'Oxide Room 104' Nintendo Switch Impressions
Looking for another psychological horror game on the Switch with the physical cartridge goodness? Does Oxide Room 104, which launched as a physical retail last month, fill that need? I had the chance to try this first-person horror title out recently and found it to introduce some interesting mechanics, even if the execution could have been more polished. Let’s take a closer look!
Oxide Room 104’s story begins in the titular Room 104 of the Night Soul Motel; more specifically, in its bathtub after our protagonist, Matthew, was knocked unconscious by a deranged scientist upon returning to the motel following a deal gone wrong. Upon escaping the locked Room 104, and trying to find a way out of the motel, Matt quickly finds out that he’s in a more perilous situation than he initially thought, as the motel turns more hostile as he progresses through, with terrifying creatures threatening his safety.
With Oxide Room 104's atmospheric soundtrack, dim-lit areas and film grain-like filter, developer WildSphere does a decent job at visually portraying an eerie, horror vibe on Nintendo’s handheld. This is supplemented by the gameplay which merges tense QTEs and escape room mechanics. In most cases, you’ll be moving from room to room (as you find their keys) and solving the puzzles within each as you attempt to escape the motel. You’ll occasionally come across body horror-induced creepy creatures that you’ll have to sneak past or gun down.
However, should you die at any time during your escape attempt, you’ll come across Oxide Room 104’s semblance of a permadeath. Semblance because, once you respawn, you will start back at the beginning of Room 104, but the environment will slightly change, making puzzles somewhat easier. However, by dying and respawning, the ending you’ll encounter will change and there’s only one good ending which is unlocked by not succumbing to your injuries or the horrors of the Night Soul Motel.
Even if the need to start all over can feel unforgiving, I was positively surprised by this mechanic. You don’t just restart by failing to fend off the creatures but can also bleed to death if you’re not careful enough about your actions. For example, when starting in Room 104, there’s a drawer that you could force open or try finding the key for. If you choose the former option, you will hit your head against the bathtub while trying to open the drawer. This will severely injure Matthew in the process who will bleed to death if you cannot fix your injuries. And you won’t have such health-restoring items at your disposal right away, thus, it would be better to figure out where the key is and safely get out of the room. This aspect of the game not only entices replays but also yields different playthroughs and endings. In addition, I found it also interesting to see how the settings change during each retry.
However, there is a repetition that comes with such a loop and repetition is also encountered as you move from room to room of the motel, solving their puzzles, yet come across the same elements. While the puzzles can be original, finding clues and interactive elements aren’t always that easy to spot. There is no hint or means to highlight interactive elements and this does add to the challenge but can get stressful if you’ve restarted the game 2-3 times and you’re under the threat of a creepy creature.
As expected, the Switch version suffers from the usual extra load times and some weird pop-ins. The graphics look particularly dated, akin to a PS2-era game and I am not sure if this is due to the Switch version or an intentional design choice.
This adds a B-movie vibe to the whole presentation. And for better or worse, this vibe is further accentuated by the voice acting. Matt is unconvincing at best, and plain bad at worse. For someone who’s been kidnapped, stripped naked in a locked room and encounters terrifying sights, Matt sounds surprisingly casual when he’s interacting with his environment. In Room 104 for instance, there’s no particular reaction when he finds a severed finger in a drawer. When he is being chased by the motel’s creatures, his supposed terrified expressions are not convincing at all. Then there’s the doctor who is clearly voiced by the same actor but with an edited tone. Audio is also reused when interacting with certain elements, during some of Matt’s monologues as well as some of the creatures’ sounds.
Despite the reused assets and poor voice over, Oxide Room 104 does feature some interesting mechanics for an indie horror game. If the semi-permadeath feature that alters environmental elements and endings sounds interesting to you, it might be worth trying it out but bear in mind that the overall presentation is very much low-budget and B-movie-esque. Otherwise, it might be safer to wait for developer WildSphere next horror game as Oxide Room 104 could serve as the scaffold to craft a more enticing experience in the future.
