Endless Isolation
Developer: WhiteShine Games
Publisher: Andgo Games
Platforms: PC
Review Key Provided: Yes
Release Date: Out now
As a ‘valued’ employee of Viralith Corporation, there’s nothing you enjoy more than finishing up your shift and heading home for a well-earned beer, dinner and sleep. But when you enter your apartment building this particular evening, you encounter stressed, nervous neighbours. Something’s up, and when you’re awoken in the middle of the night to the sound of a monster breaking down your door, the penny finally drops.
After negotiating your way out of your monster-infested apartment, you make your way by car to a mysterious hospital. Here, it soon becomes apparent that Viralith is dabbling in things it shouldn’t be—sound familiar?—with dozens of zombies and other mutated creatures out to chomp on your neck.
With its computer-terminal save points, resource management, boss fights, and labyrinthine locations, Endless Isolation certainly feels and looks like its famous influence. There’s even a chainsaw-wielding nutjob, for Pete’s sake, and as a result, the game struggles to form its own identity, resulting in an instantly forgettable plot and bland, uniform scenery. Puzzles are practically non-existent, bar the well-known set-the-voltage brainteaser. The rest of it is a glorified fetch quest, searching for fuses or something similar, picking up any keys, ammo or med packs along the way.
We’re not making it sound good, are we? Maybe, but in fact, Endless Isolation trumps most of these issues by actually being a decent game to play. Movement is sharp, and the game conveniently forces you to explore the environment to find ammo and health. Negotiating the apartments and hospital can be tricky, with several dead ends and corridors that merge into one, but the game rarely lets you relax, spawning multiple enemies while you fumble to reload the shotgun.
While its teasing plot makes the title feel like a parody—at one point, it seems like the game will go on forever—Endless Isolation is enjoyable enough, despite the repetitive gameplay. Whether that stretches enough to persist into the + mode offered upon completion (all weapons but stronger enemies) is another discussion, but at least the devs thought enough of their audience to include it.
AI note: While we couldn’t detect any obvious gen-AI art, the MPC’s voiceover appeared suspiciously robotic and bland to Indie Horror Gamer. Of course, it could just be the actor’s tone… but it fails to fit the circumstances in most instances.
CONCLUSION
A decent Resident Evil riff that doesn’t do anything special while mimicking many ideas and themes from Capcom’s classic series. If you’re a fan of Resi, give it a go—currently priced at under £4.00, Endless Isolation certainly offers value for money.
