Maid of Sker

The atmosphere, mystery, and overall feel of the game offer enough of a reason to see things through to the end, and, though it will primarily appeal to horror fans, Maid of Sker is definitely worth checking out.

Maid of Sker, despite its faults revolving mainly around AI, is a survival horror to be saluted.

Hotel Sker may have seen better days, but it’s well worth a visit for fans of the horror genre. The hotel is interesting to explore and rewards players who take the time to unravel its secrets. You feel constantly in danger not knowing where the next threat is going to be but knowing you can’t defend yourself. No, there’s nothing really new here, but that doesn’t matter if you just want to sneak around a Victorian hotel where the welcome is less than inviting.

Maid of Sker - in some ways - could be described as a sort of Resident Evil 7 without weapons. A dilapidated house full of puzzles, the backtracking that repopulates deserted areas at first and the general atmosphere, have brought to mind several times the Capcom adventure. Clearly, the technical side pays the price for an immeasurably lower level of production, but in the same way it outlines the strength of its own qualities. Maid of Sker, however, is all about stealth, and while it gives us some tools to distract or block enemies, it doesn't stray far from its initial structure. Had it not been for a dark, kneaded aesthetic and some rather unfortunate game choices, we'd have a little classic on our hands.

Maid of Sker is a well executed horror walking simulator, kind of basic but with a great atmosphere. Too bad that because of its very dumb enemies, it can't succeed in making you feel fear.

Maid of Sker is at its best in its opening hours, when the sightless enemies are still threatening and the dark halls of the titular hotel loom large. After a while, though, you get used to the main offerings, while any attempts at creativity have mixed results.

Maid of Sker is still overall a strong horror game. Veterans of the contemporary survival horror scene will know what to expect from its stealth gameplay, but its story and sound design carry it beyond the confines it sets for itself. Meanwhile, seeing a lesser-known story in a different form is certainly a change of pace from a game genre that can sometimes be a little too conservative to really deliver scares.

Although it starts as a walking simulator, Maid of Sker turns quickly into a horror game that will remind you either of Silent Hills or Resident Evil or maybe of Outlast or Amnesia. No matter what your experience is with horror games, you will find their influence on Maid of Sker, which is not great, not terrible. It is a lukewarm experience, which rather frustrates than scares, and which due to its length and content can be recommended only after a serious discount.

A decent experience.

Sker Hotel is a beautifully realised survival horror location to get lost in for an afternoon– it’s just a shame about the monstrous staff. [Issue#179, p.81]

Maid of Sker is an atmospheric horror game with interesting ideas and story, but falls apart relatively quickly due to some poor design choices.

The designs of Elizabeth’s family aren’t so much foreshadowed as foreshouted, and the plot soon wavers off-key and winds up shipwrecked. But something about it hangs around, like the hum of an unsettling tune.

An excellent premise, a compelling narrative, and an effective atmosphere of dread are scuppered by muddy visuals, an antiquated save system, and stilted gameplay mechanics lacking in new ideas. Multiple endings reward those who persevere though, so fans of folk-horror should sample the wares within Sker Hotel, but for most the game will feel stuck in the past.

All in all, did I like Maid of Sker? That depends. I’ve certainly played worse games, and I’ve heard worse ghost stories. It didn’t scare me as much as I would hope, but there was some chilling imagery and a couple of moments that made me jump. On a narrative level, I can see the developer’s trying to make a point about colonialism or slavery, or even the history of English rulers trying to stamp out the Welsh language much like The Quiet Ones try to stamp out any noise. There’s a genuinely good- even great- idea here but the gameplay and execution let it down, and the marketing cared more about selling something unique than selling something accurate. I got something close to what I ordered, but not quite close enough for me to want a second helping.

Maid of Sker is a long, linear hike through a very murky, muddy game world. Interesting story beats can't overcome the fact that Maid of Sker looks and plays like a frustrating game from an earlier era. Obscured visuals prevent any fun from being had with the stealth gameplay, leaving deaths feeling random and unpredictable. This hotel is best avoided, for reasons beyond its tortured history.

Much of the experience is visually striking, and without spoilers, I can say that I enjoyed the suitably macabre story too. However, as a survival horror game it fails since any fear I experienced was quickly replaced with frustration — the broken central mechanic terrified me in all the wrong ways.

Maid of Sker may be this developer's best attempt at horror yet, but it still falls short of something actually worth playing. A tightly-designed breathing mechanic proves there's potential to be realised and an engrossing setting could have been the cherry on top. However, Maid of Sker is let down by monotonous gameplay and enemies that aren’t even close to being scary. And that's probably the worst thing a game that claims to belong in the horror genre could do.