Dread Flats Review (PC)

Encased deep within a pitch-black corridor draped in pungent ash and desolate white, worn memorabilia and a harrowing portrait of tainted neighbors, the apartment block bleeds in malice, waiting to lure its next visitor into the fist-like grip of an inescapable realm. I, alone in this sprawling complex of 1990s Chinese decor and two-faced doppelgängers, have no choice but to slip into the net. There are secrets that hang in the balance—entities and dismal truths that yearn for recognition. They call it the Dread Flats for a reason. Oh, these walls emit dainty atmospheric energy, alright—a dauntingly opaque aura that can soon make your skin crawl and your bones shudder. And you know what? I am loving every darn second of spiraling into its cortex.

Dread Flats is a few things, but the thing that it is above all else is a love letter to Chinese mythology and the harrowing tales of an intangible world. Laden with 1990s nostalgia and a grim historical outlook, Dread Flats ushers in its own time capsule—a disturbingly complex and lore-rich space that opts to centerline its surroundings and suspense over its wall-to-wall jump scares and contextless encounters. Don’t get me wrong, it has some of that, but it also makes a genuine effort to keep its priorities straight, with exploration being the most important aspect of the experience. And I’m all for that, truly.

Suffice it to say that, Chinese mythology has a certain way of invoking powerful feelings—a charismatic voice that has always been capable of producing some stellar storytelling and world designs. With all of that in mind, I figured Dread Flats would be no different from its kin. And as it turns out, I wasn’t wrong.

Into the Dark

Dread Flats blends a strikingly dull yet irresistibly captivating setting with the familiar pillars of a tale that, quite frankly, we have seen a handful of times over the past several years or so. Despite its plot line (which we’ll segue into in a minute) being somewhat reminiscent of a significant portion of alternate pocket-sized psychological horrors on the market, the fact still remains as bright as ever: Dread Flats is, in all honesty, one of the most pleasantly surprising indie horrors that I’ve had the opportunity to explore in weeks.

The story goes like this: a wayward protagonist winds up at the inner sanctum of a well-known apartment block—a desolate cluster of tainted ruins and the staging ground of a mysterious murder. In the boots of this unlucky soul, your job is to delve deeper into the nexus, unravel the mysteries pertaining to several missing persons, and weave a plausible explanation for who, or what the twisted entity is that stalks your every footstep as you muster the courage to connect the dots. As I said earlier, a vaguely familiar concept, but not one that’s without its award-winning edge and universally beloved tropes.

Harrowing Tales of the Past

The bulk of Dread Flats plays out like your traditional first-person horror, with the user being invited to sift through multiple rooms across a wide spectrum of thematic scenarios, and combing over objects and areas of utmost importance to help weave the narrative into something more comprehensible. In addition to the basic exploration elements, the game also features a webbing of well-orchestrated jump scares, a slither of stealth-based puzzles, and a climax that culminates in a surprisingly suspenseful chase sequence that’s as equally jittering as it is horrifying.

Although the gameplay aspects are liminal in comparison to other, slightly more complicated horror titles, Dread Flats does make up for its lack of depth in several other areas—its authentically crafted locale and chilling character design, being two of its greatest strengths among many. Visually, it does a lot of things right. Moreover, it captures the beating heart of a well-oiled atmosphere, too—an ambiance that carries over from its forbidding nature and natural ability to elevate suspense via an otherwise silent soundscape.

For those of you who happen to enjoy VHS-like horror à la Outlast and/or Madison, you ought to find a few familiar bits and pieces to pluck away at here. Again, the story might not captivate you, but that isn’t to say that the vast swathes of charismatic corridors and gift of foreboding won’t be enough to keep you high on your heels for a couple of hours whilst you carve your way through its nexus.

Verdict

There are countless ways to describe Dread Flats, which is a rather ambiguous statement, I’ll admit. Yet, the words that I feel are most appropriate here, given the context, are frighteningly bittersweet. True, the game does lean on several of the same tiers, with its setting bearing a lot of the same iron crosses and set pieces as so, so many other horrors à la Home Sweet Home, Madison, and P.T. But that’s just a minor thing—a barely noticeable fraction of an issue that feels almost irrelevant given the sheer quantity of fantastic elements that it has to offer. And I’ll be happy to stand by the initial statement that, even with a couple of small hiccups and familiar trappings, Dread Flats is a genuinely fantastic ode to Chinese horror, and not to mention a credit to the genre as a whole, truly.

To make it that much easier for you to decide whether or not to plug into Dread Flats, just know that, if you’re as equally intrigued by Chinese mythology and time period horror stories as I am, then there’s a good chance that you’ll enjoy traipsing through this world and all its ominous corridors. There’s a tremendous amount to love here, too, even though the gameplay does prioritize exploration and object analysis over interactive puzzles and intrusive mini-games. It isn’t a walking simulator, per se, but it does do enough to brand itself as one. The fact that it adds a couple of solid jump scares and a tantalizingly good chase sequence, too, makes it all the more impressive. So, if there are enough incentives for you to pluck at here, then you’d be right to pick up Dread Flats.