Shift 87 [PC] | REVIEW

After loving the likes of I’m on Observation Duty and The Exit 8, I’ve become a fan of the anomaly-spotting genre. Naturally then, I jumped at the opportunity to take a look at Shift 87, which takes the gameplay loop to three unique environments which bring with them plenty of unsettling anomalies to find.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Shift 87 sees players taking on the role of a new worker at NORN Corp, who specialise in… well… I don’t know what the hell they specialise in really, but your job involves spotting and reporting anomalies in the environment. Some of these will be simple changes in your surroundings, but others can be incredibly eerie, with an unnerving atmosphere found across the entirety of the experience. And when you complete a shift? You’re congratulated on a job well done and move on to the next one.

Whilst the minimalistic approach to the narrative does work, it would have been cool if Shift 87 did a bit more with its storytelling. I was genuinely intrigued to learn more about NORN Corp and the eerie work they have you complete, but it’s left a mystery that never really gets resolved – even after unlocking the game’s true ending, which does give a sense of finality, but doesn’t really answer any questions. Again, it’s not a bad thing because the minimal approach DOES work well with this kind of game, but I found myself invested in the foreboding sense of mystery that hangs over your work and wanted to learn more about it (especially since some of the anomalies are so damn spooky).

If you’re unfamiliar with the anomaly-spotting genre, Shift 87 sees players looping through three separate environments (an office, a factory, and a gas station) and essentially playing a game of ‘Spot the Difference’. In your first walk through of an environment, you’ll see it in its normal state, with each full of little details and objects that the player has to memorise. Then, you’ll walk through again, and this time, there might be something different that wasn’t there the last time around. These differences can be INCREDIBLY obvious or they can be very subtle, but when you do spot an anomaly, you have to report it. And if there’s no anomaly? You just move on to the end of the environment for your next loop through it. You have to make six correct observations in a row in order to move on to the next environment, and if you do miss an anomaly or incorrectly report one? You’ll start the process all over again.

“There’s something incredibly satisfying about the process though, especially when you notice something that isn’t that obvious, and it’s easy to find yourself hooked in and completing shift after shift to find all of the anomalies in the game.”

Some of these anomalies are very easy to spot, with some of the more obvious ones seeing the office flooded with water, the factory overgrown with plants, or the gas station pumps replaced with cardboard cutouts, but others can be a LOT more subtle and demand a real keen eye to catch. It means players have to take the time to observe every detail around them, and believe me, there’s nothing more annoying than having to start a loop all over again because you missed an anomaly. There’s something incredibly satisfying about the process though, especially when you notice something that isn’t that obvious (I don’t want to admit how long it took me to notice a particular anomaly that saw some city names on the office wall being reversed), and it’s easy to find yourself hooked in and completing shift after shift to find all of the anomalies in the game.

And believe me, some of the anomalies you’ll find during your shift can be fantastic. I don’t want to spoil too much here, but a few favourites that stood out were the post-it note covered worker and the creepy figure that gives you a quick jump scare in the office, the instance of time only moving when you do in the factory, or the sheet covered figures that seem to follow you through the gas station. Some anomalies are simple changes in the environment, some are VERY spooky and will catch the player off-guard, whilst some are silly and will pull a quick smile from the player, but they all do a good job of keeping the player on their toes as they try to find them all. They can certainly be creative, with plenty of surprising moments to be found that ensure the experience remains fresh and intriguing throughout.

I really enjoyed exploring all three environments too, though I must admit that I did find the anomalies in the gas station harder to find than in the other areas. I don’t know if it was because it was darker due to being an outdoor-focused section or if I was just being stupid, but there were plenty of occasions where I found myself missing anomalies despite seemingly scouring the whole environment. Honestly? I got away with spotting some through a little bit of guess-work, but I don’t know if that’s a case of there being too much subtlety on the game’s part of if I just wasn’t being observant enough.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Despite this, I still managed to find all sixty-six anomalies in the game (each area has twenty-two each) in just under ninety-minutes, which felt like the perfect length for this kind of game. It still had enough ideas in that time to keep me surprised and ensure each anomaly I spotted was satisfying, but it also didn’t go on so long that I’d start to tire of the three environments. The only thing I will say is that there’s not a whole lot of replayability after that, but with the game costing just £4.29 (and £3.86 for two weeks at launch), you’re getting PLENTY of bang for your buck.

Presentation-wise, Shift 87 looked great, with plenty of detail found in the environments to help make each feel distinct whilst the performance was smooth throughout. Each environment manages to feel believable and almost ordinary in design, but in an unsettling kind of way where you just KNOW something isn’t right… or maybe that’s just the game playing tricks with me? The audio design was absolutely on point too, with haunting ambience sounds playing that become more unsettling as you find more success through each loop. It’s highly effective and constantly kept me worried that something haunting was about to happen.

Developer: PixelSplit
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed)
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2981650/Shift_87/