Ah yes, that parallel reality in which European arthouse director Ingmar Bergman makes a Silent Hill game. Actually, Mundaun feels very much that.
When your protagonist, Curdin, arrives at the eerie, titular town on the mountain, to investigate the death of his grandfather, the strange, Swiss townsfolk indicate an evil force pulling the strings.
As expected, the game’s signature hand-drawn design does wonders for its rural, textural environment, doused with an olde sepia tone to transport the player to a time and a place that only once was. As a result, the jagged animations of the doodled character models give them a superbly uncanny quality reminiscent of old PS2 games (always a plus).
But Mundaun’s strengths go far beyond aesthetics, vital as they may be. The horror-adventure gameplay is exploration-heavy as you solve puzzles and unlock doors to new areas in town, not mention making yourself coffees, collecting hay in a truck and even sledding. The bizarre puzzles - including locating an area through the shadow of the church or hitting slabs of meat in a certain order - are delightful, albeit dismissed by some people as ‘obtuse’ - they’ve probably never played a Siren game in their life! Moreover, the combat is appropriately clunky as you fend off some creepy monstrous foes with a pitchfork and a rifle, and it often makes more sense to run away.
These enemy encounters are undoubtably the most traditionally ‘scary’ moments. Elsewhere, the game focuses on building a sense of dread and unease as you delve further into the sinister goings on, much more akin to the subdued, quiet horror of films like Hour of the Wolf or The Wicker Man than, say, The Lighthouse.
Whilst there are pacing issues, notably due to the nature of uncovering the mystery without any immediate sense of a deadline, the world design and exploration gameplay are enough to rope the player in with every play session, making for an experience that is never truly boring.
The “obtuse” puzzles and gameplay might divide some, but there’s still so much to love in the game’s rich atmosphere and storytelling over a beautiful soundtrack. Simultaneously old-school and refreshing, Mundaun sets a bar that all indie horror titles should strive for.