The Long Reach

 Xbox One
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. GameGrin
    Aug 13, 2018
    80
    A deeply layered story with the scares to match, The Long Reach brings back the basics of psychological-horror by keeping players both intrigued and nervous until the very end.
  2. MondoXbox
    Jul 24, 2018
    75
    A fascinating retro-flavored mystery adventure, with great art design and atmosphere, but with an unsatisfying story and some overly obscure puzzles leading to frustration and repetitveness.

User Reviews

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User Score
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No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Jul 21, 2018
    6
    Have you ever had the feeling that you’re being watched? If not then you will have after you’ve played The Long Reach. Scary game’s are not myHave you ever had the feeling that you’re being watched? If not then you will have after you’ve played The Long Reach. Scary game’s are not my most favourite in the whole world and that’s because at times I can be a big scaredy cat. That being said I do still enjoy them in a weird way and once I’ve started a scary game even though it fills me full of dread I can’t put the game down. The Long Reach is a game that does fill you with dread from time to time but unfortunately the good things the game delivers to you can quickly get forgotten due to the game’s shortcomings. This then definitely makes the game a mixed bag and you’ll either love it or hate it, but when this game gets things right it is a worthwhile experience from time to time. Without a doubt my favourite thing about this game was its story. The story is absolutely insane and it will shock you a lot throughout your time with the game, which is one of the main reasons why I wanted to carry on with the game so much. Be prepared to miss a bit of the story though every now and then because it can be difficult to read at times so make sure you keep your eye on things. The crux of the gameplay is puzzles and many of them. You’ll be required to backtrack a lot in this game to complete the different puzzles that you’ll face along the way and it doesn’t help that some of the puzzles can be a little frustrating. I would however recommend that you rise above this frustration though because each puzzle has been cleverly designed and when you complete a particular difficult puzzle you do get a great sense of achievement. Another thing I felt rewarding is when I was in conversation with the various character’s in the game. The main reason why I felt each conversation was rewarding is because you have multiple choices when it comes to the dialogue and by them implementing this idea it meant I very rarely got bored reading the various conversations. This approach would’ve also been welcome in the form of some combat as well, but unfortunately that never happens. Without a doubt the story in this game is definitely enhanced by the presentation side of things. Both the visuals and sound design create an atmosphere that stays with you throughout your playthrough and the thought of what’s going to happen next makes the story that little bit more realistic, which is great. At the end of the day if the game didn’t suffer with the shortcomings it suffers with then it would be getting a much higher score from me. That being said The Long Reach probably still does just enough to get a small recommendation from me because when everything clicks it’s mysterious and scary to say the least.… Full Review »
  2. SenorKoquonfaes
    Dec 11, 2019
    6
    Bought this game for $4.23 CAD about a month or so ago and overall, I would say it's okay. The game takes place during Christmas time, so IBought this game for $4.23 CAD about a month or so ago and overall, I would say it's okay. The game takes place during Christmas time, so I guess now was as good a time as any to play it!

    You play as Calvin, a low level scientist at a research institution in a fictional city in New Hampshire. He checks into work one day, is lead into a testing room where he plays some bars by Bach and Beethoven on a piano before blacking out. He awakes sometime later to learn that an experiment being conducted in the institution has gone off the rails, leaving some characters dead, some who have gone insane and leaves Calvin questioning his own mental state. It's then up to him to find out what's happened and shut the experiment down. Overall, the story ends up being just alright, the writing is also just alright and there's no voice acting, so you're fed dialogue through text dumps. The game also has dialogue options, most of them don't matter, save for a few encounters towards the end of the game.

    The art direction is well done, even though it's pixel art, they were able to render some truly horrifying and unnerving scenes such as a guy blowing his brains out with a handgun, to a guy hanging himself with Christmas lights, to a person being lit on fire, among other things. The pixel art environments are highly detailed and the lighting and piano-heavy, musical score create a dark and unnerving atmosphere.

    While the game is a 2D side-scroller, it also borrows some classic point-and-click adventure game mechanics as well; hunt for items, use item or combine items to use on objects to solve a puzzle and progress the story. The game features a lot of monotonous backtracking through mostly the same science lab environment to find the items you need. I found the puzzle solving to be kind of frustrating, since the game doesn't really hold your hand with any of it. This was a huge drawback for me and it made me realize this part of the game is definitely not for me.

    The game also has some survival horror elements as well where you can sometimes find yourself being chased by a crazed cenobite-looking, machete-wielding murderer and your only options are to run, hide or die.

    I really wish this game expanded on it's story and it's world a lot more than it did. The game gives you some brief moments of this when you're walking outside or talking to people in a diner or store, but then it drops you right back into the same science lab environments with item hunting.

    The Long Reach's art direction and music certainly drew me in and enticed me to keep playing, but the game's tedious backtracking through samey environments, item hunting and puzzle solving left me feeling more frustrated than rewarded. Couple that with a story that's just okay, underdeveloped characters that I had no investment in and it's roughly 2 hour run time that left the world feeling kind of underdeveloped and overall, I can really only offer a recommendation if the game is bought for super cheap or if classic point-and-click adventure games are your thing.    … Full Review »