Review | Cursed Mountain

Format: Wii | Genre: Survival horror | Publisher: Deep Silver | Developer: Sproing/Deep Silver | Release date: 04/09/09 | RRP: £34.99

By Daniel Lipscombe

There’s a vast difference between great ideas and great implementation – and let’s not forget about best intentions either.

It’s with best intentions and intelligent ideas that great games are made, and there’s an abundance of both these qualities in Deep Silver’s Cursed Mountain. Things are different here. It’s a survival horror game with no scientific viruses on the loose and mutant creatures upsetting the locals. Instead, it’s a game steeped in Buddhist traditions and Tibetan mythology.

The best ideas here arrive through the setting and story. You play as Eric Simmons, a mountaineer in search of his brother Frank, who was lost on the mountain Chomolonzo after being tasked with finding an artefact. Things didn’t go well on that expedition, and the goddess of the mountain cursed the area, trapping everyone who couldn’t escape in time. It’s an agreeably original plot, but it’s the environment in which it unfolds that impresses the most. With the game set on Chomolonzo, you control Eric as he ascends from the base, trekking upwards in the hope of finding his brother.

//See the sights
The mountain itself is impressive, with vistas showing small monasteries and villages tucked away in its crevices, and sheer drops that are sure to bring about a sense of vertigo. Each and every inch of the mountain is fully realised, from the rocky face to the rickety huts and the traditional prayer halls of the Tibetan monks. It’s a shame, then, that a lot of the earlier sections of the game are bathed in an endless fog that hides much of its beauty.

As well as dampening the atmosphere, the fog often makes navigation tricky. Doorways are difficult to find, and moving from one side of a room to the other becomes an obstacle course. It’s not just the fog, either: each area is poorly lit as well, making your eyes strain to pick up details. Even on a high-definition TV with the brightness on full, there are moments where your eyes are begging for forgiveness, as you scour rooms for anything interesting.

Cursed Mountain sports some great ideas during combat, dropping you in fights against ethereal spirits that look genuinely spooky. Although you don’t have conventional weapons to hand, armed with your trusty ice axe you can swipe at your ghostly enemies with ease. This ice axe is also upgradable, and each of these upgrade will allow for more powers to be used in the spiritual realm, which the Third Eye power allows you to enter. Just holding the C button allows you to pass through to this realm and see the ghosts more clearly; you can then use your ice axe to fire energy bolts at the spirits to weaken them. Once said spirits are weak, you can either shoot them again to dispatch them, or use a compassion ritual to kill them and also gain a chunk of health too.

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