Faith: The Unholy Trinity [PC] | REVIEW

Gamers are spoilt for choice with the horror genre, especially on PC where you can find seemingly endless first-person experiences that bring with them plenty of frights and gruesome monsters to stalk you through hallways. You don’t find many modern horror games that looked like they belonged on an old Atari or ZX Spectrum though, and that’s exactly what you get with Faith: The Unholy Trinity.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Faith: The Unholy Trinity puts players in the role of a priest named John Ward as he looks to fix an exorcism gone wrong. With a vicious presence stalking him throughout this ordeal, the task is far from easy and constantly puts his life at risk – especially since it turns out there’s an evil cult at work behind the scenes, which is divulged into further as the game progresses.

It’d be easy to look at the game and expect a simplistic narrative experience that doesn’t get very deep, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how involving Faith: The Unholy Trinity was. Not only are there plenty of details of lore to be found across the environment, but it’s all genuinely unsettling and fits the horror vibe perfectly. It isn’t a dialogue-rich experience, but it’s hard not to find yourself engrossed in the demonic plot.

And hey, I’ve got to give a lot of love to the voice acting in the game. It sounds like it has come STRAIGHT from the old-school era thanks to its synthesised-style, but what else would you expect from a game that looks like this? Perfect.

“Not only are there plenty of details of lore to be found across the environment, but it’s all genuinely unsettling and fits the horror vibe perfectly.”

When it comes to the gameplay, things are a lot simpler. Players will traverse across a variety of locales with key landmarks found to show they’re heading in the right direction, all whilst raising their cross up with a button press to ward off any incoming demonic creatures. You can’t use your cross and walk at the same time so have to time its use carefully, especially since the creatures move at a faster speed than you, but nothing ever feels overly complex about it. And if they get you before you raise your cross? You’ll die, with no health bar here to give you a chance of survival. Thankfully, checkpoints are plentiful, so death never becomes too big of a deal.

The general gameplay loop is easy enough to figure out, so most players won’t face any real challenges there. Things do get spiced up a little in boss encounters where you’re expected to approach them a little differently, but the simplistic nature of the game means they’re never especially difficult. That doesn’t mean they’re not fun though, with the change of pace bringing something a little fresher to the experience, especially since simply lifting your cross over and over again to the minor enemies can feel a bit repetitive after a while. There are even a few puzzles thrown in the mix following the first chapter, and whilst they too are simple in design, it gives players a little something extra to do to add a bit of variety.

The simplicity of Faith: The Unholy Trinity may be a little off-putting to some, but I found it complemented the old-school nature that the game is trying to establish. There’s enough going on to ensure players won’t tire of it, whilst the shorter length (you can beat the game in around five hours) means it never runs out of steam. Sure, it would have been nice to have a bit of extra variety in some aspects of its design, but Faith: The Unholy Trinity has more than enough going on to keep horror fans glued to the screen.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The biggest sticking point for most will be the game’s visuals. Whilst many appreciate the retro aesthetic, it definitely won’t be for everyone. Personally? I loved it. The retro style was unlike anything I’ve seen in any other horror game, and whilst it doesn’t have the depth and detail seen in similar recent releases, it didn’t stop it from feeling very especially creepy. Furthermore, it has excellent rotoscope animated cutscenes that do maintain the retro stylings but with a livelier twist, which helps ensure the encounters with the game’s nasties or some key plot moments are shown off with more cinematic pizazz.

I think my favourite thing about Faith: The Unholy Trinity is how it feels like a genuinely unique horror experience. The genre is very saturated these days with games doing a lot of the same things, but I haven’t played something quite like this before. I’ll be the first to admit it’s not perfect and that the old-school stylings can make some aspects feel a little repetitive, but the storytelling is so effectively chilling and the presentation so unsettling that it’s hard not to get completely engrossed by the whole thing.

Developer: Airdorf Games
Publisher: New Blood Interactive
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed)
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1179080/FAITH_The_Unholy_Trinity/