Shutter Reviews

It cracks me up that I see reviews on games and there is 0.1 hours played and a negative review. SERIOUSLY? I would understand if the game did not work or something. The game was really enjoyable,and the price is right. Read the more complex detailed positive reviews and it would sum it up on what I would say. Since what I would say and explain about the game would mean I would be saying the same thing everyone else says. 10/10 excellent game

It's...not that good. The game is very short and an achievement to beat the game in under 9:30 just highlights that fact. The scares and objectives are fixed leaving no replayability, and you'll quickly learn to just hold the space bar for photo mode since it provides the best camera view and taking photos is how you progress anyway. That means the energy bar's function is entirely pointless, since it drains if you use an alternate camera view but not when you enter photo mode. There are also a few bugs, namely geometry and furniture can just up and disappear and the "last photo taken" preview can bug out and never change. One ghost that appears is completely static and just glides toward you without moving, and there is no way to actually lose the game - hell, you actually have to get "caught" to progress in some cases, meaning you're trained to just rush headfirst into anything that looks dangerous in the hopes of progression.

Clocking in at just under an hour Shutter is a rare treat. You play as a land-based drone, taking pictures inside a possibly haunted house. You'll communicate with your handlers via email while doing different tasks around the house. The game uses old school tank controls along with a toggle to go into first person. This is a game where you take pictures and solve a mystery, there is no combat. With its novel gameplay, decent writing, and short runtime, Shutter is definitely worth your attention.

I recall a forum debate which raged a ways back, regarding the game Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs and its rather controversial decision to eliminate the "lantern oil" mechanics of its predecessor, The Dark Descent. At the time I defended The Chinese Room in this decision, and while I still agree with the general reduction in The Dark Descent's many unnecessary mechanics (including superfluous sanity systems and borderline-inconsequential "healing" items), the extraordinary suspense created by Outlast and its battery-conserving antics made me rethink my stance in regard to such issues. Having said that, Shutter takes such matters to new extremes of extraneousness, by arming the miniature "droid" you control with a battery which not only controls your ability to switch to first-person mode, but requires constant recharging whilst adding precisely FUCK-ALL suspense to the matters at hand. Indeed, I am wondering if the only reason for this mechanic to exist are: a. To shut up the kinds of people who complain incessantly about lack of "gameplay mechanics" in recent horror games, and b. To pad out the length of an already very SHORT game. Here's another theory. After coming up with an admittedly VERY clever and VERY original concept for their little-horror-game-which-could - one in which the player commanders a Mars mission-style robot in its explorations of a haunted house, and the unravelling of the mysteries therein - the developers of Shutter then faced the difficult decision of whether to make it a first-person or third-person game. The smart money would probably have been on first-person, but their love for early Resident Evil-style camera angles apparently won out to the degree where the player can now readily switch between first and third-person. In its own right, not a bad idea at all, but then that dreaded need for "mechanics" reared its ugly head. After all, what fledgling development company wants to become the new Chinese Room, and be "hated" by all and sundry (except ME, of course? Hell, I even liked Gone Home). (On a side-note, I'd also like to thank all the fuckers who whined about A Machine For Pigs for the current plethora of horror games in which the protagonist can't run for more than seven seconds without stopping to catch his breath. All of these unnecessarily overdone "mechanics" are thanks to YOU, ya whining pack o' CUNTS.) Anyway, back to Shutter. Oh, and if you need further evidence of the aforementioned Resident Evil obsession, you need look no further than the fact that your "boss" looks like Barry Burton and makes a joke about being a "master of unlocking". 'Nuff said. So what of the game's GOOD qualities? It's certainly not lacking in atmosphere or spookiness, but the genuinely "scary" factor is a little hampered by the fact that, at least until the final chapter, you're just a little electronic thing on wheels which can't really get hurt or be emotionally traumatised. It's an inspired idea just the same, and the "story" you uncover is interesting enough (if told in the slightly ludicrous manner of finding pieces of a "diary" plastered on walls here, there and everywhere), but its a little difficult to recommend to all bar the horror-faithful at the price of five bucks for barely over an hour's worth of gameplay. By all means, pick it up in a sale, and I'll certainly be eager to see what the devs get up to next, as this shows an awful lot of promise. But less of the gratuitous mechanics next time, eh, Cosmic Logic? You guys were brave enough to try something genuinely different for your first foray into game design, and if there's one thing horror games are in dire need of right now, it's a bit more risk-taking. Let's all stop quaking in the shadow of The Chinese Room's "epic fail" (minor masterpiece, if you want MY fucking opinion), and keep things moving forward, whad'ya say? Definitely a very solid, if flawed, first effort. Verdict: 8/10.

The concept of using a drone in a horror situation was original, and the controls and features were very neat. Sadly, the game itself was not very frightening. I usually am not able to sit through horror games, but untfotunately most of the jump scares were predictable. A lot of the sounds became exhausted after the first few repetitions, and became more annoying than scary. The atmosphere was creepy, but I think the game would have benefited from less jump scares and more atmospheric developement to induce fear. Overall it is innovative, and was enjoyable -- even with the few decent scares given -- and for the price, it is worth giving a shot.

You get what you pay for, I guess. [i] Shutter [/i] runs you about $3 for a horror experience pitched at the level of a low-tier episode of [i] Are You Afraid Of The Dark. [/i] It's a haunted house story; the main gimmick is that instead of exploring the house in first-person with a flashlight, you instead pilot some kind of remote-controlled rover through it, with which you occasionally take pictures of suspicious-looking phenomena (hence the title of the game). The whole thing takes about 90 minutes to complete. There's diary entries to be found, and ghosts roaming the halls, etc. You know the drill. There's nothing offensively bad about [i] Shutter. [/i] There's also nothing particularly remarkable about it. I'll give the developers credit for an original approach to a shopworn genre, and for eschewing the use of cheap jump scares. I didn't find it scary, mainly because piloting a remote-controlled robot removes any sense of personal threat from the experience. I also don't remember any blood, so squeamish types should be all right with it. I could just as easily have given this game a thumbs-up, because it's competently made and well-priced. I'm only voting it down because I just can't picture myself actively recommending it to anyone; it's too, well, not-scary for that. I wish the developers the best though, and the screenshots of the sequel (which apparently takes place in an abandoned prison, and are included as an "extra" with the game) look interesting.

Basic concept of the game is that you are exploring an abandoned cabin with a RC robot car thing. As the game description says, as you progress you upgrade your robot dude giving you a better camera to keep getting pictures of paranormal things like floating objects, shadows, and orbs. The more pictures of paranormal activities/shadows, the more you progress. Controls are a little janky, but felt fairly appropriate considering you arent controlling a person. You can use your battery power to get into a first person view, but when the battery runs out, you need to let it recharge. Letting you switch between the RC camera and a 3rd person view was a very nice touch. In my opinion, they absolutely nailed the atmosphere. I might spook pretty easily, but I know I sat there jumping, flinching, and squeaking like a little girl the entire time I played (and especially at the end). Graphics are a little dated (as a nod to PS1 era I guess), but the audio is very well done. Would have loved for an audio setting though. Im also very happy the dev didnt 100% rely on cheap jump scares. Also absolutely loved the story. Make sure you actually read the papers you find, as well as the police report in the menu (after you finish the game of course). Outside of the bug mentioned in the description, I didnt find any major bugs. My mouse didnt lock in the window on windowed mode, but Im not sure if it was intended to be locked in or not. It wasnt game breaking for me though. The only downside to the game is the length. The game is pretty short. Theres actually an achievement to finish in under 10 minutes I believe. So, expect to spend 30 minutes up to an hour on your first (blind) playthrough. I do wish the dev's had added some more meat to the story and expanded the house. It would have been cool to have more rooms to explore for more story pages. All of that said, I very highly recommend the game. The story was creepy and the RC robot thing was a pretty cool/interesting concept. I definitely look forward to their next release.

It is always nice to see when the appropriate games get greenlit by the community - Shutter is another great example for that. This is a neat little game where we control a small RC car equipped with a camera - this surveillance unit is to be used to discover the strange occurrences surrounding a house. We are constantly in contact with a software engineer, a guy who asks us where to go and what to take a photo of. The photos we then upload and await his further instructions. Occasionally he upgrades our software which basically means a camera with different modes for shooting (night vision, spectral vision). We take photos of objects, apparitions while experiencing some good-old survival horror scary stuff: suddenly closing doors, flickering lights, sudden blackouts and ghostly sounds / voices. Regularly, we find notes telling us the story of the place and while it is not much it still contributes to the great atmosphere the game has. Graphics-wise the game is a bit rough around the edges - in-game menus are particularly ugly, still, Shutter has a good entertainment value for a couple of hours especially in case you are interested in something different than the AAA games out there. I look forward to playing its sequel - I have to admit I have my expectations, though.

Shutter lets you pilot a small drone into a supposedly haunted cabin as you try to shed light on what's causing the disturbances your client has reported. It's a small, low budget game that can provide a good horror quick fix for those that don't mind its shortcomings. [b]PROS:[/b] -the drone idea is quite original and works well -a pretty good story rounded up by the report that'd be read after completing the game -manages to create a creepy, unsettling ambiance [b]CONS:[/b] -overall unremarkable graphics: before you get the HD camera upgrade first person view is so badly pixelated that I thought it was a bug -easy, linear and short -controlling a drone makes the things you'll face less threatening since you're not in harm's way: this changes in the last chapter when you're actually controlling a person though http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=478262347 Shutter was an enjoyable experience overall, its story was interesting enough to keep the game going for its 1 hour length and the places I explored and things I've met were appropriately creepy. While not scary per se the overall atmosphere was tense enough to make my hair stand on its end a few times. Considering its low price it's a decent purchase for anyone looking for a quick, straightforward horror game.

I wasn't very sure what to expect with "drone horror" and you'd think I didn't enjoy myself with the way I phrase it. That isn't true. Shutter, for what it is, is a nice little experience that'll make you ask yourself why didn't someone think of this sooner. It's a nice idea. Unique with a story that makes you go, "*inhale* OHHHHH." But Shutter isn't reinventing the horror wheel. It's your run-of-the-mill horror game. You might be startled, you might not be. Your mileage may vary with the jump scares (not many) and you might get the intended creep factor out of the general reveal of the diary pages heroine's fate. Personally, I cringed, I jumped, and I did as intended. My worst reactions came out of the epilogue chapter where I truely felt like clawing the walls in a panic. You will feel panic. You will either panic because that beautiful, expensive equipment or... I'm not spoiling you! Shutter, however, is short. The price reflects the "you'll clock in about an hour IF THAT" game time. Shutter also has some woeful graphics that even I crossed my eyes at and wanted to scream "WHY?! WHY OH GOD WHY?!" I say to hell with that it's not pretty and if you're that hard up for cash, wait for a sale. But it's a nice way to waste a quick hour if you like a quick horror game. If you liked Paranormal, you'll probably get some enjoyment out of Shutter. This storyline is a little bit more believable but the scares are dialed down. Play both games for a fun night of video camera footage horror. There's no huge learning curve. The camera takes a moment to fire up and I'd prefer rapid fire shots, but that would make it too simple to take a ghost's picture, now wouldn't it? As you move along in the game, you get "upgrades" to your equipment to take better pictures of "camera issues" and such that may hinder your investigation. Personally, I enjoyed that. You can also go into first person mode. This is complete rubbish when you're first using it but you'll be counting on this later on to help you flee. Yes. You will be chased. Your drone will need you so it doesn't get boogled by ghosties. A love story between man and drone. Except man uses drone to capture footage of ghosts so I have to ask what sort of relationship this is. The one thing I would have enjoyed was a little warning that there was flashing lights used (not like you're obligated to, but this is why I make myself the health guinea pig!). Yes I should have guessed when I noticed there was thunder and lightning in the videos, but I subject myself to this so that other gamers don't have to go "HOW BRIGHT ARE THE FLASHES, REALLY?" Enough to put you into a migraine or a seizure easily. There are lots of bright lights. Tread with caution if you are a gamer with a handicap that may be set off by flashing lights. Take breaks between chapters. I know the final chapters are about ten minutes long, but TAKE A WALK. Give your eyeballs a rest. If you don't care for horror and want a little taste of something unusual, I say give Shutter a shot. If you're a diehard horror fan and you only like extreme experiences, skip it. This is a bit tame for your tastes. If you like collecting horror games because they're pretty fun to compare differences, then you needed to get this game YESTERDAY. Why didn't you get it yet? I personally enjoyed it. I wish it could have been longer and a little bit more polished, but I can comfortably say it's not something you'll regret in the morning. Like that ghost lady. I'm pretty sure she doesn't regret anything, either. She was pretty happy to suck the battery life from my drone.