The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication [PC] | REVIEW

Whilst The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication is an eerily enjoyable experience, its over emphasis on cinematics and its slower pace does see it falling short when compared to some of the stand-out releases of the horror genre.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication plays out from the perspective of four students that are members of the film club at Wen Hua University. As a means to get new members to join, they investigate mysterious ghost stories local to the campus in order to put together a viral horror sensation. However, whilst they try to bring their own sense of bravado to add to the chills, it doesn’t take long before they begin to realise that some of the haunting folklore they’re investigating might actually be true.

Whilst the narrative doesn’t do anything too original, the way it delves into Taiwanese horror certainly struck a chord with me. It ties into familiar tales in an effectively unsettling manner, whilst the foreboding mystery behind each ghost you encounter kept me genuinely intrigued. Don’t get me wrong, the presentation of the playable cast and supporting characters could be a little goofy at times (it certainly never felt as foreboding as its predecessor), but it doesn’t detract from the effectiveness of the storytelling as a whole.

“There are some genuine head-scratchers on offer, but no puzzle ever felt obtuse or unfair to solve, with each ‘eureka!’ moment proving all the more satisfying when you put the pieces together yourself.”

The ONLY issue I had with the storytelling was that it could be a bit too slow paced at times, with the game taking a lot of control away from the player during key sequences. Now I’ve got no issue with an abundance of cinematics in a horror game, but in the opening twenty-minutes alone, I felt like I was left to watch a lot of sequences that could’ve easily tied into the gameplay. It takes away some of the satisfying sense of tension that’s typically found when exploring and waiting for something ‘unexpected’ to happen, which is disappointing since similar titles in the genre usually get the balance right. It just cuts away from gameplay a little too often with sequences that players could’ve easily been a part of in real-time.

When it comes to the gameplay, you’ll spend a lot of time exploring your surroundings, uncovering the lore of the world, and completing puzzles. The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication brings with it some genuinely creative puzzles that are a treat to solve, with the player certainly having to think outside of the box to unravel the trickier enigmas that appear later in the game. There are some genuine head-scratchers on offer, but no puzzle ever felt obtuse or unfair to solve, with each ‘eureka!’ moment proving all the more satisfying when you put the pieces together yourself. I will admit that I solved one puzzle through sheer luck, but no puzzle was ever too cryptic that frustration would creep in.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Of course, The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication is a horror game, so there’s obviously going to be some supernatural nasties out to get you during your time playing. It’s one of those horror games that doesn’t just rely on things going bump in the night to scare you, but puts your life at risk with pursuing ghosts that want nothing more than to kill you. It means you’ll be doing a lot of running, hiding, and waiting around for the right moment to move, which was neat to begin with but didn’t take long to get a little bit repetitive. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the presence of the ghosts and they’re genuinely eerie to encounter, but it got to a point where waiting around as a means to try to evade them felt dull. You can use items to your advantage as a means to outwit the ghosts, but I still found myself losing patience fast. It’s never terrible by any means, but I’ve seen the whole ‘evading ghosts’ thing done better in other titles.

Despite this, I still enjoyed my time playing through The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication. It is imbalanced in design, sure, but the frights and storytelling are effective. It just could’ve been paced better, both with its reliance on cinematics but also with the repetitive nature of the ghost encounters. And hey, with jump scares aplenty and some genuinely cool set-pieces involving the ghosts, there are still plenty of satisfying shocks to be had as you play… there are just a few too many moments where the pace of the game slows down along the way. It is worth noting it’s only around five-hours long though, which is the ideal length to ensure some of the duller moments never get too tedious.

Developer: Softstar Entertainment
Publisher: PQube
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2331330/The_Bridge_Curse_2_The_Extrication/