However, the game would have been fine without it.
The sanity meter mechanic seems to have died out over the years, but Movie Games have made an attempt to bring it back. It captures the same kind of Gothic aesthetic that made Frictional Games’ 2010 masterpiece so influential, not only through its earthy set design, but also through its inclusion of a lantern and a sanity meter. It also pays homage to horror game mechanics from the likes of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. While the level designs do leave something to be desired, it is an aesthetically pleasing world with great statues and hellish environments that are still horrifying from a story perspective, even if they do look quite pretty. While the sight of phallic and yonic symbolism is strewn about the realm of Lusst’ghaa in a way that is less suggestible and more “here are some penises and vaginas,” Movie Games has created a stunning – if gooey – world that has a surprising amount of color in it. Where Lust From Beyond partially makes up for this is in it’s visuals. Often conversations between characters – although skippable – go on for entirely too long and have a cheesy cringe factor to them which makes paying attention sometimes unbearable. Much of the written dialogue is poorly scripted with lines that feel unbelievable, even in this world.
I don’t really hold the voice actors responsible for this. It’s hard to know whether this was an intentional choice to give off an obvious B-movie vibe, but it often falls short of bad-on-purpose and feels just plain bad. The voice acting feels wooden at times and overly dramatic in others. However, the plot lines feel deflated with character interactions taking the story far more seriously than any human could possibly take it. The story has the potential to be truly interesting and different, with its cultist themes and elder gods arc. Perhaps where the game falls down the most is in the writing and voice acting. This is a game that does not hide behind the curtain of suggestibility. Even when playing the uncensored version (it comes with an optional censored version, presumably for streamers) the sexual content borders on the pornographic, with up close depictions of erect penises, masturbation, orgies, first-person views of penetration, and ejaculation. A lot of detail has gone into showing that sex is not something one can shy away from in this game. That’s not to say the sex scenes aren’t jarring at first. If sex in games isn’t considered controversial, then it’s usually considered funny, and unfortunately Lust From Beyond ticks the box of the latter. a solid and elegantly crafted horror game that tackles the subject of sex in a mature and believable way. I wanted this to be what Agony wasn’t, i.e. What I wanted more than anything was to be able to take it seriously. Movie Games have thrown everything sex-related they can at this game to the point where it eventually moves from the realm of shock into that of the ridiculous. It’s worth saying at this point that there is zero subtlety to it. What Lust From Beyond wants to do is create a perfect blend of horror and sex, with equal parts terror and intrigue for players. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński with some Lovecraftian elements thrown in the mix and a dash of The Wicker Man added for seasoning. The game itself is a shameless homage to everything H.R. Unfortunately, Victor is plagued by voices that whisper sweet eroticisms into his mind and subsequently finds himself transported to Lusst’ghaa, a dark and squelchy realm of extreme arousal and madness.
It chronicles the tribulations of Victor Holloway, the proprietor of an antiques shop who only wishes to celebrate his anniversary by sprinkling petals on the floor in a romantic gesture for his girlfriend before getting his freak on.
What I’m saying is, ten years ago there’s no way the likes of Lust From Beyond would have seen the light of day.ĭescribed as a “psychosexual horror game,” Lust From Beyond is the second installment in the Lust series (the first being Lust For Darkness) from Polish studio Movie Games. More and more titles seem less timid about showing the erotic side of life, even if that eroticism is stripped of any alluring aspect and instead shoved into the gamer’s face as a horrifying encounter (looking at you Outlast). Recent endeavours, however, have shown that there can be spaces in more mature and serious games for the occasional graphical reference to sex and nudity. At the time, society seemed to throw up its metaphorical placards in outrage at the industry’s sheer audacity to show digital representations of anything genital-related.
From 1982’s Custer’s Revenge to the infamous “Hot Coffee” feature (and it was a feature, not a mod created by the community) in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. There are those of us who will remember the controversy that followed in the wake of video games that featured sex of any description.