Survival horror Haunted house Horror puzzle Fixed camera horror

Song of Horror Complete Edition

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A fixed-camera hunt by an entity you cannot fight, where every death is final.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Stores: Steam, Epic, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (78% of 3,106 reviews), 71 Top Critic Average on OpenCritic, 4.21 of 5 from 573 ratings on the PlayStation Store
Length: About 15 hours for the main story
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse or a controller.
Made by: Protocol Games
Released: 2019

On GOG: one of the GOG horror games.

Get it on Steam GOG Epic Games Store PlayStation Store (PS4)Xbox

What frightens An entity called the Presence, which you can never fight, reacts to how you play: it seeps through doors you must hold shut, forces you to hide and steady your breathing, and when it reaches a character that person is dead for good and someone else must take up the search.
Content: jumpscares, death of playable characters, blood, violence, strong language, alcohol and tobacco.

Song of Horror is a third-person, fixed-camera survival horror game in five episodes from Protocol Games. You search for a missing writer and his family with a cast of 13 playable characters, any of whom can die for good, while an entity called the Presence hunts you.

About Song of Horror Complete Edition

Song of Horror was made by Protocol Games, a studio in Madrid, and released episode by episode on PC from October 2019. The Complete Edition gathers all five episodes, and came to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 28 May 2021. It is sold on Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store, PlayStation and Xbox, and the console versions also play on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

The famous writer Sebastian P. Husher has vanished with his whole family, and the assistant his editor sent to his house never came back. You follow the trail with 13 playable characters tied to the story, each with their own view of it, through Husher's mansion and on to places such as an antique shop, a forgotten abbey and an abandoned mental hospital. A cursed music box, and the entity bound to it, sits at the heart of it.

It plays like the fixed-camera survival horror of the 1990s: you explore, collect items, read notes and solve puzzles. The difference is the Presence, an entity driven by an AI that adapts to what you do rather than following a script. It may push against a door you must hold shut, or come close enough that you must hide and slow your breathing. If it gets a character, that character is gone for good, and you go on with another.

The fear is the waiting: you never know when the Presence will come, and losing a character you have spent hours with weighs on every choice. It suits players who like slow, puzzle-led horror in the line of Alone in the Dark and the old Resident Evil, and who can bear permanent losses.

Each episode takes roughly one to three hours, and the main story runs to about 15 hours in all. Expect jump scares, blood and violence, strong language and the use of alcohol and tobacco. The game holds a 71 Top Critic Average on OpenCritic and is rated Mostly Positive on Steam.

How to play Song of Horror Complete Edition

Buy the Complete Edition on Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store, PlayStation or Xbox and start the first episode.
Choose a character for the episode; each reacts differently to clues and objects.
Explore the location under fixed camera angles, collecting items and reading notes.
Solve the puzzles that open the way forward.
When the Presence comes, react: hold the door, hide, or calm your breathing until it passes.
If a character dies, pick another and carry on; the dead stay dead.

Screenshots

Song of Horror screenshot: a woman in a yellow jacket walks down a dim, wood-panelled mansion corridor holding a light

Song of Horror screenshot: a man braces a door shut while black clawed hands reach through the gap

Song of Horror screenshot: a green, grainy fixed-camera view of a room full of glass display cases with a ghostly figure among them

Song of Horror screenshot: a gaunt figure with a band over its eyes looms toward the camera

Song of Horror screenshot: a man with a lamp in a dark workshop where a small pale figure stands in a pool of light

Song of Horror screenshot: examining a carved red cylinder box puzzle in the inventory

Song of Horror screenshot: a mass of pale grasping hands and bodies blocks a dark corridor

Tips

Listen before you open doors; sound is the first warning of the Presence.
Do not rush: careless running and loud actions draw the entity.
Keep a light source ready; your lamp or candle matters.
Spread risks across the cast instead of relying on one favourite character.

Questions

Can you fight the Presence in Song of Horror?

No. It cannot be fought. You survive its attacks by hiding, holding doors and keeping your nerve.

What happens when a character dies?

Death is permanent. You continue the episode with another character from the cast.

What does the Complete Edition include?

All five episodes of Song of Horror in one game.

Which platforms is Song of Horror on?

PC through Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store, plus PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The console versions also play on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. There is no Switch version.

How long is Song of Horror?

Each episode takes roughly one to three hours, and the main story takes about 15 hours. Going for every achievement takes longer.