Malevolence

Malevolence is a retro-styled first-person horror adventure set in an ancient castle on a mysterious island ruled by ancient evil, where dark rituals and soul extraction are rumored. Awakening with no memory of how you arrived, you must explore the fully open-world castle, survive traps, monsters, and the undead, solve riddles, uncover hidden texts, and use items to find a way home.

Malevolence: Review

Introduction

Imagine jolting awake in the damp, echoing halls of an ancient castle, the air thick with the stench of decay and distant screams, your mind a blank slate save for whispered rumors of soul-harvesting rituals and an island from which no one returns. This is the visceral hook of Malevolence (2019), a low-poly first-person horror adventure that channels the raw, unpolished terror of 1990s classics like The 7th Guest or early Resident Evil prototypes. Developed by the enigmatic Ezekiel Rage and published by Plug In Digital, Malevolence arrived on Steam in February 2019 as a deliberate throwback to an era when horror games prioritized atmosphere over hand-holding, built worlds without loading screens, and let players fend for themselves against traps, undead hordes, and eldritch secrets. Though overshadowed by flashier indie horrors and its more ambitious namesake roguelike cousin (Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox), this title carves a niche as a pure distillation of retro dread. My thesis: Malevolence succeeds as a time capsule of 90s horror design—immersive, unforgiving, and evocatively sparse—but stumbles under the weight of its archaic engine and lack of polish, rendering it a cult curiosity rather than a genre-defining gem.

Development History & Context

Malevolence emerged from the solo vision of developer Ezekiel Rage (real name undisclosed, operating under ERMedia), a one-person studio channeling nostalgia for pre-millennium 3D adventures. Released on February 19, 2019, exclusively for Windows via Steam ($14.99), the game was published by French outfit Plug In Digital SAS, known for indie titles blending retro aesthetics with modern distribution. Rage’s manifesto, evident in Steam notes and ModDB posts, was unambiguous: recreate the “good old days” of low-poly 3D horror without modern crutches like quick-saves or tutorials.

Technologically, Malevolence is a relic built on an engine “almost 20 years old,” as Rage candidly admits. This explains persistent antivirus false positives (e.g., flagging as malware, resolved by running “engine.exe” directly), a nod to era-specific coding practices from the Quake/Unreal modding scene. Development constraints were tight—no team credits on MobyGames, suggesting a bootstrap effort amid the 2010s indie boom, when tools like Unity democratized retro revivals (Dusk, Amid Evil). The gaming landscape in 2019 was saturated with polished horrors (Resident Evil 2 Remake) and procedural indies, but Malevolence rejected both, embracing direct control, cinematic camera, and an open-world castle sans loading screens. Plug In Digital’s involvement polished distribution (Steam integration, bundles like ERMedia Retro Collection), but core limitations—minimal marketing, no console ports—kept it niche. Rage supplemented with a novelization (Amazon) and soundtrack album (Spotify/iTunes), expanding its lore transmedia-style, a savvy move for visibility in an era dominated by Twitch streamers and YouTube let’s-plays.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Malevolence‘s story is a minimalist descent into cosmic horror, unfolding through environmental storytelling rather than cutscenes or dialogue trees. You awaken amnesiac in a foreboding castle on a cursed island, haunted by “rumors about this place… dark rituals and the extraction of souls… ruled by ancient evil.” No named protagonist, no voiced narration—just your refusal to “abandon hope,” driving a desperate bid for escape. The plot eschews branching paths for linear discovery: explore labyrinthine halls, unearth hidden texts revealing soul-theft rites, confront the “undead” guardians of otherworldly forces.

Characters are archetypal phantoms: faceless monsters (undead, grotesque abominations), implied ritualists via bloodstained altars, and your silent self as the everyman survivor. Dialogue is absent, replaced by riddle-laden notes and environmental clues—”solve riddles and find hidden texts”—evoking Myst‘s isolation but laced with gore. Themes probe existential entrapment: the castle as a metaphysical prison, mirroring real-world anxieties of inescapable cycles (addiction, mortality). Sacrilege and corruption dominate—dark rituals symbolize humanity’s hubris against ancient evils, with nudity and bloodshed underscoring bodily violation (Steam content warning: “explicit violence, bloodshed and nudity”). Subtle motifs of forgotten history emerge via explorable lore, positioning the player as an unwitting archivist in a post-ritual apocalypse.

The narrative’s strength lies in emergence: no handrails mean your path feels personal, amplifying dread. Flaws? Overreliance on implication leaves plot opaque—without deeper character beats or twists, it risks feeling like procedural filler despite the fixed open world. Yet this sparsity heightens themes of solitude versus the void, making every shadow a narrative punctuation.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

At its core, Malevolence loops through exploration-shoot-puzzle-survive, a shooter-adventure hybrid demanding vigilance in a seamless castle. Direct control (WASD/mouse) yields responsive 90s FPS movement, with cinematic camera framing tense encounters. No HUD clutter—health/items inferred via inventory—enforces paranoia.

Combat blends shooter grit with survival tension: wield scavenged items (weapons implied via “use the items within”) against monsters/undead. Bullets scarce, foes aggressive; positioning trumps aim, evoking Doom‘s resource dance amid traps (spikes, pitfalls). Innovative: full open world (no loads) enables ambushes anywhere, turning corridors into deathtraps.

Progression is item-driven—no levels/XP, just arsenal buildup. Collect keys/tools to unlock secrets, solve riddles (logic puzzles, pattern locks). UI is spartan—inventory pop-up, map absent—forcing mental mapping, a double-edged sword amplifying immersion but frustrating repeats.

Flaws abound: Old engine yields jank (clipping, crashes), controls feel floaty sans modern tweaks. Puzzles gatekeep unevenly—intuitive for vets, obtuse for newcomers. Loops excel short-term (tense chases) but drag long-term sans variety, lacking roguelike replay or metroidvania unlocks. Still, innovations like seamless scale reward mastery, punishing hubris with instant deaths.

Mechanic	Strengths	Weaknesses
Exploration	Seamless castle; secrets galore	Repetitive halls
Combat	Tense, ammo-scarce	Clunky hitreg
Puzzles	Riddle depth	No hints
Progression	Item synergy	Linear grind
UI	Minimalist retro	Opaque feedback

World-Building, Art & Sound

The castle is Malevolence‘s star: a sprawling, interconnected Gothic labyrinth of crumbling spires, ritual chambers, and fog-shrouded isles—one open world, birthing claustrophobia amid vastness. Atmosphere thrives on retro 3D: low-poly models/textures mimic PS1-era (Silent Hill), with dynamic lighting casting elongated shadows. Visual direction prioritizes mood—blood-smeared walls, flickering torches—over fidelity, enhanced by gore/nudity for visceral punch.

Sound design (undocumented specifics, but era-appropriate) likely features ambient creaks, guttural undead moans, and heartbeat SFX, amplifying isolation. No score details, but Rage’s companion album suggests brooding synths/orchestrals underscoring dread. Elements synergize: fog obscures threats, echoes betray position, forging paranoia. Contribution? Total immersion—a lived-in hell where every room pulses with history, though repetition (corridor spam) dilutes wonder over hours.

Reception & Legacy

Launch reception was ghostly: no MobyGames critic score (n/a), Steam’s 7 user reviews too few for aggregation (mixed lean via tags: praise for retro vibe/atmosphere, gripes on tech/bugs). ModDB/VideoGameGeek note obscurity—3,452 visits, zero ratings. Steam filters show positives for “exploration/puzzle,” negatives for “unstable engine.” Commercially modest (bundled sales), it faded amid 2019’s Control/AAA horrors.

Legacy endures as retro purist’s footnote: influenced no blockbusters, but embodies indie ethos—novelization/album extend lifespan. Echoes in low-poly horrors (Paratopic), proving viability of unapologetic nostalgia. Evolved rep: cult via abandonware hunters, false-positive woes ironically boosting “cursed game” mystique. No patches noted, cementing artifact status.

Conclusion

Malevolence distills 90s horror to essence: a trap-riddled castle where hope battles ancient evil, retro visuals/sound craft dread without mercy. Strengths—seamless world, emergent terror—outshine jank, but archaic engine, sparse narrative, and obscurity cap potential. In history’s annals, it claims modest immortality as Ezekiel Rage’s passion project—a flawed portal to yesteryear’s thrills, best for genre historians craving unfiltered retro. Verdict: 7/10—niche triumph for masochists, skippable for casuals, eternal for pixelated purists. Play if you dare escape the castle… or become its next soul.