Conscript
Developers: Jordan Mochi, Catchweight Studio
Publisher: Team17
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Here
Price: $21.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
There is a saying that “War is Hell” that harkens back all the way to the American Civil War and has been used repeatedly throughout history since then as the nature of war has remained truly horrific for the soldiers and civilians caught within it. Now, when one thinks of a game based around survival horror, one usually thinks about fighting against the undead, monsters, or even psychological manifestations all while trying to manage their limited resources to stay alive. Conscript from Team17 and Catchweight Studio looks to create a different type of horror experience from these games, but are they successful?
Story
Set during one of the worst battles of World War I, often dubbed “The Great War,” players will find themselves taking on the role of André during the Battle of Verdun as a French soldier who has been conscripted into serving in the military in this already drawn out war. Not only is André forced into service, but his brother Pierre is also brought to the front lines and both of them have been stationed within the same fort after surviving countless encounters with the German military and surviving so far. With resources running low and nearly every form of reinforcement cut off, hope is dwindling for the French forces and when the next German raid pushes the French defenders to the limit.
Upon finding that his brother Pierre has gone missing after being wounded during the raid and is now somewhere else in the sprawling trenches of Verdun, either on the run or trying to complete a potentially disastrous mission, André sets out on a mission to escape with his family intact, one way or another, all while having to face off and wade through all of the horrors that come with war, especially one fought on such a brutal scale as this one that saw unmistakable cruelty and thoughtlessness for human life that made trench warfare feel like hell. Indeed, the only horror found in Conscript is manmade and it is the war itself raging around as players try to survive, the things they witness and discover, and how far they’ll go simply to stay alive.
Conscript tells a harrowing tale of two brothers forced into fighting a war that neither volunteered for and the writer here knew how to portray that perfectly. This is no glorious take on war, it is a dark and dismal journey that feels like it encapsulates the horrors of war, especially The Great War, at its worst. Players will find notes left behind from other soldiers on the front, talking about how they’ve seen others treated or vanish, find photos of loved ones on enemy soldiers they’ve just caved in the skull of, and propaganda posters depicting how France is winning despite the true reality all around the trenches. This all comes together to create a truly special type of horror that is unlike anything else simply because the tense feelings players have traversing the trenches, witnessing the horrors left behind as shelling, poisonous gas, disease carrying rats bloated on corpses that have been heaped into piles, and more tear apart the land in a way that happened historically, albeit one where Conscript plays a bit loose at times.
The story itself is mostly straightforward as players will, as mentioned, mostly find notes of other locations or hint at what they should do next while occasionally meeting with other actually friendly faces from time to time. That being said, there are some poignant moments that are portrayed through pixelated cutscenes as well as unique feeling flashbacks to life before the war and a glimpse at these brothers’ lives before Europe erupted into war. Players will also have a few decisions to make though these decisions may not be entirely clear or even obvious at first glance, especially in some circumstances, into how they will play into the endings. There are four different endings and each one has certain conditions that must be met and even then these endings can also have variations on them depending on what players have done while trying to survive in the trenches, including some that require a bit of thinking to properly obtain.
Gameplay
Conscript plays with an isometric perspective as players traverse through the maze-like trench system that makes up the map. Along the way they’ll encounter numerous enemies that need to either be avoided or taken down, puzzles that have to be solved, locked doors that are often more complex than they seem, and even a merchant willing to lend them some aid in exchange for cigarettes. Make no mistake, Conscript is a very dense game when it comes to exploration including some hidden areas with useful rewards and it makes heavy use of the fact that players will be needing to backtrack through locations multiple times, sometimes because they left something behind in a chest because of limited inventory space, or most of the time because they now have a key item needed to unlock a new pathway.
Thankfully players will always have a map with them that shows at least the locations they’ve been to and, if they’ve acquired a map for their current area, what the full layout might be. That being said, sometimes the directions about what players are meant to be doing next is left vague and there are more than a few objectives that are completely optional while some are required to advance. One key aspect that Conscript has taken from the survival horror genre is the limited inventory system. While players may seem like they can hold a lot of items at the start, every weapon, ammo, health item, and more takes up a space and this can fill up quite fast especially when entering a new location. As such players will need to manage their inventory to make sure they are capable of picking up the newest item needed to unlock the next door or risk having to leave valuable ammunition or healing items behind. One thing that is nice to note is that the game does automatically discard keys and other objects that no longer have any use, giving players a small reprieve when it comes to managing their inventory. It is also worth noting that through exploration and straight up buying upgrades from the merchant can also expand the player’s inventory space.
The merchant appears in every safe room, similar in many ways to a certain game that was given a remake last year and he works in similar fashion as well. Players will use the already mentioned cigarettes as currency to purchase various items including upgrades, melee weapons, ingredients such as gunpowder, and more. The merchant can even use “gun parts” that are rare to find in an effort to upgrade a chosen weapon’s damage, reload speed, ammo, and fire rate. It is also worth noting that the game does make use of item combination to not only combine quest items but also craft ammunition and enhance the effects of some healing items, once again in similar fashion to a certain survival horror title from last year.
Unlike that game however Conscript takes a more classic approach to combat, with a mix of current movement abilities such as the ability to dodge roll and even sprint to avoid getting hit by a melee attack or shot all while managing a stamina bar and the classic “stop and pop” style of version of old school attacking. With firearms players must stop and aim, with the reticle growing more precise the longer they aim, to shoot at an enemy and every weapon has a different control style. Rifles need a new round chambered every time, making their higher damage cost more timewise while a pistol can fire multiple times for less, though all require the player to stand still and reload, leaving them vulnerable for enemy attacks. The melee combat is handled in a similar fashion though this time as the reticle shrinks the more damage is done to an enemy when they are struck.
This gives every encounter a feeling of risk and reward, with melee combat feeling risky and offering some meaty thwacks when caving in an enemy’s head with a combat shovel or taking a pot shot with a rifle from a distance but players will always need to be wary of gathering too many enemies on them at once as Conscript isn’t afraid to punish players for being overconfident as enemies hit like a truck and will pursue them until they leave the location. Playing stealthily is viable at times, as the game does have various locations that players can hide and sneak past enemy patrols and even hitting a foe while they are unaware will instantly kill them but more often than not this isn’t the best route thanks to enemy’s being able to see players quite easily and alert the entire location instantly.
This is especially true since players will need to get familiar with the game’s combat anyways as there are a number of times throughout Conscript that they are forced to fight off waves of enemies until they can finally proceed, meaning if they haven’t grown accustomed to the systems they’ll be in trouble here. These forced combat encounters give players a number of ways to ease the pain of the longer fights, be it mounted machine-guns, explosive barrels, or even the ability to flee, but feel a bit off when compared to the rest of the game’s pacing. As mentioned before, players will have to do quite a bit of backtracking at times to hunt down items, retrieve items, or use them in certain locations and occasionally enemies will respawn in these locations through broken trench defenses and players can use limited trench wiring to repair these. But as players backtrack or explore they will also see that some of these areas have rat holes in them.
Now, one thing that is certainly worth mentioning is the rat problem. Players can preemptively deal with the situation if they have a grenade to chuck down into the hole but otherwise they will turn into a problem later on as any enemies that players kill will eventually find themselves being gnawed away at by hungry rats that will chase down the player looking to turn them into their next meal (think of Crimson Heads). The rats themselves are easy to kill, a single shovel swing can dispatch one, but they come in swarms and gnaw at the player’s health all while potentially sickening them at the same time, lowering their permanent health total until a valuable first aid kit is used. These rats are incredibly annoying and while yes, players can also use limited fuel to burn bodies of slain German soldiers to prevent rats from eating them, they often feel far more punishing than even the soldiers themselves.
It is nice to note that Conscript encourages the player to play through the game multiple times. As mentioned before, not only are there multiple endings but there are also a variety of unlockables, New Game+ benefits, and even achievements for rewarding certain playstyles. This includes things such as only saving the game six times, never killing anyone, or even beating it in under three hours.
Audio & Visuals
Conscript makes use of a very gritty and dark style of pixel art that does wonders to give the game a heavy atmosphere and make sure players never quite know what is around the corner despite the isometric view. Sometimes this is thanks to moving through dark corridors without any extra light, other times it is due to poisonous gas filling the location but even when there is light the art design does a wonderfully horrific portrayal of the damage this battle has done and how little human life is valued in the trenches. While there may not be scary monsters, jumpscares, or horrific reveals, the art style and visual design do wonders to portray the horrors of war here.
The sound design is similarly handled quite well. It is worth noting that there is little in the way of actual voice work here outside of some character barks at times and the groaning death cries of those around you and enemy soldiers but it still works well to showcase that the battle is continuing despite the player not actively engaging in a fight. The background music is subtle, almost non-existent at times, but does play well when it does appear though this is usually only during dire story moments or specific scenes.
Overall
While the horror aspect of this survival horror game may not quite be what everyone is looking for, Conscript certainly does its best to not only keep the spirit of the genre alive but also portray that type of horror in its own unique way. Scavenging through destroyed corridors filled with the dead, surviving with limited resources and limited space all while German soldiers can be waiting in the next trench, and trying to solve puzzles to advance all keep Conscript a thrilling and tense game even if it it’s combat can be a bit rough around the edges and the rats are often more dangerous than anything else.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
