- Maid of Sker is the new mobile version of Wales Interactive's homegrown horror
- It is set in an isolated 19th century hotel on the eponymous island of Sker
- However, not everything is as it seems when you come to investigate strange occurrences.
A windswept island, a haunted hotel filled with Lovecraftian horrors, and a mysterious woman who could be an innocent caught up in the chaos, or who could have an agenda of her own. No, this isn't the story of a weekend getaway gone horribly wrong, but rather the opening of our homegrown Welsh horror title, Maid of Sker.
Set on the island of the same name, Maid of Sker is very loosely based on a Victorian novel of the same name, and set in the same late 1800s era. You play Thomas Evans, who travels to the island and the Sker Hotel to investigate a letter from his fiancée Elisabeth Williams which, in the grand tradition of weird fiction, only vaguely mentions the strange goings-on at the hotel.
Is Elisabeth as innocent as she seems? What is the connection between these monsters and music? And the fundamental question: will you make it out alive?
Wales Interactive's previous efforts have focused primarily on full-motion video (FMV) titles, so Maid of Sker is a bit different, focusing on horror. Reviews have been generally favorable, though they sit comfortably in the 50/50 category, although it's worth noting that its spiritual predecessor Alien: Isolation also received negative reviews upon release, despite being an absolute classic.
But this isn’t meant to be a retrospective on Maid of Sker per se. Instead, I’m going to focus primarily on how this game performs on mobile. Does it hold up as a technical marvel? Or does it fall apart as if it were held together by chewing gum and string? Let’s dig in and find out!
If you’ve played Resident Evil or Amnesia: The Dark Descent, then you know what to expect. If not, let me explain. You traverse the Sker Hotel in search of the brass cylinders that (according to Elisabeth, at least) will put an end to the strange supernatural events.
To do so, you'll explore every nook and cranny, collecting keys and opening locked doors to discover entirely new areas, all while avoiding enemies and uncovering various clues to the sinister goings-on at the hotel.
So if you're a fan of more action-oriented shooters or horror games, Maid of Sker is definitely not for you. But if you're annoyed that you can't even look at a monster in something like Amnesia, you'll be happy to know that the only real “threat” is not getting your head torn off. And moving low and slow is usually enough to stay away from most enemies.
Judicious use of a breath-hold mechanic and slow walking so as not to make any noise that will attract the blind beasts that inhabit the Sker Hotel means you're often on edge as you're forced to balance speed with the need to not, well, die. Sometimes you'll have to hold your breath if an enemy is uncomfortably close, or when walking through a smoky area that makes you cough.
Movement is useful, but this is very much in the realm of walking simulators. And you'll find that the occasional inability to jump over even the smallest bricks or logs can be a real nuisance, especially in the occasional open-air section. But other than that, it's manageable, and since there's no point in trying to escape your pursuers, running is mostly a way to cut down on time in safer areas.
If your phone can handle it, Maid of Sker can look more than decent, with some great dynamic lighting and moody atmospheres. But as I'll mention in the “Performance” section, this is also where the game takes a hit. On a small phone screen, the various details and greebles across the environments can quickly become indistinguishable, and I would have liked to see some of them cut in order to increase performance.
One particular area that frustrated me was that when you examine items in your inventory (a common trope for Resi-likes) you won't see the enhanced textures, leaving them blurry and hard to distinguish, which usually isn't a big deal but can take away from the immersion. There are also cutscenes, which are pre-rendered, not real-time. I don't know if it's due to the settings, but in my case they were very compressed and not the best quality.
Sound is a huge part of Maid of Sker and I'm happy to report that this is where the game shines. The constant creaking and groaning of the hotel floorboards, the hum of the first electrical flashes, and distant sounds that could be a monster all add to the tension even if you're playing in a brightly lit room. I highly recommend using headphones for this game as they can really enhance the experience and help you distinguish between different sounds.
The voice acting can be a little tacky at times, but it's perfectly serviceable. And the doomed NPCs screaming or groaning as they're torn to pieces by monsters off-screen are more than enough to give you the chills. Music is obviously a big part of it, and the gentle melodies can really get on your nerves even without any loud bangs or jump scares.
With my Bluetooth headphones, I found that the sound delay could be a problem. Not to the point of making it unplayable, but it did give a disconcerting feeling that my character’s movements were being mirrored by something behind me. However, in terms of spatial awareness, it was surprisingly easy to spot enemies, collectibles, and other points of interest.
Performance
Unfortunately, performance is definitely where Maid of Sker fell apart for me. But at the same time, I should clarify that I’m using what is (sadly) now a low-end device with my Samsung S20. Admittedly, it wasn’t stumbling, but even on the lowest settings, I saw moments of stuttering and a general heat on my phone that was a little concerning at times. When I picked up again later, performance seemed smoother overall, but quickly started to dip a bit, suggesting that heat was the main issue.
The opening in particular, which sees you trudging from the train station to the Sker Hotel, could have been cut for this door in favor of something a little less resource-intensive for me, with all that foliage hogging your phone's resources. Maybe dropping you off right in front of the hotel, especially since the walk there doesn't really have anything spooky about it to set the mood anyway.
I think my main complaint is that there's so much that feels left over that could have been cut to help those with less powerful devices. I don't think it would necessarily have taken away from the experience if Wales Interactive had done this, as much of the clutter in the environments is hard to see on a small screen anyway.
What I liked
The thing I liked most about Maid of Sker was the setting. Putting aside my Welshness, the Sker Hotel is much more open and fairly well-lit than in games like Amnesia, and reminds me of a less claustrophobic Alien: Isolation, where you're unlikely to be caught off guard if you're careful.
I also really like the story. The hints of some weird Lovecraftian horror and the constant references to singing definitely add a very spooky aura to the game, rather than the more overtly “horrific” but somehow creepy kind you see in other horror games.
What I didn't like
Maid of Sker is the very definition of a mix, and as far as porting goes, it’s hard to give a firm opinion, given that I’m sure my phone wasn’t what Wales Interactive had in mind when they ported a game that originally came out the same year as my device. But that said, I think it’s fair to say that you’d expect the game to be optimised enough to run a little better on an older device like mine.
A personal pet peeve of mine also involves simple control issues. I've never enjoyed playing first-person games, which require the use of touchscreen controls, because they tend to be a bit too finicky. The number of times I had to re-center my camera because the movement stick on the left hand of the screen would jump onto my thumb when I touched an interactive object also quickly became irritating.
Conclusion
Overall, Maid of Sker is a perfectly good game that unfortunately suffers when ported to mobile devices. If you're looking for a successful survival horror game, then Maid of Sker is definitely a worthy choice. And if you're looking for a game to show your support for a Welsh company, then it's definitely worth picking up. But at the same time, it's not without its issues that detract from what was already a somewhat mixed experience.