Survival horror Stealth horror PS1 horror

Consternation II

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A walled-off paper mill, a flashlight, and things you cannot fight.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam
Price: Free
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (88% of 84 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: CrackedGhostGames and Raster_Entertainment
Released: 2020

Not on Switch. Consternation II is on Steam and PC. It is not in the Switch part of the site you came from.

What frightens Urban explorers vanish in an abandoned, walled-off paper mill where a woman's body was found; with only a camera and a flashlight and no way to fight back, you sprint, crawl and hide from a different pursuer on each level.
Content: gore, blood, strong language.

Consternation II is a free first-person horror game set in an abandoned paper mill in rural Maine, walled off by police after a woman's body was found inside. You go in with a digital camera and a flashlight to test the rumours, and each level brings a new pursuer you can only escape by running, crawling and hiding.

About Consternation II

Consternation II is a free indie horror game by CrackedGhostGames and Raster_Entertainment. It first appeared on Game Jolt in 2018 and came to Steam in May 2020. It is the sequel to Consternation, but drops the first game's maze play for levels built around new mechanics.

The setup is told like a local news story: in 2015 two photographers found the body of a missing woman in an abandoned factory in rural Maine, the killer was never found, and the police walled the site off. Urban explorers and paranormal investigators still climb in, and some say they have seen the dead woman or heard screams from deep inside. You scale the wall one night to find out for yourself.

You play in first person through a low-resolution, pixelated picture framed like a camcorder recording. Each level introduces a different enemy. You cannot fight any of them, so you watch, listen and use your flashlight, which reaches a long way, to read the area ahead before you commit to crossing it, then sprint, crawl or hide when something comes for you.

The fear comes from the dark and from not knowing what each new level has waiting in it. The coarse pixel art turns shapes at the edge of the flashlight into something you cannot quite read until it is close. The store warns of gore and blood.

It suits players who like short-session chase horror in the vein of Slender and want something free on Steam.

How to play Consternation II

Download Consternation II free from Steam or Game Jolt and start a new game.
Move through each level in first person and use the flashlight to look far ahead before you advance.
When a pursuer appears, sprint away, crawl under cover or hide until it passes.
Reach the end of the level to move on to the next one and its new enemy.

Screenshots

Consternation II screenshot: a glitching, multicoloured figure in the dark under a REC camera overlay

Consternation II screenshot: a hanging figure seen between bloodstained pillars in a dark storeroom

Consternation II screenshot: dark trees at night with a glowing cross-shaped object on the ground

Tips

Scan an area with the flashlight from cover before walking into it.
Learn how each level's enemy behaves before you try to rush past it; each one is different.
Play with sound on: noises often warn you before you can see anything.
Crawl into low spaces when you need to break a chase.