In Sound Mind

Set-piece-driven micro-stories and interesting puzzles shine in this evocative first-person horror. Poor gunplay and linearity aside, it’s a haunted headtrip worth taking. [Issue#7, p.85]

It doesn’t provide an experience that’s free of frustration or hiccups, but that doesn’t stop In Sound Mind from being one of this year’s biggest surprises – an action-horror game that delivers not only scares, but also head-scratching puzzles and plenty of engaging combat encounters, all wrapped up in a story that makes you think. With this sort of creativity, it’s exciting to see what We Create Stuff comes up with next. But until then, if you’re brave – and clever – enough, you’d be wise to throw yourself into In Sound Mind.

In Sound Mind is frustrating at first but will draw you in with dark themes, bright colors, engaging environments and some pretty awesome gameplay mechanics. It’s not the scariest game that will release this Halloween season, but it’s certainly a competitor.

In Sound Mind is a psychological horror game which borders more on tense than scary, and proves to be a unique look into the minds of struggling individuals. Having each tape/patient provide a different world, with the patient’s inner torment essentially lashing out as the level’s boss, is a unique twist on the genre. The juxtaposition between the monster trying to hurt you, but also expressing its doubt and fears, all while Desmond attempts to calm it and show that he wants to help, felt surprisingly fresh – and gave me much more reason to continue than a simple good versus evil fight would have. A sense of humor, large levels, and a variety of puzzles make In Sound Mind a game worth picking up for those looking for a new twist in an overdone genre.

But while I enjoyed the visuals, had fun figuring out the puzzles, and had plenty of laughs, In Sound Mind doesn’t quite impress anything upon you. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the game, but it also doesn’t strike me as extremely inventive or revolutionary. On the other hand, if you’ve played any psychological horror games in the past and enjoyed them, you’ll like this one for much the same reasons.

In Sound Mind might lack the scare factor but it is an unsettling experience throughout that will undoubtedly appeal to fans of psychological horrors.

In Sound Mind is a solid psychological horror game with an interesting gimmick based around tapes that allows for a variety of environments and puzzles. The story doesn't quite fulfil its potential and the frame rate can be terrible but for fans of first person horror, which is light on scares but with a decent range of puzzles then you'll certainly get something out of this.

In Sound Mind attempts dark humor to great effect, but quickly falls back into basic first-person shooter gameplay tropes, leaving its original intentions behind. The game still plays well, and makes for an engaging puzzler and exploration game; it just doesn't maintain its horror vibe for very long.

In Sound Mind it is an overall interesting game but it is not clear what it wants to be, and in the end it leans too much towards the action.

The overall story is fine but lacks that punch to push it over the top. If it were a movie it would sit comfortably with in the B movie section next to Pooka! and The Babadook—which is damn good company, if you ask me. Depending on just how long it takes you to solve the various puzzles, In Sound Mind takes an average of 12-ish hours from start to finish. Not too shabby if you are looking for a game to run over a single weekend. Could be just the thing you want this Halloween.

In Sound Mind is an atmospheric adventure with a decent plot and cool puzzles, that suffers from low budget and some minuscule gameplay issues.

As a movie, In Sound Mind may have been an interesting and quirky, if slightly derivative, story of introspection and psychological understanding. As a game though, it simply doesn’t have the depth of mechanics to hold you through its 5-6 hour runtime. Sporting awful combat and stealth sequences, boring level design and inconsistent presentation, In Sound Mind activates too few of the adrenaline-controlling brain areas. Instead, it peaked some interest which slowly faded out the longer I played. You wouldn’t be out of your mind to play it if you’re a psychological horror fan, but you’ll potentially be in two minds of whether it was actually fun to play.

In Sound Mind is a case of a great idea hobbled by flawed execution. It has some fascinating mechanics and an engaging story to tell. However, to experience the game’s best parts, you’ll have to suffer through a lot of moments of frustration. If you’re up for the challenge, this might just be a psychological horror title worth checking out. For anyone else, you might want to wait and see if developer We Create Stuff can iron out the kinks first.

We Create Stuff aimed to replicate old school horror in this game, and in that regard, it's a success. The puzzles click together with satisfaction and nothing feels like it's been left behind in the journey from one tape to the next. However, In Sound Mind does draw from other games and so becomes a pastiche, albeit an exciting one with a cracking soundtrack. Plus, a few frame rate dips and crashes took me out of the environments that had been created with such artistic care. What will stick with me is the utter treat it is to scurry round a horror game that isn't afraid of using the entire colour wheel, subverting conventions of what scary can be, and for that I give In Sound Mind a lot of credit.