The Coma Recut -- Review

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The Coma Recut is an updated version of The Coma: Cutting Class which is an indie Korean survival horror. The game meshes Lovecraftian horror with a uniquely Korean twist, which is great! First thing you'll note, the graphics are beautiful. This is you --

You are a typical very stressed-out Korean student -- note that part of the game is based upon the developers actual high-stakes high-stress high school experience in Korea. You have a crush on the very buxom teacher Ms. Song --

Things quickly take a dark twist when you end up in "The Coma" -- without spoiling anything, it's an alternate reality. One with very Lovecraftian vibes --

Unlike Silent Hill, which to be fair is NOT an indie game, your character has NO weapons! I feel this is refreshing. So, what can you do? You can dodge, you can hide, you can regain health, and regain stamina. That's about it! Also, you're limited to what items you can carry, and you purchase items at a vending machine --

The vast majority of the game, you will explore your surroundings while attempting to not get killed. At the start of the game, most "enemies" are easy to avoid, but quickly you come across the main antagonist --

Here is where the game starts to get a bit stale. First, the "Killer" above is unstoppable. This is not new, Resident Evil certainly used that plot device as well as other games. Nothing wrong with that. However, the Killer shows up at random places at random times! If you are hit, you lose anywhere from a little health (early on in the game) to a LOT of health (later in the game). In fact, later in the game you can take one hit, the second will kill you. To make matters worse, the game is not very responsive. Youngho (the protagonist) feels clunky. What you need to do is run, then hide, then wait until the killer vanishes, then continue to explore, then rinse and repeat. The game would have greatly benefited if the Killer only showed up at certain instances. However, again, it's entirely random.

There's not that much for you to do. You basically learn the lore of the game from notes --

The story is okay, nothing particularly exciting. I will note that the story is MUCH improved and fleshed out in the sequel (The Coma 2).  And in fact most everything is improved in the sequel! That said, this first game has a certain charm, and a certain frustration. The game is also short, you'll finish it in about 5 hours, perhaps less. There are multiple endings and achievements, so there is arguably some replay value, but very little. There are some nice cutscenes throughout the game, again the artwork is fabulous, but the gameplay quickly becomes rather mundane. Also, with regards to the music, it's very forgettable. The music and sound effects are adequate, but nothing more. You certainly will not be rushing to purchase the soundtrack.

At the end of the day, I would recommend this game to fans of survival horror, but most people will probably find it rather uninspired and arguably a bit dull.

Final Grade: 6.25/10

Bottom Line: Worth playing if you are a fan of survival horror, but other than the lovely artwork there's nothing particularly inspiring about the game.