A psychological horror game

With a spooky setting and a spine-chilling atmosphere that builds up as you make more progress, Anthology of Fear promises a scary gameplay experience. Developed by Gamersky Games, this horror game will take you on a creepy adventure that will attempt to challenge your psyche and test your fears.

In Anthology of Fear, you’ll put yourself in the shoes of an unnamed protagonist who’s on a quest to solve his brother’s disappearance. Your investigation will take you to an abandoned medical facility, in which the staff has been maliciously tinkering with dream therapy.

Great plot but not-so-great gameplay

The game opens in a dark alley, with your character talking to an informant over the phone. There’s a bit of a tutorial as the game teaches you how to interact with the environment, displaying helpful notes on the left side of the screen and flashing control-related instructions in the middle. You then enter the basement leading to the abandoned hospital, and that’s where the horror starts building up.

Anthology of Fear presents a promising storyline that’s intriguing enough to keep you hooked, with plot points being unraveled through VHS tapes and other pieces of clues. Throughout the game, you’ll have to solve a handful of rather mediocre puzzles and cruise down long hallways. These aspects are where the game falls flat and repetitive, and it tries to make up for it through the atmosphere.

There are also mannequins and jumpscares involved — arguably common and overused horror game essentials — although these are a bit poorly executed, as the player can almost always guess when a jumpscare is going to happen. At the same time, the game ends quickly, amassing game time of just a little over two hours from start to finish. The ending is anticlimactic considering the build-up of the plot, too.

Not-so-extraordinary horror game

In sum, Anthology of Fear is worth checking out if you’re up for a casual horror thriller. Its plot and atmosphere build-up are highly commendable, but the way it wraps things up in the end and how it incorporates jumpscares are quite mediocre. Most of the gameplay comprises walking down hallways and feeling like something is creeping up on you, which will get old quickly.