BestyGames Analysis: Traveling through the history of Survival Horrors in Back in 1995

The last time we talked about Back in 1995 was three years ago, just before its original release for PCs. It took a long time, but now this real time travel through the genre Horror Survival finally arrived at the consoles! And it’s time to analyze this adventure through the beginnings of modern horror in video games!

Returning to the birthplace of Survival Horror

Back in 1995 it’s a completely retro adventure. Taking the player back to the old style of horror games from the time of the Playstation 1 and now Saturn, with just about everything from that era: Polygonal graphics, old-fashioned gameplay, inventory, manual rescue, fixed cameras and a whole old-fashioned atmosphere.

The game puts the player in control of Kent, a man who wants to reach a nearby radio tower, to put an end to some pending matter. The problem is that getting there will not be easy. For the city is infested with grotesque monsters, to the point where the few survivors of that **** are isolated on the roofs of city buildings, unable to descend to ground level.

Your mission is to cross the roofs of nearby buildings and reach the tower, in a game focused on exploration and puzzles. At the same time, you must put together the pieces about what happened to the world and where the terrible monsters that have spread all over the place come from, besides of course trying to understand what is the mission of Kent.

An experience about the past

Back in 1995 does not have this name for nothing, but for two specific reasons: The first is to relive the beginnings of Horror Survival, officially opened in 1996 with resident Evil, but preceding since 1989 with sweet home and 1992 with Alone in the Dark. And the second reason is related to the game’s plot, which involves an obsession with the year of 1995, which in order not to spoil anything, I won’t go into details.

The purpose of the game is to relive the time when each new horror title was a big surprise, in this way, the game purposely inserts several of the limitations of the time. With the low resolution and serrated look, old tank gameplay and fixed cameras, more style silent Hill, which follow the player until he enters the next camera area.

In terms of gameplay, the game is much slower and harder than the classics of the genre, more like the first Alone in the Dark. Your character moves slowly, whether walking, turning sideways or using some weapon to attack, which makes gameplay tiring after a while. And unfortunately there is no running function here, which would help a lot. However, this “stuck” gameplay is deliberate, including the slowness of the character. And the reason for this is to try to rescue in players the feeling of difficulty of the time.

The game’s combat is very simple, the game offers only three different weapons: A griffin (big pliers, if you don’t know them by name), a pistol and a shotgun. As well as character movement, combat is also a little slow, but luckily the enemies are too, so you won’t suffer much, except with a certain kind of really annoying monster.

The game is, above all, an experience, as will become clear when the player finishes the adventure. However, or who knows because of that, the game’s plot ended up being a little harmed. In the end, the game manages to tell a coherent story, but leaves a lot of nonsense in the end, certain bits of information and important names that end up meaningless.

In fact, the game is very short. With dedication, it is possible to finish the game in about two or three hours. I myself finished the game (and platinum it) in a single “sitting”. The game offers a nostalgic experience, but it would be nice if it had more content and a longer duration.

Audiovisual

That the images and videos spread throughout this text speak for themselves. Back in 1995 is 100% 1995. The game has a very simple polygonal look, with a lot of aliasing and the classic loading screens of yesteryear. The game even offers the option of placing an image interference filter, simulating an old tube TV. In fact, the game doesn’t even have a widescreen, the sides of the screen simulate the edges of an old TV!

However, the game suffers from the textures of the scenarios. As the player moves, textures move with them, stretching or distorting in very strange ways. This gets in the way of exploration a little, as it distracts and ends up unintentionally hiding important elements, such as documents or items. This is probably an error when rendering textures with a fixed camera movement, which makes everything weird.

The game’s sound department is very simple, with a few songs loaded with tension, but that are short playing time. After a few loops they stop and silence dominates everything, being broken only by the steps of the player and the monsters.

The game has dubs in English, with a performance not very excited, which I believe is also purposeful. who played the first resident Evil remembers how strange the dubs of the characters were at the time, in a time before the Metal Gear Solid, which became the dubbing standard for all the games that followed.

Conclusion

Back in 1995 it is without a doubt a return to the “antiquity” of the Survival Horrors, rescuing its look, gameplay and difficulty, but failing to rescue the atmosphere that these games created. Maybe partly because of the passing of the years, as it’s harder to be scared by old horror games, but I still got some good scares with the game.

If you want to get a taste of what the Horrors Survival of old, at the time of Alone in the Dark and of the first resident Evil and silent Hill, so give the game a try! It’s a little frustrating with its controls and confusing storyline, but it still delivers good fun.

Back in 1995 was originally released on 2016 for SQUARE and arrived this week to Playstation 3, Playstation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One and Switch.