Daymare 1994: Sandcastle Review – Terror From Space

thesixthaxis.com:

The original Daymare 1998 was notable as much for its development origins as its actual gameplay – starting life as it did as a fan-made Resident Evil 2 remake. While never quite escaping from the shadow of this context it turned out to be an enjoyable slice of survival horror that showed some genuine potential. I was therefore excited to try out Invader Studio’s prequel title and was pretty impressed with the demo content I tried out earlier this year.

There has clearly been a development in the overall polish of this prequel, with some impressive visuals and lighting at times. The game is also less slavishly reliant on the setting of Capcom’s series and actually begins to establish an identity of its own here. There are, though, a couple of retrograde changes here as the multiple characters are jettisoned in favour of one protagonist and the number of weapons is reduced.

Once again you play as a member of the elite HADES squad, clearly acting as Invader’s equivalent of STARS. In Sandcastle, though, you play as tech specialist Dalila Reyes, a former spy with a mysterious past who has been recruited by HADES and sent into a secret government installation to retrieve a briefcase containing essential information. This installation is based at Area 51 and the storyline therefore takes on a surprisingly X-Files inspired turn. This aspect actually helps the game to stand out from the more generic plot of its predecessor.

Not long after entering the secret base you are confronted by reanimated corpses possessed by strange electromagnetic pulses. These enemies come in two main variations, blue ones that can be taken down pretty easily and red ones that are faster, stronger, and more aggressive. As the game progresses you’ll