Mina Park is already in trouble as a student of Sehwa High, the setting of the first Coma, but she doesn’t know it…yet.
The Coma sequel is a side-scrolling school-based horror from Korean developer Devespresso Games that mixes puzzles and survival horror with an animated art style. It takes tropes from various Asian horror films as well as from Manga and mixed them with a tightly woven story about a haunted school which seems to exist in a coma universe.
The start of the game is mainly slow going, getting to know the characters, getting to grips with controlling Mina and using inventory items. Your initial inventory is very small but becomes useful after meeting some of the more creepy residents of the school at around half an hour into the game. There’s a lot of narrative prior to this, told in speech and in some really nicely designed comic strip style cut scenes.
The art style throughout is great, despite being restricted to a 2D side-scrolling style. Mina’s animation is fluid and the whole area is full of detail, though much of the latter half of the game is covered in shadow. It adds much to the atmosphere, as does the wonderful soundtrack that accompanies it. Cut scenes contain voice acting (in Korean) but outside of these you’ll only find text.
Puzzles are limited to finding objects, using keys, the usual basic adventure game stuff, which is good as you’re constantly on guard, waiting for something to jump out at you. Mina’s not fantastic at fighting back, so you often need to keep a note of hiding spots and leg it to one if you’re being chased. A short quicktime-style event pops up when hiding in order to hold your breath and avoid being spotted but these are, again, fairly simple and handled well.
The Coma 2 isn’t all that taxing, making the short run-time feel even shorter if you’re really getting in to the well written story. It has more scope than the first game but still feels a little shorter than it could have been. I would still recommend it, though, if you love your South Korean Horror as it’s a great story and a good experience with enough jump scares and suspense to keep you on your toes.
The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters
Pros
- Well written story
- Good use of hiding spots
- Interesting characters
Cons
- A little short
- Simple puzzles
