Crow Country PS5 Review: A Superb Retro Survival Horror Without The Fog

Crow Country, Wednesday 8th May 2024. Pfft! Who’d want to see another survival horror in the style of classic Silent Hill and Resident Evil 2 on their PC or console? Said nobody. If you’ve been longing for this retro horror puzzle game, you won’t be disappointed.

Set in 1990, you play as special agent Mara Forest. You’re on your way to an abandoned amusement park to track down the disappearance of its owner, Edward Crow. 

Upon arrival, it’s clear that the park has been left for some time, but as you explore, you’ll discover it’s been a couple of years since closing, but it’s occupied, too. Hopefully, the cleaners of Crow Country will no longer be on the payroll as the trashcans need emptying—big time.

Crow Country PS5 Review – A Bird’s Eye View

You don’t have to be a particular height for entry, as SFB Games is inclusive of park visitors. For survival horror fans, you can play the game as it was meant to be, or if you’re a little unsettled and not into combat, you can opt for an exploration mode. The latter is the same game; only carrying a gun is virtually cosplay.

Crow Country has a neat way of introducing you to the mechanics via posters and displays. On your arrival, there’s a controller diagram on the floor indicating the key binding, countless posters that show you how to interact with objects, how to do that classic survival horror 180 spins, and advice about avoiding combat. However, be mindful that pacifism might bite you on the cheeks when you have to backtrack.

Ammo is generous, though aiming with a controller can be tricky without a laser sight. When encountering enemies or troublesome padlocks, pressing the shoulder button will lock ‘n load your chosen firearm, and then a second button will either fire or reload. The accuracy is decent, but no doubt a mouse would be much more speedier. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves as combat is only part of Crow Country gameplay, or, if you wish, it can be skipped almost entirely.

Animatronics, Gas, And Maps

Expect some areas to immediately become creepy when nobody is around. Dodgy animatronics and more than a fair amount of ambient noises will either stop you in your tracks or prod at the cat with curiosity in its search history. Crow Country should be familiar territory for old-school survival horror fans yet intuitive for newbies.

As alluded to, the park isn’t empty, and if you played the demo, you’ll re-live a couple of moments, such as when someone trespasses with whom you might want to chat. The evidence scattered throughout will be in employee memos and documents pinned on noticeboards or locked areas where you must find the key/keycode.

Evidence can be reviewed at dedicated save points. It’s a shame you can’t do this on the fly via inventory (which stores keys, ammo and puzzle elements), but that just means you’ll hopefully pay attention. One of the challenges in Crow Country isn’t just combat or working out the puzzles in question, but something close to pixel hunting, as it can be easy to miss an object.

Light The Way

Unlike a point and click, there are no hotspot tools. Sure, you can flip around the camera with the right stick, and that’s an absolute godsend. It’s a genuine delight to approach a room from a different angle and see something right under your nose, all because you didn’t explore. However, because it’s easy to overlook stuff, expect a fair amount of head-scratching and backtracking. 

If that proves too much of a challenge, or you lose your way, there is a hint system. Interact with a park display, and it’ll hint at where to go or what to do next. However, I encourage you to explore yourself, as the way the game design is superb. It feels personal as if Crow Country was an accumulation of all those survival horrors you grew up on. It’s not just an homage to games of yesteryear.

You may have noticed that I haven’t expanded on the story, but that’s for good measure. It’s on par with the late 80s/early 90s straight-to-video horror; we all know these are the best and have the most longevity. There are hints on where the narrative will take us, and the delivery paid off.

Crow Country PS5 Review

It’s a blessing for the survival horror genre. Not only does it cater to retro aesthetics and mechanics, but Crow Country has all the mod cons—like a 60s Mustang equipped with a sat-nav and heated seats—re-establishing itself as a classic. It’s been worth the wait and essential for those who want to experience the golden age, albeit in a new IP.