Game Review: The Order of the Snake Scale (Xbox Series X)

The Order of the Snake Scale is, equally, a delightful slice of old-school dystopian/cosmic horror and a tedious, frustrating gaming experience that few will want to experience more than once. It’s quite an extreme scale, but it truly is a difficult game to love, even if it does stick in the memory.

Developed by FM Simple Games Studio and published by Ultimate Games, the best way to sum up The Order of the Snake Scale is to describe it as a PS One game with a more modern skin. An experience that sets out to recapture a beloved style of gaming, without sticking to the rules that dictated that period.

So, that is why this game, predominantly played from the top-down perspective (bird’s eye view) also has first-person shooting mechanics. It’s why the game combines puzzle solving, exploration, and action, and puts so much emphasis on the story. It might feel like a PS One era game, but it’s not.

The story is the best thing about it, even if it takes a little while to really get going.

Players take on the role of Seth Vidius, a detective investigating a murder in the small town of Happy Rock. Simple enough, right? Not quite as this story has cosmic horror undertones, broadly nodding in the direction of the master, H.P. Lovecraft. Also, did I mention that Seth Vidius is a cyborg? The Order of the Snake Scale isn’t just a cosmic horror game; it’s a dystopian cosmic horror game where the shady NML corporation control everything. Why is this relevant? You’re going to want to find out for yourself as the developing story and its unique cast of characters is what helps make the game interesting.

Let’s just say things will get a bit weird.

To uncover the truth behind the town of Happy Rock (the murder is the least of your worries) you’re going to have to explore some pretty expansive areas. There, you’ll find items that you can keep in your inventory and use later, meet characters with plenty of dialogue to read through, dodge traps, and take down enemies. The latter done with your fists, or better, a gun. With the latter, ammo is plentiful, but be warned, the last part of the game has a few bullet sponges, and should you run out of ammo, you’ll be left trying to punch your way to the end of the game, which is not an easy task when health packs are a limited commodity too.

It’s probably the only time the game felt challenging, and not in a good way, which is disappointing.

Combat is fine, provided you make use of the first-person switch because the top-down view is a nightmare, but that extends to the controls in general. If there is one aspect of the game that will have most turning it off, it’s the controls, especially when it comes to moving on platforms where one mistake can see you dead via some tentacled beastie. You can get used to it, but it will frustrate right until the end.

It’s not the only negative thing about the game though, as the visuals overall are quite ropey and most of the character models are rough looking. The colour palette might fit the tone, but it doesn’t look particularly pleasant. On the flip side though, the sound is really atmospheric and really adds to a lot of the scenes. Sometimes creating tension through a strong sense of sinisterness.

It’s a memorable experience overall, even though its flaws are glaring. Some will love it more than I did, others will hate it more than I did, but the majority will come away with some opinion about it.