“God help you if you hear something in there. Because it sure heard you.”

The Complex: Found Footage is a short and terrifying trip into the Backrooms for those who are a fan of Kane Pixels’ iteration. And if there’s any walking simulator that I would ever recommend to anyone, it would be this.

The Backrooms originated as a sort of Creepypasta and has since become a collaborative internet story, in the same vein as the horror series Secure, Contain, Protect (SCP). Users can add to the lore with new creatures/entities and backgrounds, which is how SCP operates. This is what the majority of Backrooms games are based off of – however, The Complex does not do this. With the glut of Backrooms games that take clear inspiration from SCP, this is a refreshing change.

The Complex focuses on liminal horror without all the creatures. There are strange happenings and I still swear I saw something run around the corner and my friend saw it too!

The Complex focuses on yellow wallpaper, blinking lights, a constant and annoying buzz, and the uncanny valley. Since you never see a character, the graphics are centered around the environment, and it looks gorgeous and terrifying, even behind the VHS filter (which is one of, if not the best VHS filters I’ve seen in a game).

My only complaint is that there is a bug that can lock you out of the game. When you are crouching in the tunnel (you’ll know what I’m referring to once you play it), be sure not to stand up too early. Otherwise this will cause a loading/collision issue that will soft-lock the game.

VERDICT: A short, beautiful experience in liminal horror. Highly recommended if you enjoy the idea of the Backrooms, but the non-SCP iteration.

Note: This review was originally posted on my Steam profile.