Daylight

It's played from first-person, and the scares are randomly generated each time you play. Each play through hinges on the fear of the player.

We play a woman called Sarah, who's only tool to survival is a smartphone (we must be somewhere in the near-future, because the damn thing's battery lasts for hours despite a continually-active flashlight). It allows us to pierce the murk around us, as the mobile records everything we see. And out of its speaker, a voice directs us as we walk, commenting on our story.

We're on a deserted island in New Kipling, specifically in a detention centre and hospital, both with far too little light. as our vision is limited, we're forced to pay attention to audio stimuli. As we try and hear our way through the game, Daylight flashes into our retinas images of a different reality. With these visions and relics found hidden on the island, we'll learn more about its mysterious past.

Unfortunately Daylight offers only a single task, one we repeat until eventually the credits start scrawling up the screen. We walk through a randomly-generated maze, searching for six relics. Once found, we're given a key to a special room, that let's us enter a new area. The procedure is repeated a few more times and we're at the end.

It's only the hope of an answer to the story that pushes us through these nerve-wracking searches. Something lurks in the shadows around us, and only gets more aggressive the more memories we collect. Soon, it's attacking us directly. If Sarah's surrounded, she takes damage, while visual radius is reduced to a minimum.

Two special tools make the journey across the island a bit easier. A green neon light shows things in Sarah's environment with which we can interact, which can help in finding the key. The torch can also spark a blazing red light, which will burst the shadows into flame and illuminate the surrounding area.

New Kipling's a grim and tense place. You regularly find yourself skirting alongside walls, ears peeled and eyes darting to corners for any shadows. Sometimes you wonder if curiosity is really worth the risk. The whole atmosphere of the game is achieved beautifully, but the meticulous search for relics is annoying. The music helps the pacing, but if you've trouble finding one, you're stuck pacing the corridors one by one, always hoping you won't meet your end round the next corner.

Because turning round sometimes reveals a creature standing right behind you; and death is so quick to come you haven't time to throw up your torch. While you only reload to the previous checkpoint, the random generation of enemies means you never feel like you're learning, only surviving until the next enviable death.

While the controls are poor, there are a few ways to interact with the world. Sarah can run, and move objects. Thins are pared down, the presentation kept simple. There's no elaborate animations, or great shadow and lighting.

It doesn't matter though. Because we're focusing on creeping. The light from the mobile's light is small, the brightness of the neon tubes puny. The soundscape on the other hand is fantastic; it's a game that demands headphones rather than TV speakers so you can fully immerse yourself in.

That overriding feeling that something bad will happen benefits the experience. Added to the randomised nature of the world, everybody playing will experience a very personal journey. Ourselves? While we're less nervous than some, we had some frightening moments during our time playing.

But while the game randomly generates its environments, we're going through the same identical-looking set pieces in search of the next dead end. Add to this the sense of disorientation, as every few feet we come across a point that we feel we've seen already, and we become easily confused. Without the mobile map, we'd be completely lost, and not in a good way.

Its got its issues - factor in the three hour play time as well - and it may not be enough for many's needs. You'll have to make the call whether the imperfect result of an interesting idea is worth the money.