Review: Cannibal Abduction

Argentinian indie solo dev Tomás Esconjaureguy has been making his short, lo-fi slasher experiences for a few years, with The Night of the Scissors (2022) being the first major release. Now, the developer has released a compilation containing both titles in a new console port of Cannibal Abduction, available on February 8th.

Now that we’ve had a chance to check out this new port, we’ll see if this package was worth the wait.

Starting with Cannibal Abduction, the game is a fixed-camera third-person survival horror title, full of puzzles, hiding spots, and having to outsmart a dynamic killer that has random paths throughout the house they’ve trapped you in.

It starts with a fun, short little story intro with voice acting that does a decent job of setting the scene and feels reminiscent of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Puppet Combo’s Stay Out of the House, but with its own style of campy charm.

Escaping the house ends up being a battle of wits and cunning with the persistent killer as well as solving the handful of puzzles that the game presents to keep things moving forward. All of it feels pretty satisfying to navigate overall and none of the puzzles are too complex.

The system to warn you that the killer is getting near is very subtle and not explained well in the game. It uses what looks like VHS static/distortion that progressively gets worse the closer the killer gets.

You can use this feature to manipulate and outsmart the killer much of the time. Still, you also have the option of hiding or using some light stealth mechanics (turning off the flashlight and not running) as well, similar to the Clock Tower or Remothered series, and waiting for the killer to wander off to another part of the house. In a fun twist, the killer will also eventually start closing up some of the hiding spots so you can’t hide in them without using an item to open them up again, which uses up a precious inventory slot.

The house isn’t too big, but it feels like there’s a lot to do on your first playthrough. It’s almost like having to complete only the mansion segment of the first Resident Evil game, but with fewer loading screens and story cutscenes, and a persistent killer stopping you in your tracks occasionally.

A first playthrough will generally take between two to three hours. There are different endings as well as a hard mode that really cranks up the killer’s persistence and cunning as well as knocking down your available inventory slots, making for a much more challenging run.

The visuals here are going for a low-poly PS1-style aesthetic and do a pretty good job. It’s not 100% authentic from a polygon/modeling standpoint, but it’s close enough for most people not to care, especially when the gameplay is as fun as it is.

The console port improves gameplay and fine-tunes the controllers for a smoother experience. These improvements open up the game to a lot of people who didn’t have access to it before.

Overall, the experience is solid, but there are a few minor annoyances such as getting caught on doors when running away in panic or fixed camera angles that can work against you, leaving you vulnerable to the killer before you even enter a room. It would be a big help to be able to adjust the sensitivity or speed of the character’s turning radius, but that feature may be added later. As it is, it doesn’t break the game.

Another great feature of this console port is the inclusion of the developer’s previous game, The Night of the Scissors. It’s another great bite-sized low-poly adventure where you must survive an encounter with a scissor-wielding killer reminiscent of Clock Tower.

This will probably give you another hour to 90 minutes of gameplay after finishing Cannibal Abduction, adding great value to the package.

The console port of Cannibal Abduction provides two great indie slashers for a pretty low price tag of $12 USD. Both are a lot of fun if you’re into the games that inspired them, easily making this worth the cost of admission.

The game is available to wishlist or pre-order now on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch. Get yourself a copy if you’re into lo-fi horror experiences and haven’t tried these games for yourself yet.

(8 / 10)

Great

Rely on Horror Review Score Guide

A review code was provided for Xbox Series X/S by the publisher.