Snipperclips developer releases demo for retro survival horror Crow Country

A demo has been released for retro survival horror game Crow Country.

From the developer behind Snipperclips and Tangle Tower, this is quite the change of pace.

Its aesthetic is part Final Fantasy 7 and part Resident Evil 1, with polygonal characters, 3D environments reminiscent of pre-rendered backgrounds, and classic survival horror gameplay. Check it out in the trailer below.

The short demo is available to play now on both PlayStation and Steam.

I checked it out and now really need to play the full game.

Players take control of Special Agent Mara Forest who’s investigating the abandoned amusement park Crow Country in 1990 where some pretty grisly happenings have taken place.

Mara is controlled with either tank or modern controls, with the 3D environments allowing for 360-degree camera control. There are creepy rides, but Mara can also poke around in control rooms and other restricted areas too.

Collecting notes, solving obscure puzzles for keys, using health kits to heal your heart monitor condition level and saving at fireplaces – all the genre trappings are present and correct, complete with some particularly eerie sound design.

And unlike last year’s similarly retro survival horror Signalis, Crow Country is more grounded in reality, like a slightly cuter Silent Hill.

It’s not particularly scary – ok, yes, I did jump at one moment – but it’s certainly atmospheric. You can also switch to Exploration Mode if you just want to solve puzzles and not be attacked.

There’s no news yet on when Crow Country will be released in full, but if you’re longing to relive those PS1 days, I thoroughly recommend giving the demo a try.