A new and improved paid version of an older first-person psychological horror, \SPEK.TAKL\ - Banned Edition, is out now on itch.io and was apparently too much for Valve.
I have to admit, my own curiosity gets piqued whenever Valve decided to outright refuse a game to be on their store, considering how just …outrageous some games are that are accepted onto Steam.
\SPEK.TAKL\ is a a first-person psychological horror game with multiple endings that can be completed in under an hour.
It is a late-night television watching simulator. Sit down on the couch in your new apartment straight out of 1994 and enjoy a cozy evening bingeing cable TV until the sign-off comes around and there's nothing else to watch.
Whatever you do, do not worry about the neighbors; do NOT answer the door; and never EVER watch the VHS tapes that are dropped through your mail slot.
\SPEK.TAKL\ is an intense, intimate and disturbing horror-themed psychosexual exploration on the lengths some of us go to in order to avoid facing the inevitable.
Direct Link
Features:
- Four different endings : your actions, or your inaction, matter
- Midnight movie ambiance : an abstract narrative with psychosexual themes, echoing the works of Lynch and Cronenberg
- Late-night television : sit down and actually watch over an hour of remixed public-domain-sourced videos
- Low risk gameplay : no enemies putting the player in danger, just light puzzle elements to solve and a tense and heavy atmosphere
New in the re-release:
- An additional, exclusive ending, further exploring the dark themes of the original game
- Unused music tracks composed for the original release added back to the new environments
- Quality of Life improvements, such as subtitles for dialog and bug fixes for a smoother experience
You can buy it on itch.io.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Lynch and Cronenberg you say? I have just purchased this and hope to be suitably entertained :-)Mind you, anyone can say Lynch and Cronenberg. Let us know if the reality matches up.
Mind you, anyone can say Lynch and Cronenberg. Let us know if the reality matches up.
Like mentioning Monkey Island when you're doing point and click. :D
PublicNuisance Aug 24, 2021
Mind you, anyone can say Lynch and Cronenberg. Let us know if the reality matches up.
Well, I've obtained two endings so far! The imagery is suitably disturbing and I would say the images lean more towards Cronenberg than Lynch (apart from one obvious reference).
The pixellation is heavy enough that I wonder what Valve actually had an issue with. There are a number of items to interact with and the keyboard controls are responsive and familiar enough. The background sound and tv programmes are effective and well-integrated into the atmosphere, too.
Give it a go. It's a steal at that price :-)
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