As a traveller without a name, you find yourself stranded in a ghost town on the frontier. Everyone is gone, including the hired hand and the horses supposed to carry you over the mountain. But the howling in the distance means that you won't be alone for long. Better check your iron, partner, for it's the only thing between you and monsters that lurk everywhere in the Cursed West...

You'll be pursued by creatures straight from North American folklore

Hauntsville is a western horror survival game, set in the heyday of the American West. Stranded with just the clothes on your back (and up to three of your hopefully closest friends), you'll have to work the land to make it through the night. Build a homestead, search the haunted town for supplies or try to survive on what you can find in the wild, pursued by creatures straight from North American folklore.

The fact that this game is the work of a lone developer is not only impressive, but feels almost impossible. The attention to detail, the look and feel of the environments and the sheer depth of what's on offer is just insane. Yes, it's a little rough around the edges and there are a few issues that need addressing, but the fact that this game even exists is a miracle.

There's no one around, as though something came and took everyone

On a negative point, there's no way to change the controls, and I'm one of those flight sim junkies who insists on inverting the y-axis. This pretty much rendered the game unplayable for me... as in the height of battle I just couldn't aim straight.

You start off on the bridge has you head into the village. There's no one around yet the houses are all lit up, as though something came and took everyone. When you do stumble upon, what appears to be, the lone survivor he tell you that strange monsters came and killed everyone. He points you in the direction of where to find a weapon to protect yourself and then he sends you off to find the mines, so that you can dig for coal in order to keep the fires burning. As you continue through the game you'll slowly start to unearth the events that have unfolded to lead you to where you are. You'll need to craft items and build yourself a shelter... but you'll need to keep a constant look out for any approaching monsters.

On balance this is an entertaining offering which does a good job of balancing Western and horror elements to deliver something a little different.

7

Nick Smithson