EW/WE
Published by Date/Time
Available on Steam
You start the game in what appears to be a motel room. Next to your bed is an alarm clock on a bedside table. Other objects in the room include a desk, upon which sits a telephone, some sheets with writing on, a blank page and a pen, whilst a wardrobe sits in the corner opposite the door. With no instructions, I just began to click at the various items dotted around the room and with each object click, status info was delivered. At first, it appeared as though my character was dreaming as the alarm clock turned to a funny display, so I went to bed. Then I awoke again an hour later and that’s when things started to happen. The door handle started to move as though someone was behind it, trying to get in. The once blank page now had the writing of a confused individual… did I write it? The phone started ringing and a hole appeared in the wall, slowly getting bigger. With the alarm clock going off and it’s display changing and the ever pounding heartbeat pumping through my headphones, it was only a matter of time til I jumped out of my seat.
To call EW/WE a game is probably wrong, at least in the traditional sense. It’s more like an experience than anything else and if you have a weak heart or epilepsy you might want to give it a miss because there will be occasions that will make you jump out of your skin or scream “SHIT!!” like I did – numerous times, might I add – with it’s sudden, flashing scenes and bumps in the dark!
EW/WE starts off fairly innocent but ends up like a bad nightmare you can’t escape. My breathing intensified as my anxiety rose, and my hairs on my arm literally stood on end as I found myself unable to get out of the room and away from the piercing eyes that lit up from the outside. It feels like one of those escape rooms that you’re struggling to get out of and that no matter what, it’s only making things worse. However, despite my initial feelings, the game is a little more linear than I first imagined, with the engine’s narrative often leading you to the next ‘stage’, as it were. Whilst you can die and take wrong turns, there’s not really much room for error and so the path is fairly straight forward.
As I mentioned, EW/WE is less of a game and more of an experience and it only intensifies as you play. The writing and prompts that you encounter strikes the games as something of a metaphor, but I’ll let you interpret that one as you see fit. I only suggest that you use headphones as sound is a very important part of the game and is actually half of the nightmare.
As a game, it’s a short one at around 30-40 minutes, but nevertheless is a strangely enjoyable, albeit weird, experience.
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