PREFACE
Before we start - developer WeLoveMonsters (that should give you a clue) requested I checked out their initial demo where the officer and her store friend feature. I praised the ambiance and styling, wondering what the backstory would be. The game starts off with this demo, which is loosely connected to the main story. It shows the corruption happening and spreading throughout the human population.
STORY
Let’s get this out of the way. If you are a fan of Resident Evil or Parasite Eve, add +1 to the score. If you love monsters repeatedly penetrating women everywhere, add +1 to the score. If you enjoy stories that have anime-like dramatics in them, add +1 to the score. That’s what this is - a different, sexual take to the horror classic genre with anime logic and monsters sexually preying on people.
Two sisters, Sarah and Ava, are the main characters of the story. Ava is a gamer who apparently masturbates often and is infatuated with DikDok, while Sarah works for Faraday, a highly secretive pharmaceutical company. Although the writer tries to deepen their personalities, they ultimately stay within their restricted stereotypical personalities. Sarah has bodybuilder anger issues and Ava is a horny overdramatic pushover. That’s all you need to know.
An infection spreads throughout Grimhaven, the nondescript town where the story takes place. The infection transfers sexually and turns hosts into ‘infected’, a husk of their former self, hellbent on sexual gratification. It almost sounds comical or silly, but the contagion is given weight simply due to the presentation style of the game. That said, it never gets scary or troublesome. You just witness two women getting involuntarily penetrated over and over.
There's an extra corruption theme injected in the story and it mostly works because of the slow, creeping way it develops. Not every infection handles the same way and therein lies a big win for the story's backbone. Sadly, the game takes too long to get in depth and when it does, it simply hints at having answers and not wanting to educate the reader too much. This oversight also extends into the separate consciousness of the corruption, who despite being fairly singular driven, entertains sarcasm. This raises questions whether it’s actually a separate entity, but I’m sure the story will address that eventually.
The moment-to-moment writing is good, casting aside the tropeness of some of the dialogs. Certain events are inserted just to push the plot forward and foreshadowing is rarely used until the most recent update, but if you overall apply anime logic, things will make sense and you can enjoy them. Just know this game can’t seem to choose between realism and fantasy, so it just picks whatever works for the story at that moment. If that works for you, you will love this game.
Contagion Crisis really focuses on the lust and joy of sex rather than anything else, akin to many hentai series. That might hold the story back from becoming a true horror staple, even though traumas are lightly explored when it comes to Ava. That said, there's a certain style to the game that if you enjoy, you will enjoy thoroughly.
PRESENTATION
Contagion Crisis has a particular style to it. They switched engines from the demo to allow for more realistic visuals and the result is great. The dark aesthetic works wonders for the horror story and while the gore and morbidness are palpable, this game doesn’t lean on cheap jump scares. Any horror comes from visually seeing horrendous things. Like monsters.
Again, it references Resident Evil and Parasite Eve in terms of dark alleyways, empty buildings and hordes of monsters coming for you. It’s a great throwback, but allows the game its own room to breathe as well. The aptly named ‘Grimhaven’ looks grim and feels deserted, devoid of personality. While the environment could use more personality, the game definitely ups the ante in the sewer segment.
Sarah and Ava are aesthetically pleasing women to look at, and both will get fucked. In fact, fucking is what this game is about. You will see cocks, tits and pussies on full display here by pretty much anyone that gets screen time and the game prides itself in that. The level of blood, semen and spit offered is over-the-top and definitely feeds the anime vibe.
If you have a monster, gigant and/or involuntarily penetration fetish, this is your game. There are a lot of angles per interaction and the animations are stellar. In fact, the animations are some of the best in the business. Couple those with sparingly used audio that works and it’s simply a great presentation.
GAMEPLAY
No gameplay, kinetic novel.
OVERALL
Contagion Crisis is Resident Evil's younger, sexual sister. If you love monsters, enjoy anime-like storytelling and can withstand gore and/or feel teratophilia, this game will feel right up your alley. And it will feel into all your alleys. Vigorously, with monsters and buckets of seed.
Rating: 8/10
Developer: WeLoveMonsters
