Dead Take: Horrors Born from Real Performances

Dead Take is the second game from Surgent Studios, the developer of Tales of Kenzera: Zau. This is a quiet horror game where the monster is represented by ambitions and the limits of human capabilities that one is willing to cross for fame. Like many other horror games, Dead Take employs jump scares to quickly raise the player's heart rate. However, the greatest fear in this game comes not from sudden frights, but from the performances of the actors. You play as Chase Lowry (Neil Newbon), an actor searching for his friend Winnie Monroe (Ben Starr) in the eerie estate of Hollywood producer Duke Kane (Abubakar Salim). The game combines exploration and puzzle-solving, similar to Resident Evil, but the narrative is almost entirely conveyed through FMV clips. This creates a unique gaming experience and adds a sense of novelty that has been rare in games for a long time.

Throughout the game, the player collects video fragments—interviews, auditions, video messages—and uses a modern AI editor to create new videos that reveal plot details and puzzles. These videos showcase how dedicated the actors are to their roles. You witness Winnie striving to land a role in Duke Kane's next big project, persistently pursuing it. When Chase calls during auditions, and Duke questions Winnie's dedication, he harshly insults Chase. The game makes you feel that true acting prowess can be significantly stronger than animation in typical games.

Ben Starr as Winnie creates a tense atmosphere that sometimes feels too realistic, as if you are truly facing violence. Alongside dramatic scenes, the game also features humorous moments, such as the appearance of Sam Lake—known from the Alan Wake series—as a weary director. Despite the light humor, Dead Take is a game about fears. Without the use of FMV, it would have been merely decent but would have faded into obscurity. Thanks to the technologies of the past, peaking on the LaserDisc platform, this game has become one of the best in the horror genre in recent years. Dead Take is already available on Steam.