Survival horror is a gaming genre packed with the usual zombies, jump scares and other extraordinary elements. While there are some great survival horror titles out there, a lot of them are just too “samey”. Well, here comes yet another game to be crammed into the already over-stuffed genre. Solo developer Jordan Mochi/Catchweight Studio and publisher Team 17 bring us Conscript, a survival horror title that goes out of its way to break some of the standard clichés.

“During the First World War, a lone French soldier must navigate twisted trenches, scavenge for limited supplies and solve complex puzzles – all whilst fighting for survival in the midst of mankind’s most brutal and horrifying conflict. CONSCRIPT is a new take on classic survival horror.”

Set in 1916, during the Battle of Verdun, one of the most bloody and brutal battles of The Great War. You find yourself in the filthy trenches on the front line and (avoiding story spoilers) fighting to survive one of the most horrific conflicts ever witnessed by man. Before I get into the gameplay, Conscript does a sterling job regarding visuals and atmosphere. The game goes for an early 32-bit graphics style. It immediately took me back to PS1 gaming, that era before 3D polygons took over fully and when there were still remnants of the 16-bit age. You get this pixelated look and top-down viewpoint that made me feel like it was 1995 again. Conscript looks a little rough, but it is a stylised rough that helps to pile on the mood and atmosphere of being in the trenches of bloody warfare.

Bombs go off and shake the screen, mustard gas fills the trenches and bullets whizz by overhead. There’s shit and decaying bodies on the floor, and rats that can give you a nasty bite that will take away a big chunk of your health that will need to be treated. That’s before I get to the German soldiers trying to kill you and more. If there is one thing that Conscript certainly delivers on, that thing is the mood and atmosphere. It’s dark, it’s bleak, and it offers a level of horror without going down the usual route of “scares” that the survival horror genre tends to lean towards. There are no zombies, no supernatural elements, and no dogs jumping through windows to (cheap) jump scare you. This is real and grounded horror that comes in all sorts of flavours, not just visual but audible and written too.

But, enough of how Conscript looks and time to look at how it plays. In terms of the basics, this is old-school Resident Evil territory. Everything that you would expect from a classic survival horror game is here. Locked doors and specific keys to find, map navigation, environmental and logic puzzles to solve. Then there is the inventory management. Just as with any good survival horror title, you’re going to have to find scarce resources (ammo and healing items) and decide what you think is best to carry with you given the limited inventory space that you have. Combine items to find alternate uses and such. Conscript is a very unforgiving game that is not shy about dishing out the punishment, especially when played on the harder difficulty settings. Still, if you are someone who dislikes games that are willing utterly destroy you, you can play on an easier difficulty. There’s even an option to turn on checkpoints and unlimited saves, but you won’t be able to get the best possible ranking if you do. As hard as Conscript can be, it can be made easier if you feel like having a slightly less painful experience.

Much like a classic Resident Evil title, Conscript is a game that does not hold your hand. While you have a map, there are no waypoints or mission markers, and there’s no glowing line to follow that conveniently leads you to your next objective. This is about exploration and learning the map. You are given a job to do, and you have to learn just how to do it. Also, much like a classic Resident Evil title, Conscript oozes replayability. The better you do, the higher the rank you receive and there are all sorts of things for you to unlock including different endings, costumes and more. There is a currency and upgrade system too. Cigarettes will be your money, and you can find places where you can buy and sell items or even upgrade weapons to try to give yourself a bit of an edge. This does lead to a bit of strategy, as you may need to decide between selling a much-needed medikit to buy a weapon upgrade. Do you opt for a secure defence, or risk it for a better offence?

The map itself is pretty big and offers some variety. You’ll start in the tight and twisting trenches, but there are underground tunnels to explore and even some farmland that you’ll be working your way through. Map knowledge is key and much like the games that Conscript is inspired by, multiple playthroughs and a good memory will serve you well. Knowing where key items are, how to open up shortcuts and learning the enemy placement are skills that can only be gained by reaching the end credits more than a few times. If you want that elusive S-ranking, the best possible ending and the various unlocks, then you are going to have to play, play and play through Conscript again and again. Thankfully, that is such a pleasure as the gameplay is tough but very rewarding.

Conscript comes with a price tag of around £20 and is available on Steam and all of the consoles right now. My summary is that this is a fantastic game, a survival horror title that keeps a lot of the classic staples of the genre, but still does something very new with them. There may not be any zombies or supernatural elements to deal with and the scares are non-existent – but Conscript offers up a much more grounded and realistic level of horror. Being stalked by Nemesis in Resident Evil 3 and the influx of zombies that the franchise has is all well and good – but it’s not real. The Great War happened, the Battle of Verdun happened, and hundreds of thousands of real people lost their lives. The story in Conscript may not be factual, but its setting is a slice of real history and for me, that is far more horrific than anything any other survival horror game has offered so far. Get this on your “to play” list right away.