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Review
Aside from a few touches of atmosphere, Lonely Places is remedial horror, with all of horror's worst attributes thrown in: stereotypes, profanities, and gore for the sake of gore. In addition, I'd throw in Lovecraftian, which is one of the most overdone and unconvincing forms of horror. Really, unless you are Lovecraft or Ramsey Clark, you're probably better off doing something else. (And while that's just a personal opinion, I've read A LOT of wannabe Lovecraft fiction, and IF seems to prefer this sub-genre over any other form of horror, sadly.)
With that aside, the game feels incomplete, due to typos, misspellings, many default responses, and a general spartan approach to matters. You are driving in your car in the beginning, but there is no stereo. Later on, actions that probably 90% of people would try are not available. As an added bonus, the game insults you in the end if you do not play as you were supposed to.
While the personality test at the end is creative and unique, that in no way atones for all the other problems that this game possesses. What's really disappointing, though, is that many of these problems could be fixed with a few hours of time, if not much less. If a single word can sum up an impression, the word "abandoned" sums up Lonely Places.
Comments on this review
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You need not purchase if you don't want to. They are considered public domain now. The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft. ;)
If you have read enough Lovecraft, you will find that the emphasis on horrifying monsters is more the result of Hollywood’s interpretation/exploitation of something that is not easy to depict on the silver screen (psychological horror). Lovecraft was adept at creating settings that were so supernormal that even the slightest abnormality could generate horrific responses in the reader. This, I feel, is in part why Lovecraftian horror translates well into IF: many works begin with these very normal--even mundane--settings, only to lead the player more and more into strange, weird and wonderfully macabre conclusions. This is one of the reasons that Anchorhead works so well. (Come on, I can’t mention Lovecraftian IF without referencing the daddy of them all, can I?) ;)
