Video games require talented actors to make gripping stories and believable characters. They are more than a voice – a script. The discussion of whether gaming is art and those that bring it to life are as good as the ones that appear on the silver screen has an answer. Dead Take has a cast that make each scene engaging and believable. They eat up every minute and leave you wanting more. Surgent Studios has shown that people like Neil Newbon and Ben Starr can stand toe-to-toe with the best Hollywood has to offer.
The story of Dead Take sees you head to the mansion of controversial film director and ‘final boss’ Duke Cain. A man who’s methods have been deemed dangerous and inhumane, he will stop at nothing to create the perfect picture. His latest film, The Last Voyage, is looking for its leading man. As you enter the mansion, it becomes apparent that something wicked has taken place. What has happened here? Why is there a chill in the air? Where the hell has your friend gone?
It is a game about acting. It is about the lengths people go to to achieve our dreams and the seedy underbelly of the glamour and magic of the entertainment industry. Dead Take has some of the best actors the gaming industry has seen in recent memory. Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33) plays Vinny. He’s the talk of the town and the hottest property going. Throughout we see different sides to him, and it’s clear that something terrible has happened to him.
You are Chase Lowry, played by the magnificent Neil Newbon. He couldn’t be more different than Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3. An actor who is struggling in the industry and wants more than anything to be a part of Duke’s latest movie. Other actors bring energy and intensity to Dead Take, such as Alanah Pearce, Matt Mercer, and Jane Perry, but it is Newbon and Starr that steal the show. Dead Take splices together traditional gaming ideas with FMV performances often seen in the home cinema room of the mansion.
As you begin to piece together the mysteries that await you, everything starts to become clearer. However, it is the journey at which this happens that makes Dead Take so interesting. The puzzles are exceptional. At different times I was using various chemicals to prepare a piece of film; adjusting the temperature in a sauna; altering paintings to match the right time of days; and more. There are plenty of four-digit codes to find, as well as various keys and items that help to get pieces of machinery working.
One of the key factors of Dead Take is film splicing. You’ll find various USB drives around the mansion that can be loaded onto a computer to be made viewable in the home theatre. Some of these can also be spliced together to bring to separate recordings together. After watching these on their own and then as one, the level of writing and acting is exceptional. I was in awe of the actors that delivered these lines like their lives depended on it, and after being so used to hearing a camp Vampire for hundreds of hours, Newbon’s American accent made me forget all about it.
Dead Take is a psychological horror that pulls no punches. On more than one occasion, I almost shit myself due to unexpected jump scares, but it is in the creepier sound design that makes you feel uneasy. The sound of a baby crying and learning about why. Screaming and crying blends into a cacophony of terror. The banging on the doors. The eeriness of a minimalistic piano melody. While the visuals are excellent and reminiscent of how good Layers of Fear made its horror come to life, it is the sound design here that pushes it to new heights.
Surgent Studios have made a sublime horror. Subtle at times and all-out terrifying when you least expect it, it is the human condition and its need for validation that provides the creepiest of moments. The cast is perfect, especially Neil Newbon and Ben Starr who grip you right until the credits roll. The puzzles are excellent, even if at times some of the codes require a bit of digging and patience to find. As someone who adores the horror genre, I can’t endorse this enough. If you loved games like Immortality and Alan Wake II, this one is for you.
