entices horror tropes but are not 1:1, it's more so a journey into a void of liminal spaces while teasing the player with "what if" scenarios in their minds. I do appreciate the freedom this game provides to the player as walking simulators are notorious for still needing to item hunt or do things in a certain order before people can progress.
The Complex: Found Footage is a perfect example of how basic player engagement and environmental ominousness can still provide a compelling horror adventure. No complexities, only mystery. No up-in-your-face horror, only gradual ominousness. For games like this, the fulfillment of the bare minimum is more than enough and can be done right just as much as a story-driven game.