Apr 7

Apr 7 Review | Anemoiapolis - Back In The Backrooms, BABY!

Anemoiapolis is the latest Steam title to make the most out of the recent Backrooms craze. For those unfamiliar, that pretty much means you can expect a lot of empty open spaces such as malls, communal offices and cinema theatres that are meant to evoke a sense of uneasiness. While chapter one of Anemoiapolis is certainly a better exploration of this element of horror than some of the other Backrooms-inspired games I’ve played I can’t help but feel it still misses the mark in a number of areas thanks to some questionable design decisions.

The opening to the game is nothing bombastic. Realistically it doesn’t need to be. Instead, it focuses on teaching the controls and progression of the game in a pretty well-delivered manner. The controls are very simplistic and that’s to be expected for a title like Anemoipolis, which is focusing on delivering a more ‘walking simulator’ style of horror. Upon completing the first few puzzles you’ll end up at the game’s hub area.

This is one of the strange choices Anemoiapolis makes. It attempts to offer the player some respite between exploring each area by inserting a mall hub area for players to roam around in before selecting their next elevator to start the next level. However, the hub area doesn’t actually add anything of value except having the player traverse the same wide-open empty space over and over again. While this might serve as a nice resting point for some players, personally I felt it detracted from the suspense that any previous area had worked so hard to create. Each time you exit a specific area you know that you’re heading straight back to the familiar safety of the mall and this killed any tension that I was feeling during the level. It’s hard not to feel the game’s pacing would have benefited from scrapping the hub area entirely. Forcing you from one new and creepy environment, straight to the next, instead of having you around a safe area collecting tickets and running to the next elevator.

Ooooh, I’m pretty sure I was killed by an axe murder in this hotel hall before!

While we’re on the subject let's talk about the tickets. You can understand why the developers added these collectables to gate your progress, if they weren’t there you would just be wandering around spaces with no objective. However, in practice, the effect they have ruin the game's atmosphere. I think when you’re aiming to focus on atmosphere and making the player feel uncomfortable in wide open spaces, specifically in a game like Anemoiapolis, the last thing you want is for the player’s mind to be focusing on whether they have enough tickets to pay for the next elevator. This is the big problem with trying to adapt a creepypasta-style thing like the Backrooms. It’s an unversing concept but as soon as you add objectives and gamify it then it loses the cerebral aimless, emptiness that made it so unnerving in the first place.

On a number of occasions, I found myself returning to rooms I had skipped past to look for tickets just in case I needed them. This killed any of the initial tension those areas had set up for me. It added a level of familiarity that realistically you don’t want the player to have when they’re meant to be unsure of their surroundings and constantly questioning if they’re alone. I really think such a traditional gameplay mechanic should be removed, and players could unlock each elevator just by getting through the previous area. That being said, I do really like the satisfying animation for collecting tickets. That’s a chef’s kiss from me.

Wait… What if **outside** is one big **room…?**

For all of Anemoiapolis’ faults there were times were I felt deeply uneasy. As I ventured through one section full of locker rooms and bathrooms the closed-off spaces and lighting mixed with the sound design unnerved me to my core. Some of the more open sections too also triggered a fear of empty spaces I didn’t know I had. It’s at times like this where the game excels. The first chapter only takes about an hour so it’s not guilty of overstaying its welcome but I’ll be interested to return to this game in future chapters to see if there’s any innovation on the formula or if it just remains the same.

Anemoiapolis is certainly not a bad game, and at times it is bone-chilling but it doesn’t innovate in any real way that has me singing its praises to every horror fan I know. In fact, its need to adhere to traditional game mechanics actually drags it down a great deal. Hopefully though, that might change with future instalments though.