Goosebumps. Scream. Furbies. There was plenty to be scared of in the ‘90s, especially in the world of gaming. PlayStation (PS1) titles Silent Hill and Resident Evil shaped the survival horror genre we know and love today, and in London-based developer SFB Games’ upcoming horror Crow Country, we’re heading back to that golden age.
Set in 1990, Crow Country tasks players with breaking the first rule of Surviving Horror Stories 101: exploring an abandoned theme park. When titular park Crow Country shuts down after its founder mysteriously disappears, plucky protagonist Mara Forest heads in to find answers. Waiting for her are all the things you’d expect from a love letter to ‘90s survival horror: gruesome monsters, tricky puzzles, and nostalgic PS1-style graphics.
Crow Country. Credit: SFB Games.
Adam Vian, the creative director behind this blocky horror show, tells NME that Crow Country’s biggest inspirations will come as “no surprise” to players. “I [aimed] to make a game that’s a bit more horrible than Resident Evil and a bit more video-gamey than Silent Hill,” he says. However, another critically acclaimed PS1 game – Final Fantasy 7 – also influenced Crow Country thanks to its “dreamlike” background art and pixel-y character models.
“I’m a big fan of the chunky field models for the characters in Final Fantasy 7, and I just can’t get on board with the idea that they’re ‘bad graphics’ and need to be corrected or improved,” he argues. “They’re delightful! They’re charming! They’re super visible against the backgrounds!”
Besides offering a nostalgic aesthetic, using old-school visuals also meant that SFB Games – a small indie studio founded by Adam and his brother Tom Vian – didn’t have to try and compete with the ornate, big-budget releases of major developers.
Crow Country. Credit: SFB Games.
“The appeal of PS1-era horror is a case of less is more,” Vian explains. “In 2024, that’s never been more of an appealing prospect – in the face of increasingly flashy, noisy and bloated AAA stuff, I find myself wanting the games I play to be a little simpler, quieter and more atmospheric, like they were in the PS1 and PS2 eras.”
“I also feel quite strongly about the effect that stylisation and abstraction has upon storytelling,” he continues. “Personally, I find it quite hard to relate to and empathise with game characters if they’re super detailed and photo-realistic. If they’re too well defined, if you can see every detail of their face, it doesn’t leave room for the imagination to do its work.”
Though Crow Country doesn’t launch until May, early buzz suggests Vian isn’t the only one pining for simpler times. The game raised eyebrows (and heart rates) with a free demo in February’s Steam Next Fest, and was recently named in London Games Festival’s official selection, meaning it will be celebrated at this month’s event in Trafalgar Square.
Besides the nostalgia factor, Crow Country‘s popularity has been aided by a broader resurgence in the popularity of survival horror. As Vian points out, the genre is “really healthy” right now – terrifying follow-ups Amnesia: The Bunker and Alan Wake 2, along with remakes of Dead Space and Resident Evil 4, were some of the best games of 2023.
Whatever the reason for Crow Country‘s early hype, Vian is now “nervously optimistic” about next month’s launch. “Honestly, it’s still surreal to me that Crow Country is suddenly a real game that people are playing, forming opinions about, and looking forward to,” he says. “Even though it’s grown into a full game and we’ve shared it with the world, I think some part of my brain is stuck thinking of Crow Country as my personal little hobby project.”
Crow Country launches on May 9 for PC, PS4, and PS5.
