Eldervale is a very creepy third person survival horror reminiscent of the early Resident Evil games, which sees you returning to an abandoned boarding school for ‘deviant’ children and searching for answers about what happened to your family.
Drawing inspiration from classic survival horror games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil, Eldervale puts you in the role of Ophelia Delaney, a young woman who is searching for answers about the disappearance of her mother and father. Your parents used to own The Delaney Institution, a boarding school for children who were seen as different (and labeled ‘Deviants’ by the local townsfolk).
At the age of seven you contracted an unknown, seemingly incurable illness. A wealthy stranger stepped up and offered a cure, but only if your parents installed him as the headmaster of their institute. Soon local children started going missing, the police turned up and said your father had something to do with it. You were promptly sent off to live with your aunt and haven’t heard from your parents for the last 10 years. You now return, searching for answers, with a feeling that something terrible happened there and that you played a part in it.
The current build offers a sizeable chunk of gameplay, introducing you to Ophelia and a police officer called Daniel Caulfield. As you explore the institution you discover more of the backstory through newspaper clippings and notes, and you discover some pretty horrific sights (such as a man stuffed down a toilet!)
The gameplay in Eldervale is fondly reminiscent of the early Resident Evil games, with you exploring the creepy facility, discovering secrets, solving puzzles and fighting zombie-like monsters. It uses a third person perspective rather than static camera angles, but the controls are fairly tank-like, making each encounter with a monster a very risky proposition.
It’s still in development, but even in its current form Eldervale offers a polished and very atmospheric old school survival horror experience. It you’ve got a hankering for some good old fashioned survival horror then Eldervale really does have it all – an intriguing narrative, freaky monsters, tricky combat, puzzles and lots of locked doors with dark secrets behind them.
Check Out a Gameplay Video Here
Download The Eldervale Alpha Demo Here (Windows)