Don’t Be Afraid Review

I’m going to start out with a warning: if you don’t like the idea of harm coming to children, or them being placed in…creepy… situations, then Don’t Be Afraid is not for you. It may not be the scariest horror title I’ve played, but it sure is one of the most uncomfortable ones, from the panicked whimpering of our character to some, let’s say choice, voice work from the main antagonist. I’m not sure quite what it says about me that I still quite enjoyed it though.

Highly rated in user reviews on Steam, this first person psychological horror starts off intense and only goes up from there. There’s very little in the way of actual danger in the traditional sense (monsters stalking us, traps to avoid, etc) but every moment is dripping in tension thanks to some clever, creepy use of level layouts and things moving the moment we take our eyes off them. Throughout, mannequins feature heavily, often changing position once we turn back to face them or are used to funnel us through an area in a specific way. In itself creepy enough, the fact they are all covered in blood (and a note found later on adds even more gruesomeness to this aspect) can’t help but set the imagination going. Are they moving on their own? Are they really alive? Am I hallucinating? Don’t Be Afraid makes smart use of what are, comparatively to others in the genre, simple visuals effectively.

In fact, the few times we do come across a more direct threat I found myself far less tense or engaged. Possibly due to the fairly simple animation work, but also they all basically feel the same to avoid. With no combat in the game we’re left to move around while keeping out of eye or ear shot. Getting caught is initially creepy, but once that has occurred I found them easy to know how to avoid and if I did get caught it was more of an annoyance than a fright.

No matter the foes, we’re ‘treated’ to a running monologue from the antagonist Franklin. Played part-Mark Hamail’s Joker, part Powerpuff Girls’ Him, Franklin straddles a fine line between disgusting and, well, predatory. We play as David, an 11 year old boy kidnapped and thrust into a horror show from which he must escape. Franklin appears to enjoy torturing David (and as we learn, many kids before him) a little too much. As we progress there are clues to the horrors committed to others, and I can’t deny being somewhat uneasy at parts, whether it was seeing kids corpses posed like dolls inside plastic wrapped boxes, to what had become of one particular child that haunts us later on. To Franklin’s credit, he does a fantastic job of setting the scene and tone of the experience however, there are vibes here that will definitely not sit right with many.

Which is a tough thing to parse out. On the one hand, part of what makes Don’t Be Afraid so effective is the commitment to the villain and theme. Grotesque imagery, smart use of select scares, and some great audio work genuinely had my heart racing at moments. But there are a few too many moments where that fear and tension was sideswiped by a comment from Franklin that edged too close to the no-go zone.

Stick it out though and there are three endings to find. Throughout the game we find alternate pathways and clues as to how to get these, with my playthrough almost ending in what I’ll guess to be the good one. However, a wrong turn after failing to follow the clues left meant I ended up back on track to one of the other, more dire endings. I find this to be one of the more interesting things about the game, with there more to the endings than just ‘pick A or B’ come the final scene. There are more than just these puzzles across the 6 or so hour runtime, with the bulk of what we’re doing being to find and use items or switches in the right place. There’s not much in the way of hints but the way the levels work generally mean it’s not too hard to hunt down the solution. Again, I’m intrigued to see how some of the parts I missed work towards the other endings, but I need a break from this madhouse for a little bit in between runs.

Conclusion

All in all, Don’t Be Afraid is certainly not afraid to push certain boundaries, though whether you’ll get enjoyment out of that is down to your personal tolerance for child peril and harm in gruesome environments. Despite some unease at times I still enjoyed most of what the game offered, with some smart use of spooks and visual/audio work to really sell the horror at points. Horror game fans should at least look into Don’t Be Afraid, just make sure you’re braced for what’s ahead.

This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox Series S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.

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