A few days ago I came across this gem of terror in a review by a TikTok user, although obviously in the 30 seconds of his video I couldn’t get a general idea; however, there was something that caught my attention immediately, and it was the sight of the antagonist that seemed like a monster straight out of Silent Hill, a mix between a zombie and a nightmare. So I decided to investigate a little more about this game and this is what I found.
BY: Sanleera Vexadan
Original image from: Steam
Flicker of Hope, was released for free on the Steam platform on August 3, 2020 by the studio Whip, made up of a group of students from the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) who managed to develop the game in approximately 8 months (and for the time they did it It’s very well done!)
It’s a suspense game in which you take on the role of a small wax candle that is lit in the ruins of a dark cathedral, your main mission is to light all the candles in the cathedral being careful not to melt and not to extinguish.
Despite being a fairly short game, most player comments are extremely positive for being an indie, free, and relatively unknown product.
There is currently streamer content about this game on platforms like YouTube where you can see how the dynamics are (I watched some of them, until I finally decided to play it on my own and I was pleasantly surprised). The quality of the animation, images, and story has nothing to envy from other games developed by larger companies. The missions are simple, but overall the game keeps you on the edge of suspense and manages to hold your attention throughout the 40 minutes (approximately) that the game lasts.
The only criticism I find is that it doesn’t allow voluntary camera movements and the movements of the game itself sometimes don’t make sense, but they are the least.
To close this brief review, I wanted to leave the story of Flicker of hope at the end:
Mara is a nun who succumbed to despair while trying to heal the victims of the Plague and was facing the insects that delight in the remains of the dead, apparently her body and soul have been corrupted to the point of transforming her into a kind of zombie-nun who wanders inside the cathedral eliminating all trace of light. On the other hand, Jean Wick is a monk who undertakes a crusade in the hope of saving the world by filling the cathedral with light. The mission is to travel to the depths of darkness to return light to the world or die trying.
Going a little further, I could think that perhaps the main objective of Flicker of Hope is not only to give us a game full of challenges, but also with a deeper message, perhaps.
A game that deserves a chance, highly recommended and with a very well-developed story. I am sure that in a short time, it will be well known and valued.