Escaping from a haunting castle – a review of We Were Here

Your mission? Find your friend and a way out. 

You are locked inside an enormous castle, trying to find each other. Using the vague cues available to open the doors that somehow seem to be stuck. With only walkie-talkies there to assist you, you must locate your friend and find a way out. That is what the co-op indie game We Were Here is about. 

The story takes place in Castle Rock – a building in the middle of Antarctica’s snowy landscape – which you with your friend decide to enter. You wake up on different sides of a castle only able to hear each other’s voices. One of you takes the role of an explorer, trying to escape from the rooms while the other is a librarian, guiding the explorer’s way through the castle. As you progress, in every room there is a new puzzle waiting for you to solve. 

 

Puzzles are versatile, varying from chess to image explanations. They offer a lot of challenge making the communication of the players the most important aspect; progress in the game relies heavily on the cooperation and effort of both the librarian and explorer. That’s also why the game might be prone to causing disagreements among players... One needs to be extremely detailed when explaining the symbols and pictures – and there are numerous of them. I must admit, for us to solve some of the puzzles it took more than only one, two, or even three trials, so they’re not among the easiest, to say at least. However, they were certainly entertaining; not every day you have to explain a chess game to your frustrated friend listening on the other end. 

The gameplay overall is exactly how one would imagine from the explanations; it doesn’t contain many surprising plot twists but is captivating enough to continue. Besides, with the storyline and tasks, let alone the setting, the player has plenty to concentrate on.  

The focus is mainly on the puzzles rather than solving the seemingly intriguing story behind them. I, however, would have enjoyed the story to be a more central part of the gameplay. While there seem to be few hints throughout the game, one would need to do a lot of research to understand the history and purpose of Castle Rock and its residents, not to mention the weird games that happen inside it. 

 

I found the puzzles enjoyable, yet I can’t help but mention the game environment which stood out in a positive way. For a free-to-play game, its setting is successful and truly enjoyable: a cozy castle with a weird, eerie twist. Although We Were Here is not a horror game, the atmosphere maintains a constant sense of tension which leaves you on edge. In this haunting castle, it feels like you are in the middle of a sick game similar to those in Saw horror movies – without the gore parts though. The castle appears empty as if its people just mysteriously vanished one day and never returned. Eventually, however, you and your friend will realize that you are not alone. From that moment the goal is not only about trying to get out but also to run away from something following you.  

The only aspect of the game that I didn’t enjoy was its length; the playthrough took only a little over two hours. If you are looking for something more time-consuming, this may not provide enough content. Nevertheless, especially for an indie game, We Were Here is certainly an entertaining experience to hop on with your friend. It got me excited for the next ones in the series, and fortunately, they are said to be a bit longer. 

 

Basic info: 

Publishers: Total Mayhem Games, TMG Studios B.V. 
Developers: Total Mayhem Games, TMG Studios B.V. 
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S, Mac operating systems 
Release Date: February 3, 2017 
Genres: Puzzle, adventure, free-to-play, indie, action 
PEGI: 3 (Steam) 

Pictures are gameplay screenshots, taken by the author. 

You might also like

---

More from Game Reviews

---