REVIEW: Whisper Mountain Outbreak

Resident Evil meets co-op escape room

By Patrick Varence

(Review copy courtesy of Toge Productions).

(Image courtesy of Togo Productions.)

Whisper Mountain Outbreak is a fun, stylish game that’s easy to pick up, but perhaps a little too easy to put down. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Whisper Mountain Outbreak is an isometric survival game where the player must clear levels by solving puzzles, killing zombies, then escaping. Pretty straightforward, and very fun.

I think “fun” is the key word here. This is what games are meant to be. The market is so inundated by games that forget their purpose; To entertain and to be fun. That’s why the indie scene is so refreshing to me.

Self-described as “escape room meets co-op survival horror”, Whisper Mountain Outbreak is best enjoyed with friends. To this point, my biggest issue is the lack of incentive for a solo player to pick the game up again. However, this is a beta, and the game will be releasing to Early Access on August 11 so the lack of content will depend on how dedicated Togo Productions are.

Luckily, this isn’t the indie developer’s first foray as they already have a portfolio of successful releases and a history of decent games.

Looking at this image, the parallels with Resident Evil are immediately apparent as a zombie survival game where you kill zombies. You even pick up Green Herbs to heal yourself.

The art direction is in the vein of the re-popular pixel style so common among indies, and is accommodated by good sound design and an aesthetic “game feel”. The controls are responsive, and though the combat is simple, it serves.

The escape room theme comes into play with the puzzles, such as hotwiring a door or collecting objects in order to progress. They’re nothing challenging, however, and are merely a way to orient the gameplay experience in a way that is satisfactory.

A note on performance. Out of curiosity, I also tried the game on my laptop. It ran fine at first, but froze when I went into an open area. Despite appearances, Task Manager showed it put a lot of strain on my laptop, which can run games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Final Fantasy VII Remake on low specs just fine. Not sure if this should be a point of concern, just something I felt I should note.

A small criticism: There’s a dialogue function where you can press any key to continue. This made is frustrating for me to take screenshots. 

But more on specifics.

You start off the game in your home base, similar to Phasmophobia or Dark and Darker, and you choose which mission you want to play. At the moment, there’s x progressive missions, and you have to complete one to unlock the next.

Each level is different enough from each other to keep things interesting, with a serviceable narrative that could’ve benefitted the game if it was given more depth. However, story isn’t the main draw of the game: The 4-player co-op experience is.

This definitely isn’t a game you can fully enjoy by yourself, and I recommend playing it with friends to grasp what the game is aiming at. There’s also different scenarios with new levels, and four difficulty settings.

The enemies don’t take much skill to kill. You have your melee weapon – that pushes back enemies when you hit them – and you have your gun.

From what I can tell, there are two main ways you can die: Either by running out of ammo and temporarily running out of energy (so you can’t melee or shoot anymore anymore), or by getting overwhelmed by the zombies.

You get three lives before the game is over, and a lantern goes out each time you respawn after failing a level.

It’s good they’ve incorporated a mechanic that creates a sense of suspense and risk.

There’s also a few other differences here that sets Whisper Mountain Outbreak apart, such as a class system that gives your character a unique perk. There are six options: Body Builder, Firefighter, Medic, Sprinter, Rookie Agent, and Security Guard.

This is alongside skill upgrades, different weapon types, and a crafting system. These attributes benefit the game experience and helps keep things fresh, but at the moment, there isn’t much level variety. It’s easy to see this as a game you pick up once, maybe two times, then put down and move onto something more intuitive. If Togo Productions is concerned with player retention, they don’t show it.

However, not every game needs that as a focus, and this is an enjoyable game to spend some time on.

Whisper Mountain Outbreak is AU$11.79 on Steam and comes with a free Friend Pass, which is great for people that want a fun game to play with friends.