Reviews / 2 June 2023

Quick Review: The Tartarus Key

The last thing Alex Young remembers is being at home alone in her apartment… so why has she suddenly woken up in this strange mansion? All the doors are locked by bizarre puzzles and traps, there are cameras following her every move, and she keeps thinking she sees… things… out of the corner of her eye. If she wants to escape alive, along with the other captives she discovers, she’ll need to use her wits in this adventure thriller.
The Tartarus Key

Inspired by the aesthetics of classic horror games from the PS1 era, The Tartarus Key is a mystery filled to the brim with twists and and surprises. Developed by Vertical Reach, this horror adventure game launches on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC on May 31st 2023.

It is up to you to help Alex escape the deadly mansion and rescue any fellow captives you may find, which means solving puzzles to escape. During your journey in the mansion, you are tasked with clearing different areas of the house by completing increasingly difficult puzzles, with each area eventually concluding by you finding a new person to try and save from a death trap.

The puzzles and challenges are reminiscent of escape room games and each puzzle is different. For example. in one room you can hunt around to find postcards and decode the messages on them, while in another room you have to find different coloured bottles and put them on a shelf in the right order.

The way the game is able to create tension and atmosphere is really fantastic, and is another example that proves that graphics are not everything, especially in a horror game. The lighting is put to good use especially, creating a low-poly, low-draw distance style in some areas that, that really adds to the experience, making you think something or someone is going to pop out at you.

Rescuing each person is not guaranteed which means the game also has a few different endings. It is difficult to try and save every person as there are no second chances with certain puzzles and there is no hint system in the game. Every puzzle is doable though, and I found taking a break for a while allowed my brain to rest and I could eventually come back and solve it.

Overall, if you enjoy the feeling of retro-esque horror and escape room games, you will really enjoy The Tartarus Key. However, the puzzles do take up the main majority of the gameplay so if you struggle with puzzles, this may not be the easiest of times for you.

A huge thank you to the team over at Player Two PR for sending us a review copy. Please make sure you support the developers and publishers by checking out there links below.

SUPPORT THE TEAM
Developer: Vertical Reach
Publisher: Armor Games Inc.

SUPPORT THE GAME: Nintendo eShop UK

Written by Amber Elphick (Cherebi)
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cherebi@outlook.com