Survival horror is quickly running out of places to go. The genre feels as though it has matured to the point where not a lot of innovation is going on. At least, until we heard about Cursed Mountain. Last month, I previewed it and was pretty excited: the premise behind it, moving survival horror controls to the Wii to make for a more intimate experience, sounded good.
Needless to state, I was pumped to rip into this one. Rescuing my brother from the undead in the Himalayas? Grab the climbing gear and magical pickaxe, and I’m more than ready to go. Set in the 1980s, a lot of the modern conveniences like cellphones and GPS devices aren’t around, so it’s all up to climbing instinct.
Cursed Mountain is taking a stab in a very different direction, so there’s a lot of new ground to tread. Do they climb up to the top of the pile in the genre, or do they lose their footing along the way and fall short? There’s only one way to find out: check out the full review after the jump!
Cursed Mountain (Wii)
Developer: Deep Silver
Publisher: Deep Silver
Released: August 25, 2009
MSRP: $49.99
Your brother, Frank Simmons, has gotten himself stuck up on the top of the famed mountain Chomolonzo up in the Himalayas, and it’s up to you to rescue him. It doesn’t seem so bad, does it? When you get to the town at the base of the mountain, things are already amiss. As you would expect from most any horror title, the town is deserted. But screw that, you’ve got to soldier on ahead in order to rescue him!
The reason why the town is deserted? Because spirits from the Bardo — the realm between this life and the next — have gotten pissy and started attacking people left and right. Thankfully, you’ve picked up your brother’s ice axe that just so happens to have magical ghost-fighting abilities.
As you ascend the mountain and fight your way through wave after wave of spirits, the main mystery is figuring out just what happened that brought about all these ghosts, and unraveling the mysteries of the Buddhist and Tibetian lore that surrounds the culture that you’re in. The game was pitched to me as one with a very strong story, and that was the focus around which the rest of the game was built. Of course, it’s also the game’s biggest flaw.
The game starts off unbelievably creepy, to the point that it reminded me of Silent Hill 2. Running through the opening town, ducking down tight alleys, and walking into rooms that were dank and filled with the smell of rotting meat and bodies, it actually built up a level of anxiety for me. I just wanted to get out of there, fast.
After running into a monk who explains the basics of “seeing into the Bardo” using my third eye, it’s time to climb the mountain and rescue Frank. The ghosts are kind enough to announce themselves with a fairly loud roar and a puff of smoke as they shamble towards you.
