Late-90s inspired horror-themed action adventure Alisa is out now

Over the last few years, we've seen a renaissance of indie horror games making waves in the gaming community. Horror is a tough genre to crack and the AAA industry wants very little to do with proper horror. The likes of Resident Evil 2 remake and the upcoming Dead Space remake are shining examples, but very far and few for fans. So it's up to indie devs to bring out cult classics, that revolve around the deepest, darkest, and most insane depths the genre has to offer, and "retro-style" and "old-school" survival horror games are really in at the moment. Alisa is the latest to burst onto the scene and from the looks of the promotional material and word of mouth, it's something quite special.







Originally Alisa graced the Kickstarter scene back in May of 2020 and managed to prop the interest in old-school survival horror fans very quickly. Within 24 hours, 42% of its goal was reached, and shortly after, on June 9th, full funding was reached. Alisa impressively showed off how perfectly it imitated a late 90's survival horror game with its beautifully rough visuals at 480p, strange and mysterious setting, classic fixed camera angles and tank controls, plus so much more. Impressively, it can be played on outdated and much older systems according to the devs on their Kickstarter page (If only I kept my 90's PC with Windows XP!)

"Alisa is a classic late-90s style horror-themed action-adventure game set in a fantasy universe inspired by the 1920s. You play as an Elite Royal Agent called Alisa. While chasing a wanted criminal, she ends up in an old Victorian mansion. She has to find a way out while being haunted by materialized/mechanized doll-like humanoids."

"An overly passionate creator trying to make his dream of becoming a professional game developer come true with the help and support of his girlfriend, the composer and voice of Alisa."

"I've been working on personal game projects for many years and never thought this game would become so big and important to me. It started as a simple 3D model of Alisa which grew to a concept and eventually a story followed. And so this game became my main project. This project is like an escape from all the dead-end jobs that I do to earn money to live." explains lead designer Casper Croes.





While these demake-style games have been popping up all over the indie scene, many have failed to really capture the look, feel, and nature of old-school survival horror games. The devs clearly know what they're doing visually, by creating the pre-rendered backgrounds in the same manner as the original games that inspired them, such as Resident Evil. Even to have that charming decompression look to certain textures.

Everything from the visual presentation, tank controls, feel, and story all remanence that of a great classic 90's horror game. But there are some neat inclusions such as a shop which players can use to buy upgrades and resources. But like a classic survival horror game, anything like this can be a blessing and a curse.


"The gameplay is quite like a classic Resident Evil/Silent Hill/Alone In The Dark-type of game. Tank Controls, fixed camera angles, go into "weapon ready/aim" mode and start shooting, collect keys, do all kinds of puzzles, ammo and healing item management and try to survive until the end. But don't be scared off by the outdated Tank Controls! The full game will include the more "modern" Camera-based directional input."






The world and story look fascinating and feel massively different from your typical spooky house or modern-day horror setting. The enemies look incredibly creepy, there are awesome puzzles to solve and plenty of exploration and figuring out your next moves it seems in Alisa. Everything any fan of Resident Evil and Silent Hill will truly adore.

"- The game's world/mansion has different sectors with different themes. It's not just a huge mansion, it's a small world with lots of variety and surprises waiting for you around every corner."

Alisa surely looks, sounds, and plays the part, and is a must for any old-school survival horror fan such as myself. You can check out Alisa on Steam right now and even download a demo to see what madness awaits you. You can also purchase Alisa on Itch.io as well respectively. Alisa can be purchased for £14.00, $17.99 or 15.00€. Check out the trailer below and see why Alisa could well be your ultimate old-school-inspired horror game this year!