Them and Us

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One survivor of a 1978 bus crash, and a night that keeps getting stranger.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam, Epic, GOG, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (75% of 1,667 reviews)
Players: 1
Controls: Controller recommended; keyboard and mouse supported. Tank or alternate controls with fixed camera, or an over-the-shoulder mode.
Made by: TendoGames
Released: 2021

Not on Switch. Them and Us is on Steam, Epic, GOG, itch.io and PC. It is not in the Switch part of the site you came from.

Get it on Steam GOG Epic Games Store itch.io (demo)

What frightens In 1978 a bus crashes on a dirt road at the edge of an American wilderness, and the one survivor, Alicia, injured and alone, finds a surreal, deadly nightmare unfolding around her as night comes. Screenshots show fogbound roads, a candle-lit church of hooded figures and bloodied shambling attackers, and the store promises realistic damage and dismemberment with gore.
Content: gore, extreme violence (store notice), dismemberment.

Them and Us is a classic-style survival horror game by TendoGames. Alicia, the injured lone survivor of a 1978 bus crash, fights through a surreal, deadly nightmare with scarce resources, cipher puzzles and fixed or over-the-shoulder cameras.

About Them and Us

Them and Us is made by TendoGames and left Steam Early Access in September 2021. It is a Windows game sold on Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store, with a demo on itch.io, and it can be played in thirteen languages.

The year is 1978. A lone bus crashes on the winding dirt roads beside a vast American wilderness, and the one survivor is Alicia, a young woman scarred by a life of tragedy. She is alone and injured, and around her a surreal and deadly nightmare slowly unfolds: a change is taking hold of the world, and neither its nature nor its cause is known. As night falls she pushes further into it, and the story uncovers the truth of her past.

You can play it two ways. The fixed-camera mode, with tank or alternate controls, is meant for players who want the classic, hard survival horror experience; the over-the-shoulder mode keeps some classic elements but plays more like a modern game. Either way you manage scarce resources, solve in-world puzzles with ciphers and keys, and fight attackers with a damage and dismemberment system. An optional retro mode switches to first-generation console graphics and forces the fixed camera. The game does not hold your hand, and there are several endings.

It suits players who miss the survival horror of the late 1990s and want a new game in that mould, with homages the makers say fans of the classics will recognise.

How to play Them and Us

Choose fixed camera with tank controls for the classic experience, or over-the-shoulder for a more modern one.
Explore carefully, picking up ammunition, healing items and keys.
Read documents and solve the cipher and key puzzles to open the way forward.
Fight only when you must, and manage what little you carry.
Decide Alicia's choices; they shape which ending you reach.

Screenshots

Them and Us screenshot: Alicia aims a shotgun at a bloodied man shambling toward her on a dark garden path

Them and Us screenshot: hooded figures sit motionless in the pews of a candle-lit church as Alicia stands near the altar

Them and Us screenshot: Alicia in an orange shirt walks a fog-bound road past a wrecked van

Tips

Play the over-the-shoulder mode first if you are new to classic survival horror; the fixed-camera mode is harder.
Note down codes and clues; the game will not remind you.
Do not waste ammunition on every enemy you see.
Finish once to unlock new costumes and weapons for another run.

Questions

Is Them and Us like the classic Resident Evil games?

It is a classic survival horror game with fixed cameras, tank controls, puzzles and scarce resources, and the makers say it pays homage to the classics.

Does Them and Us have multiple endings?

Yes, the store says there are different endings and you decide Alicia's fate.

Is Them and Us on consoles?

No, it is on PC through Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store.

Is there a demo?

Yes, a demo is on the makers' itch.io page.