Welcome to The Attic, don’t touch those rocks.

One of my favorite little indie horror games that I have played recently is Quadrant. I stumbled upon it one day on Steam, and while I thought it looked like something I would love, I hesitated. This was due to the mixed reviews; something I pay a lot of attention to. Yet I kept going back to its store page, and one day in a fit of a “I need a new horror game to play right now” I decided to buy it. Priced at only $4.99 USD, I wasn’t risking much anyway.

It’s worth noting that some of the negative reviews are complaining about only having one chapter, and that is no longer the case. So some of these are unfairly outdated, leading many to think that the game is still incomplete. There are three chapters, and from the way it ended I feel confident in saying this is the whole game now. It took me about five hours to complete. That may sound short, but this is an indie game that costs just five bucks. I absolutely got my money’s worth.

Ahh, the ’70s, so much wood paneling

Quadrant is set in the late 1970s, where a group of three are heading into a research facility after a leak was reported. You and your teammates are in bio-hazard suits, and it’s a good thing, too. This massive facility is out in the middle of nowhere, and it gives a strong Area 51 vibe. You will venture through offices, quarantined zones, into vents, and even out into the fresh air and surrounding property. I never got bored with my surroundings because they shifted over at a nice pace.

Explore!

Make it a point to explore every area you can get to. There are a lot of great notes that explain exactly what is going on here, and why. There are also audio notes from the others in your team (you get separated early on, naturally) so keep an eye out for tape recorders. I feel like they easily could have gone a lazier route and not included so many of these, but they did and it made the game feel so much more intriguing.

The soundtrack and sound design for Quadrant are quite good as well. I kept taking note of how perfect the music was at any given moment. It definitely complimented the game, and didn’t overpower it which is often separated by a very fine line. They also did something that I always wish for in horror games: they didn’t rush showing anything. There was a decent chunk of time before I ever saw them. Sure, I heard ungodly cries, and saw things move, but I had no idea what I was up against for a while. This allowed a lot of tension to be built up. I honestly didn’t know if the game would have combat, or if I’d have to be stealthy, or both.

What you don’t see is often scarier.

Unfortunately, once I did see them, I wasn’t quite as scared anymore. Their design wasn’t anything very unique or terrifying. It sort of killed that unknowing tension, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying the experience at all. I still jumped when they came after me, and I still felt my heart race when I was trying to sneak by one of them. They also appear in various forms, so that kept it fresh. I wasn’t expecting that at all, and it was a pleasant surprise.

Another thing I really appreciated was a small touch that was appreciated nonetheless. When you sprint for a prolonged amount of time, the mask in your character’s suit begins to steam up as you hear him panting. Stop sprinting, and it will fade. As I said, a small touch, but I really like when developers take the time to add details like that.

What’s in there?

The Verdict:

Overall I would absolutely recommend Quadrant to any horror and/or Sci-Fi fan. It’s a great little game, and I am happy to spread the word to those, like me, that may have been scared off by its reviews on Steam. It’s a good lesson to make a point to read those reviews and really understand what the complaints are. Sometimes, they’re simply not relevant anymore.

I’m not saying that Quadrant is perfect, as it has some issues such as light shining underneath walls from the room next to it. The subtitles often have misspelled words, too. But in my humble opinion, if a game is this enjoyable and affordable, I can absolutely look the other way from these minor issues and still recommend it. I genuinely had a blast playing this, at night, with my headphones on and the volume up.

Stay scared,
Dark Princess