♫ Music: Ocean Kingdom ♫
~Winner of the "Best Gift Shop I'm Glad Is Closed Because If It Weren't I'd Spend Too Much Money" Award~
I had my eye on this for a while and it didn't disappoint. Crow Country is an excellent send-up of classic Resident Evil but set in a kooky amusement park, which is scientifically proven to be one of the best settings for a video game. The various attractions of the park include a haunted house, a fairytale theatre, an aquarium, an arcade, and of course a gift shop, along with interconnecting utility and maintenance hallways acting as shortcuts. I particularly liked the game's Metroid Fusion-esque approach to danger levels: the first time you visit a room it will be empty except for maybe a trap or two, but as you revisit more and more and feel comfortable the room slowly populates with more and more dangerous enemies. Not that you're likely to realize this immediately, so the beginning of the game still has plenty of tension brought about by the unnerving emptiness. There are also lots of optional puzzles and secrets to find, and while my original big complaint about the game was that it's kinda easy and lacks difficulty options, the developers later patched in a hard mode, so I'll definitely be giving it a replay at some point.
Platform: PC
