This excellent survival horror game is by SFB Games based in London, founded by brothers Adam and Tom Vian. Crow Country launched in 2024 on PC and all consoles, it was an instant critical hit bagging many top review scores.
It’s stylised with PlayStation blocky polygon era graphics, but don’t let that fool you. The game is spooky indeed, clever with its puzzles, and it rightly deserves its status as an indie game classic.
Blocky Polygons of Creepy Corvus in Crow Country
If you played games in the 1990s, you’ll be aware of the horror series Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Crow Country particularly nods toward the original Resident Evil on the PlayStation (1996).
Yet does so with its borderline cutesy, chunky retro style polygons, all of which feature a weird grainy layer over the top as you play. At times it’s also like you’re playing Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy VII (1997), with the blocky Mara set alongside the pre-rendered backgrounds.
Obviously, that’s all intentional and a loving homage to 1990s survival horror games. The good news is, this one is an instant classic and very close to perfection!
The game delivers plenty of tension and scares. It’s masterfully delivered and instantly brilliant (within minutes you’re intrigued and immersed), with players taking control of protagonist Mara Forest and plunging into an abandoned theme park (Crow Country).
This type of game is methodical to play. Quite slow-paced, really, as you have to consider your surroundings, solve puzzles, and try not to get ripped to shreds by zombies. Here it is in action.
Some of the puzzles, whilst a little abstract, are great to solve. You generally face blockades to your progress, such as a missing lever, which you then use clues to solve. You have to investigate your surroundings to find answers, so don’t be afraid to check everything in every area.
But as you go about finding these items, them are some pretty damn creepy creatures you have to interact with. Your bullets are limited, though, so use them wisely.
It’s just brilliantly delivered. This is right up there with 1990s classics!
And there’s an intriguing soundtrack from composer Ockeroid, too, who has uploaded the whole thing onto YouTube. The piece Maybe Everything Will Be Okay… gives the vibes of what’s going on here.
There are about five to six hours of gameplay in all, so Crow Country doesn’t outstay its welcome. But it isn’t quite perfect, as some of the puzzles can be a bit annoying to resolve. We gave up and went on YouTube to solve some of them.
Investigating can be a bit tedious, too, and you end up with loads of the theme park’s employee notes to wade through. Plus, you can generally sprint past the demented creatures you come across, so it’s not quite as imposing as it initially seems.
Despite those few issues, there’s still so much to love here we were mightily impressed. Not quite a 5/5, but for its meticulously detailed sinister atmospherics and claustrophobia, it’s more than worthy of a go.
