Sorry We’re Closed

We’ve been following developers a lá mode’s debut game, Sorry We’re Closed, for some time now. I remember playing the demo back in June’s Steam Next Fest. At first I thought I was just playing a narrative love story, controlling Michelle (the protagonist) around some flats, talking to NPC’s, and learning about Michelle’s broken heart. But as the demo progressed, things took a drastic turn that completely embedded it in my brain. 

At its core, Sorry We’re Closed is a single-player survival horror game set in London. With its low poly graphics that take their inspiration from the 90’s, it seems like a love letter to Silent Hill and the early Resident Evil games. Michelle is coming off a bad breakup and is still yearning for their ex to be a part of their life again. Stuck in a dead end job, the only thing that gets her through the day is her friends. On one fateful evening, a lonely demon known as The Duchess senses Michelle’s own loneliness and visits them to offer love and companionship. Even after Michelle refuses, The Duchess believes that Michelle will be theirs, curses Michelle with a third eye (more on that later) and leaves. This leads to a story that’s filled with the struggles and sacrifices that love can bring. It also highlights the pressure that other people can place on you, especially when they believe you are not supposed to be with that other person. This is shown in the game through a side story arc between an angel and a demon that are in love but are told it’s an impossible pairing as demons and angels cannot be together. It’s a part of the narrative that I wasn’t expecting, but I was happy to see it being addressed, as I am sure there will be many people who will relate to this, and hopefully give them some feelings of recognition that they are not alone. 

There are other rich and intertwining side stories involved too, with many decisions to be made by the player. At certain points in the game, you’ll come up with a deciding question from an NPC, and this will affect your relationship with them for the rest of the game. I accidentally broke a deal with one during my playthrough, and every time I spoke to them afterwards, they were not friendly to me anymore, with a definite distaste towards me in their speech. Your answers will also affect the outcomes of these side stories, so if you want it to go a certain way, then you’ll have that opportunity. These questions will be found in the main story arc too, where you’ll be able to bend the narrative to the way you want it to go. There are four endings to the game, all with different outcomes for Michelle; I played it safe and went the more straightforward way, but there are many different paths to take, and it did become quite a tough decision when one of these questions arose. It’s the strength of the writing involved though that does make me want to go back and experience the other endings and to see what fate awaits Michelle in these alternate endings

It’s an interesting part of the game, and I wasn’t prepared for this social side to be so prominent, but it certainly worked overall and played its part in the game’s day cycle system. Start a day, do some socialising, maybe advance a side story, pick up some information, and then explore a creepy and dingy section of the town to complete the tasks that have been laid out in the name of defeating the duchess and lifting your curse. These day cycles end with a wonderful stat screen that judges your performance, including an accuracy percentage, time taken, preferred weapon, and much more. A fantastic addition that gave me targets to try and improve on in future day cycles. 

This leads nicely into the survival horror side of the game, and you can see the hard work a lá mode has put in here. Everything looks dirty, mucky, and creepy, with nicely designed areas to explore; there’s not too much that you’ll get lost thankfully, especially as there is no map to hand. The full survival horror experience is here though, from Ammo hiding in vases, finding keys or security badges to open locked doors, and the obligatory puzzles. A fixed camera completes the look, making it feel like you’re watching everything from a security camera or, in some instances, a drone. The camera was one of my favourite inclusions, as it leant into the creepy vibes perfectly, and it never got in the way or led to frustration with the angles it took. 

These areas, of course, are not empty, as an army of wonderfully revolting demons that are patrolling them will do whatever they can to stop you. Thankfully, it’s not long before you find your first weapon in the shape of a pistol and soon after a shotgun and the game’s ultimate weapon, the ‘heartbreaker’. It’s important to just take a moment to appreciate the amazing designs of these weapons, as each one is brightly coloured and all incorporate parts of animals. This is more prominent through one of my favourite inclusions, as when you reload, you get what sounds like an elevator bell followed by a little dog growl to signify the reload is complete. The actual combat is one that isn’t inspired by the older survival horror games, and it’s one of the most original parts of Sorry We’re Closed. The third eye that Michelle received is paramount to this combat, as one snap of their fingers will create a small circumference around Michelle that shows another side to the environment. Instead of seeing grimy, dark walls, we may see polished, well-kept ones with pictures hanging and polished floors. If a creature walks into this circle, they become transparent and will show their heart, which is your target for destroying them. 

Some enemies will have just the one heart, but others will have more, which you are encouraged to hit one after another to gain a ‘perfect’. But it’s not as easy as it sounds, as they can be fast, and I did struggle with the aiming, as you need to be quite precise. I’m not the best at this type of shooting, so I’m not the greatest example, but there were times that I did manage it, which was exhilarating but also frustrating when I had shot countless times and missed every one. It’s not a perfect system either, as some enemies get so close to you that you can’t hit their hearts, which made me have to walk away and turn around so I was able to hit it properly. Some of the larger enemies and bosses can only be taken down by the heartbreaker, which receives charge from every heart you shoot, and this is why perfects are important, as they will fully charge the heartbreaker in one instance. It was thrilling when it was time to use it and satisfying to rid a boss of one of its hearts with it.

There’s so much more to talk about here, and a lá mode deserves some recognition for the amount they have managed to include in the game without it ever feeling rushed or overbearing. I’ll mention a couple more areas that I enjoyed interacting with (otherwise we’ll be here all day), and we’ll start with the artefacts. These are hidden around the game and can be sold for ‘yowsers’. These yowsers can then be used to buy upgrades for your weapons, ammo clips, or water bottles (which are basically health packs). You can also earn yowsers in other ways too, mostly by helping some NPC’s with their problems. 

I also wanted to make sure I mentioned the soundtrack, as, as expected, it includes some slow instrumental chilling pieces that were eerie, which set the mood perfectly, but there’s plenty of vocal songs that were present too that not only surprised me but also really made those sections a special part of the game. These match the eeriness of the game with cool and corny well-sung lyrics that lent well into the action on the screen.