Post Trauma Review

Developer: Red Soul Games 

Platforms: PC (Reviewed), PS5, Xbox Series X|S

Genre: Adventure, Horror, Survival

Publisher: Raw Fury

Post Trauma is a retro survival horror game from developer Red Soul Games and publisher Raw Fury. Post Trauma takes inspiration from games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill and other classics. This review was done for the Windows version, but the game is also available on Xbox Series S|X and PS 4/5.

Post Trauma is a single-player game where you play three different characters, Roman, Carlos and Freya, who take on eerie challenges in order to escape outworldly settings. At first, you play as Roman, a middle-aged man who woke up expectedly in a grimish subway station, locked within a train. The narrative of the game follows the perception of reality being distorted and players encountering strange creatures that threaten your sanity. As the three characters, your memories are what makes the Gloom alive, but it only gets worse.

The controls for Post Trauma are much better played with a controller rather than using a keyboard/mouse, as everything seems much smoother. There was a bit of confusion as to what keybinds were responsible for what mechanic in the game when using the keyboard/mouse, so the controller was much better. The game does have in-game tips at the beginning to get the players started with information on certain keybinds, but most of them work similarly to old games. 

The visuals for Post Trauma relive the PS2-era aesthetics where the characters and creatures look realistic, but the camera has a slight blur to it. The atmosphere for the game is stunning, as everything feels so surreal. I do love the character designs as they look like people you could encounter in the real world, and the voice acting was nice and subtle. The cinematics played smoothly and helped transition the story from one scene to another. In regards to the voice acting, I enjoyed that the characters had distinct personalities and even with little conversations between them, it still added to their character. The variety of monsters and their behaviour were impressive, as you could look out for ways to attack or avoid them best suited to you. I would say that some of the animations felt clunky; there would be instances where you could climb up a ledge, and Roman would glitch through the ledge (maybe due to the preview build). Besides the animation, I believe the game does a wonderful job of creating a dreadful atmosphere. The level of detail added to unsettling features like the still-life mannequins to the butchered monsters creates a hauntingly immersive experience. As you explore through subway stations and hospitals, the audio cues and sound that are built into the game are eerie and work so well. You hear growls, hisses, creaks, loud footsteps, and whispers. When I started the game and walked through the subway gates, it made a little beep noise, and later, when I was far away from those machines, it made another beep noise as if someone had walked through. Post-trauma does not just scare you through its creatures/monsters but can scare you with the daunting noises and visuals it creates, which I thought was great.

My favourite part about the game would have to be the fixed camera angles. Rather than allowing the player to move the camera to their liking, as you move between areas/rooms/hallways, the camera can switch from a birds-eye view to a pan shot or even a side angle shot. The camera work is phenomenal at enhancing the atmosphere. There would be occurrences in the game where the camera would follow the character’s run, or you would have a close-up shot to create cluster and unease, which can disorient players in a way similar to the character. In terms of a horror indie game, I think the camera work is amazing. With the use of limiting lighting and angles that give a point of view, you would hardly expect plays in such an impactful way. 

Post Trauma embodies a survival horror game that pays close attention to its puzzles, and several details can be missed by players, so I highly recommend that you pay close attention to your surroundings. I had found myself taking down notes on a piece of paper for anything that felt important. The game does a great job of keeping things difficult. Like classic horror games, as you collect items, you are not told where to use them. It is up to you to pick where certain things need to be used. For instance, I had collected a wire and was interacting with the fuse behind a barred office, only to find that I needed to use the wire specifically in the area. The game gets you to think, and clues are not given in the form of text but are scattered throughout the game. It was an interesting way to break up the usual ‘clue’ system as it invited the player to keep an eye out and look into details for anything they may have missed. Personally, the puzzles in Post Trauma are what makes the game stand out, as you need to be able to solve them in order to progress onwards. Unlike most games, you are not going out of your way to fetch items to ‘solve’ a puzzle but are using actual logic to fit pieces and information together. Post Trauma offers a great challenge but is truly worth the game’s price. 

My first assumption for Post Trauma was that the game would feature a great deal of combat, but that was not the case. Now, of course, the game has combat in which you can find new weapons and tools to use on monsters, but it did not feel the best. The majority of the combat mechanics felt choppy and slow. There were instances where I would swing my crowbar, but it would miss even though I was aimed at the creature. Even using a gun could be a bit frustrating as everything felt too slow in response. The combat is a downside to post-trauma, but I do like that the game makes players want to avoid certain fights. Not everything needs to be attacked, and you can keep a much more discrete profile against monsters.

The game itself follows the premise of usual survival horror games where you will explore eerie areas, manage resources, and solve puzzles without dying to the creatures that are on your tail. The game requires players to backtrack, but backtracking is interesting, where certain things you saw would turn into something else. The reality portrayed in the game is not what it seems. As for the narrative, I felt that it could have been more polished. I felt as if there was no real story behind the characters, and you were mainly just playing them from a different point of view. I think the game would have so much more potential if the story was a bit more compelling.

If you are looking for a horrific atmospheric survival game in which you go through unnerving environments to solve challenging puzzles that make you question if reality is what it seems, then this game is for you. Post Trauma features a classic PS2 horror game aesthetic where you get to fight/evade terrifying creatures whilst immersing yourself into an otherworldly atmosphere that will grit your teeth. The game is worth the daunting experience for its price. So be sure to check out Post Trauma! 

Overall: 7/10

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