She’s Leaving Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, & PC)

Curious title, indeed, that led to further pique in interest after watching the trailer. And now, the final game is out, and I couldn’t be happier for its existence. That doesn’t mean that She’s Leaving quite reached the pinnacle I had hoped for. Of excellence, and worthiness of my returning for multiple playthroughs. There are certainly areas that still need dusting and polishing to truly reach the heights it deserves, and is very much capable of hitting. 

Still, you cannot deny the immediate keenness to find out more of its story, both during the course of development and the final product. And even when your attention is occasionally meandering elsewhere, whether you have dinner stocked up in the fridge or if you might need to step outside for a quick errand, it still leaves you with a smile on your face for its unique take on the survival horror. Today, we dive deep into our take on She’s Leaving review.

Seeking Answers

Even in the police department, especially in the police department, some cases simply ignite your passion for your chosen career path more than others. And even when the case goes unsolved, you just can’t help lingering on it, hoping that you’ll find a new clue that busts its ongoing mystery wide open. This is the predicament we find our She’s Leaving protagonist in. A forensic analyst for the police force called Charles Dalton. He’s found himself particularly intrigued by several missing persons cases that the police suspect are connected to a serial killer.  

Recently, a young woman has gone missing, and it seems to be the stroke that breaks your back, inciting you to break the rules and go hunting for the serial killer yourself. Your determination lands you in the tourist attraction site located in Haywood, at the border of England and Wales, where the snowy winter is at full swing. And further, heads you to the historically revered Tudor mansion, where an active crime investigation is underway. And from then on, you’ll have become acquainted with the drill, especially if you’re a Silent Hill and Resident Evil fanatic. 

A Haunted, Haunted Place

Explore a haunted mansion whose very air feels dreadful to inhale. Where tight corridors and long alleyways enclose in and all around you, inducing a suffocating, claustrophobic isolation. It’s an environmentally spooky and eerie atmospheric setting that survival horror games have mastered. One that leaves your spine tingling and hair standing on edge with each step deeper into the unknown. And She’s Leaving has quite nailed that oppressive-feeling atmosphere. It uses very dark and shadowy backgrounds to mask visibility while filling the empty spaces with creepy mannequins and structures. 

Even when you step foot into the Tudor mansion, you know you should probably turn back. But the sense of curiosity in you proves powerful, as you work toward exploring all the rooms and crevices hidden to the naked eye. She’s Leaving doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to its gameplay, using puzzles and exploration to reveal its mystery-ridden story. Annabella, the voice from your walkie-talkie and partner in crime, also helps to steer you toward sensibility, with a touch of humor, albeit cringey at times. 

Blood Splatter

Right off the bat, you’re introduced to the gameplay mechanic that piqued many gamers’ interests. The blood splatter forensic analysis, which can reveal a ton about a crime. From Dexter, you might have prior knowledge of how important the pattern and splash of blood on walls and the floors can be in identifying the killer. And I must admit, I came in She’s Leaving hoping for a similar calibre of genius. By the first blood splatter analysis, I knew it wasn’t going to be as deep as I’d hoped. A crack in the wall or light source quickly gestures you toward the location of the blood splatter. Then, a quick pull out of your UV light, and you can almost instantly tell whether the stain fits three possible patterns: cast-off, flow, or contact. 

Perhaps I’d dreamed a little big, hoping that the blood splatter analysis would inform me on the killer’s personality, how they like to take away life. Were they violent? Was it just one killer? You know, the way Dexter can tell so much about a killer’s motivation and style just based on the blood splatter. Unfortunately, She’s Leaving only uses its blood splatter mechanic to test your pattern recognition skills. And after the next few tests, you should be well versed and pretty much cruise through it. And then, the blood splatter tests just flat out run dry, leaving the rest of the playthrough bland. 

Slow Down

There are three ways She’s Leaving tries to spice up its main gameplay mechanic: brain fog, stalking, and puzzles. Brain fog happens when you get a blood splatter test wrong, and it results in slower movement speed. This means that when the serial killer tracks you down, they can easily catch up to you and kill you. But you can easily remedy this with your taser, which can stun the serial killer and give you time to get away. Stunning the serial killer can also give you time to whisk by them while they are down. But the other thing is that the brain fog only lasts temporarily, taking away the challenge of solving the blood splatter tests or enjoying the satisfaction of getting them right.

Stalking, in its own, has always worked for survival horrors. Except this time, we’re faced with a serial killer who has no fear-inducing bone in his body. Sure, knowing that you might not be alone when you first step foot into the Tador mansion sends a quick chill down your spine. And hearing footsteps draw closer, and his incoherent sounds permeate through your controller’s speakers, can have its own dread. But after the first few encounters, and realizing that you can easily outrun the serial killer, they become far less scary. Not to mention that their appearance isn’t all too frightening, neither is their movement, which feels telegraphed, at times teleported. It then goes to say that there’s no true fear or enemy in She’s Leaving. And you can essentially freely explore without any constant fear or danger. 

Brain Teasers

I probably shouldn’t call the last gameplay element puzzles, as they are mainly searching for keys and finding codes to unlock safes. Mostly the usual puzzles you’ll find in survival horror games, except a whole lot simpler. Most rooms are locked, and so you have to explore the Tudor mansion to locate the keys and return to access locked doors. And unlocking said doors then leads to locating more keys that unlock other doors. And you can see how that can get tiresome pretty quickly.

Codes can be found in written notes, which can also reveal more story. But overall, the puzzles are simple, if not tedious. And the story, well, it starts on a high and slowly plummets due to predictability and weak gameplay. The twists and turns you might expect coming in aren’t ultimately realized, and I can think of a ton of possibilities when trying to find a missing young woman and connect their disappearance to a serial killer. 

Verdict

In the end, I walked away from She’s Leaving with a smile on my face. But not because of the reasons you might hope. Standing tall is its blood splatter forensic gameplay mechanic, which I doubt has been implemented in other games. It’s undoubtedly a unique choice that certainly will have grabbed the attention of many. But does the implementation do enough to sustain your curiosity? Unfortunately not. And it’s sad because there are so many ways analyzing blood stains can be made to feel electrifying, borrowing a few ideas from Dexter. By mid-way, forensics had become repetitive and boring, and happy to have wrapped up.

So do the stealth and puzzle gameplay. They just aren’t deep enough to encourage investing your concentration, wits, or smarts in. It all becomes tedious, which says a lot given the runtime for She’s Leaving is in the four to six hour range, and even two hours when you’re fast. Many mechanics seem to have been added just for the sake of it being a survival horror experience. And to support the star of the show: blood splatter, which never quite reaches the height of exhilaration it deserves.

We’re then left with the story, which starts off pretty intriguing. I was genuinely curious to find the clues that would help Charles Dalton solve his most intriguing missing persons case yet. And when the serial killer entered scene, I couldn’t wait to piece together the motive for his kills. But the story also never quite reaches the height it deserves of intense, bone-chilling discoveries. And it certainly would have been perfect when juxtaposed with the beautifully melancholic and atmospheric setting of Haywood. She’s Leaving certainly did a great job creating a spooky environment to explore, filled with eerie and isolating vibes all the way.