Beebom Score
As a gamer, I’ve always been drawn to horror games. No matter how many competitive games I play, the lure of an eerie adventure is what keeps me up at night. So, when I got access to Order 13, I wasted no time experiencing a new horror universe. While I entered the game with no expectations, a fresh bump of nightmare hit me. However, keep in mind that this game isn’t like a standard horror experience. In fact, it’s so much more. Want to know it all? Well, without further ado, here is my full and a bit scary Order 13 review, a game where working at the Amazon warehouse will feel like a paranormal exhibition.
Gameplay: A Symphony of Dreadful Nightmares
Similar to the story of Five Nights at Freddy’s, Order 13 takes you on the journey of a warehouse worker. Your day, night starts with the beginning of your shift in a remote fulfillment center. All you have to do is grab items from the storage, pack them, and ship them. At the end of each delivery, you are rewarded with some money.
Sounds simple right? Well, you are alone in the facility, or are you? Your cat is not the only company you have during your shifts. And the company might not be friendly. Your goal is to survive the shift, sleep, upgrade, and complete your job as a warehouse worker. With every night giving you a dynamic challenge of horrors, the symphony of dread will begin in the warehouse.
With a flashlight and basic tools, you must work quickly, avoiding lingering, as the darkness intensifies and danger mounts. As the demands increase, you will uncover deeper areas of the warehouse and their disturbing secrets. However, you’re responsible for more than your own life, as your trusty cat depends on you.
Invest your earnings wisely to upgrade your tools, improve your efficiency, and, most importantly, keep your furry friend safe and content. In this lonely and eerie world, he’s all that remains, and his survival is your utmost priority. But is it easy?
Psychological Horror Meets Atmospheric Terrors
The gameplay loop is simple but the journey in the darkness isn’t easy. This is because of the horrors in the storage facility. Every time you enter the storage area to find items, you must face dire consequences. While Phasmophobia or Pacify fans might find solace in this similar setting, there’s something about being alone in the darkness that takes its toll. But the scares crawling in the darkness are not just some creature ready to pounce on you.
Instead of a traditional jumpscare formula, Order 13 creeps into your brain. Each run makes you submerged in the eerie atmosphere that you will only witness in iconic games like P.T. or Amnesia. I highly recommend you use headphones with spatial audio. Even the silence of the facility is louder than anything else. The lights flickering or a slow suspense building up till a reveal of the dead is a perfect crescendo you wouldn’t expect from an indie game.
To complement the exceptional atmosphere, the developers also add some horrifying visuals. From night one you will witness chopped limbs, dismembered heads, and blood splatter. This is definitely not what you’d want at your workplace. Every step you take is enough to send a chill down your spine. The overall experience at the facility will slowly drag you down into the darkness until you realize, you are not alone. Thankfully, there is a way to survive longer.
Pet-Rify the Darkness to Survive
The only way you can survive the nights is by running away from the horrors of the facility. This is your traditional horror gaming manual. Run away whenever you sense terror. However, one thing is different in Order 13, which excited me. Having your pet watching over the darkness is a great way to increase survival chances. Yes, your cat’s happiness meter is the key to surviving the terrors at work.
You can replenish your cat’s health by feeding him. There are toys for him as well that will upgrade his max health bar. So, while upgrading your workstation, do not forget about the pet. Because once you die, you must restart the shift all over again.
Surviving is the key if you must unfold the mysteries of the fulfillment center. And just like you depend on your cat, he depends on you. This unique companionship feature is something I never experienced in horror games. While the key to a good horror game is making you feel lonely, having the responsibility of another innocent creature whose survival increases your chances to live is a fresh touch.
Although you can try to make the run without him, the fun is when you have someone in this eerie world by your side. Unless you also count the monster in the facility as a friend.
Upgrading Your Way to Escape
As the game progresses, your typical gameplay won’t save you. As each night passes, you will need upgrades. Thankfully, the game does give you the proper options for that. To make your shipment job fast, you can get a tag scanner, multi-order rack, and other useful items.
The multi-order tracker will help you process more orders at once. A scanner is also one of the best upgrades. It saves the password of the locker you must open to obtain the item.
However, just upgrading your work items is not enough. Your cat also needs items. From pet food to toys, you cannot skip a day without an upgrade. If you do, the consequences can affect your run. So, make sure you spend your upgrade money wisely. Unlike me, who spent all of it on the work items on the first run. My cat definitely cursed me to die on the second night. But what does the world of fear look and play like?
Performance: Indie Horror With Terrific Visuals
Regarding the frames and lag-free experiences, indie games are special. Just like any other indie horror game, the developers here have tried to keep things optimized. But do not take it for a game with stock visuals. Order 13 is exceptional in beauty. The graphics quality plays a huge part in the atmospheric horror element. From the broken bones or torn limbs, you will feel as if you are witnessing the terror before your very eyes.
My Setup: CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 @4.20 GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1650 Super
RAM: 16 GB (2×8) DDR4 @3200MHz
SSD: Adata XPG GAMMIX D30
Monitor: 1080p @165Hz
For the performance part, I played the game on all presets, and even if it was set on the highest, the frames did not make much of a difference. Playing on a locked FPS will be a good experience if you are running Order 13 on a decent device. Using a 165Hz monitor and good headphones also added to my horror experience.
The simulation part of the game does not involve many things at once, yet it requires good UI utilization. And the game delivers on that part. Although some of the actions might feel a little choppy, this is negotiable with a little tweak in the graphic settings. I was running the game at 100+ FPS without much problem. Trust me, you will need the extra frames to make your run feel smoother when the monster arrives.
Verdict: A Reality-Driven Horror Done Right?
We all know the reality of warehouse workers in multi-billion companies worldwide. But what if paranormal stories are one of the psychological stories they build in their heads? Is it because of the stress of working overtime all by themselves? Well, that might be a story of its own. Cybernetic Walrus effortlessly plays on that story. You get the atmosphere you love to see in a horror story, but the buildup is not a typical one-off every night.
Adding your own pet is a fresh take on the horror genre. This becomes especially better when your pet is better than a showpiece. The simulator side of the actions keeps you hooked for more nights as the upgrades throw some rewarding values. Visuals and audio complement each other in creating a dark reality of the warehouse without making things too out of the blue.
This is not an Outlast series of madness where you are in some cult in one second and in reality the other. Instead, Order 13 keeps you in reality no matter what you witness. Just beware of the darkness that lingers after your flashlight flickers. Overall, if you love horror games that push and pull you on a psychological level, Order 13 is a must-try.
Ishan Adhikary
