Crow Country
A survival horror game inspired by 1990s PlayStation classics.
Crow Country is a 2024 survival horror video game developed and published by SFB Games. Set in 1990, it follows investigator Mara Forest as she explores an abandoned theme park in search of its owner. The game is notable for its deliberate emulation of early PlayStation-era survival horror titles like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, combined with modern control and accessibility features.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- SFB Games
- Director
- Adam Vian
- Programmer
- Tom Vian
- Composer
- Ockeroid
- Engine
- Unity
- Platforms
- PlayStation 5
- Windows
- Xbox Series X/S
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
- Released
- PS5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S, 9 May 2024, PS4, Switch, 16 October 2024
- Genre
- Survival horror
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Crow Country is a survival horror game inspired by early entries in the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series. Players control Mara Forest, who explores the Crow Country theme park while finding objects, solving puzzles, and defeating monsters. Combat requires players to aim and shoot at monsters using various weapons, including a pistol, grenades, a shotgun, and a flamethrower. Players cannot shoot while running and must stand still to manually focus their aim. Health is depleted by enemies or environmental hazards and can be replenished with bandages, first aid kits, and antidotes. Healing items and ammunition are collected from vending machines and containers. New areas are accessed through exploration, locating keys, and solving puzzles, some of which involve combining items. Certain puzzles reward players with weapon and equipment upgrades. Notes and diary entries provide puzzle hints and story details. Safe rooms allow saving and reviewing collected notes. The game features two main modes: Survival, with combat and enemies, and Exploration, which removes enemies. A post-release update added Murder of Crows difficulty, where enemies deal more damage, supplies are rarer, and Mara cannot run if seriously injured.
Plot
In 1990, special agent Mara Forest arrives to investigate Crow Country, an abandoned rural amusement park near Atlanta, Georgia that shut down two years ago. Its founder, Edward Crow, mysteriously disappeared, and Mara is searching for him. Upon arriving, she meets injured paranormal photographer Arthur Mole, who warns her of dangerous creatures. She helps him to her car and continues her investigation, meeting Edward's daughter Natalie Crow; his foreman Tolman; lawyer Julie Baron; police detective Harrison James; and Edward's business partner Marvin Trumble, all investigating as well. While searching, Mara discovers a dig site that manufactured pure gold grown from root-like structures, and that the park is overrun with zombie-like creatures called Guests. Under government pressure about the gold's origin, Marvin and Crow bought a dried-up gold mine in Brazil to cover their tracks. After a 15-year-old girl, Elaine Marshall, was seriously injured in the park, it shut down. Elaine was attacked by a Guest, and the root-like structures emerge from a pool deep below the park. Harrison is found shot dead by Marvin, who is accidentally knocked off a catwalk to his death. Mara tells the survivors to escape to her car while she goes to the dig site's core. She meets a deformed and infected Edward Crow, who reveals that anyone contacting a Guest becomes infected, including the investigators. The dig site is a gateway through which Guests emerge. The first Guest could communicate; as roots were harvested for gold, arriving Guests became more mutated. Mara reveals she is not a special agent but Elaine, infected from contact with a captive Guest. She escaped the hospital not for revenge, but to tell Crow she is dying and the hospital has no cure.
Development and release
SFB Games, the studio behind the 2017 Nintendo Switch launch title Snipperclips, developed Crow Country. The project was first revealed on October 23, 2023, alongside a playable demo, with a second trailer arriving on March 14, 2024. Its visual style draws from 1990s PlayStation survival horror titles such as Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, and Silent Hill, while character and environment designs were influenced by Final Fantasy VII. Combat borrows from early Resident Evil games, with director Adam Vian emphasizing the vulnerability of being unable to move while aiming. He also incorporated free aiming, comparing it to Resident Evil 4, and described the blend of retro and modern mechanics as a defining feature—"classic-style survival horror with modern quality-of-life features." Initially, the game relied solely on tank controls, but negative pre-release feedback prompted Vian to add a modern control scheme. In the final version, the left analog stick offers direct movement, while the D-pad provides classic tank controls. Unlike Resident Evil games with pre-rendered backgrounds, Crow Country lets players rotate the camera. Puzzles were designed to echo retro games without frustrating modern players, and an option to disable enemies was included for accessibility. Crow Country launched on May 9, 2024, for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Versions for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch were announced on October 2, 2024, and released on October 16.
Reception
Crow Country received generally favorable reviews on Metacritic, with OpenCritic reporting that 89% of critics recommended the game. Critics praised the presentation and design as evocative of 1990s horror games. Daniel Bueno of Siliconera called it a true-to-form classic survival horror adventure, highlighting the setting and visual direction. Graham Banas of Push Square praised the impressive density and detail in environments and the wonderful retro graphical style. Alice Bell of Rock Paper Shotgun described the setting as fantastic and sinister. Wes Fenlon of PC Gamer praised effective jump scares and demented monster designs. Conversely, Leon Hurley of GamesRadar critiqued Mara's blocky toy shape and deemed enemies cartoonish. The soundtrack was positively received for adding to the tense atmosphere. The narrative and writing were well-received; Sarah Maria Griffin of The Guardian described the story as more complete and richer than anticipated, highlighting its levity and bold ending. Fenlon enjoyed cheeky nods to game and horror tropes. Hurley commended well-written characters and plotting, calling the story rewarding. Marcus Stewart of Game Informer praised the narrative for telling a dark and generally enjoyable mystery with good humor. Reviewers expressed mixed views on puzzles and gameplay mechanics. Hurley found most puzzles satisfying but some unclear. Stewart wrote that puzzles were clever and well-designed but sorting through notes was challenging. Bell praised puzzle design relying on observation but opined combat lacked threat. Fenlon described the game as too easy, with simple combat and unmemorable puzzles.
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