Video Game Review: Sara Is Missing... Thank goodness

Developer Monsoonlab
Genre Simulator
Game modes Single Player
Players 1
Available on MacOS

Constantine104

Published January 20, 2017

I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to ‘scary’ games. The love part comes in because I love games that make me feel something, be it a game that makes me laugh out loud, cry onto my keyboard or constantly look over my shoulder because the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on edge. I live for that emotional high. The hate comes in because scary games are very rarely actually scary, instead, they seem to rely on the ‘youtube gamer’ method-that is piggybacking on you putting in all the effort and working yourself up so that they need to deliver minimal scares on their part.

And it’s right there, on that lazy ‘cheap thrills’ ride that Sara Is Missing sits.

Now for those of you who don’t watch Markiplier on YouTube, you probably haven’t heard of Sara Is Missing or S.I.M if you will.

So what is S.I.M: You pick up a phone that’s not yours, and when you start going through it to find it’s owner you find yourself swept up in a story about as interesting and scary as when you show someone a photo on your phone and they continue swiping through the rest of them while you silently panic.

According to Monsoonlab, the devs behind S.I.M, you ‘search for clues by investigating Sara’s personal messages, notes, emails, pictures, and videos while trying to piece together her final days’.

Now this is true, yes, but it’s also a gross exaggeration of what you actually spend your time doing, which is pretty much just data mining through the most mundane of virtual interactions while holding your finger down in utter desperation hoping that you’ve ‘found a clue’.

There have been other games before that used a very similar ‘spy’ type gameplay so in that aspect S.I.M is hardly unique, and not only have games done it before, but they’ve done it better. One only has to take one look at Republique to see how dead S.I.M looks in comparison.

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The game utilizing a similar typing mechanic as most popular smartphone messaging apps where it auto suggests responses on your behalf, that does give the game a realistic, albeit limited and linear feel. But it does true help to make the experience feel more realistic.

A whole section of the game consists of you going through Sara’s photos, and they were a really nice touch and in my opinion one of the strongest things the game delivers – it was here, and here alone that I felt some connection to the game itself, the rest of the time I was just an outsider who really didn’t care much about anyone in the story.

And just to say, it wasn’t for lack of trying on my part. The game suggests that you play with headphones, which I did. I also played it at night, with the lights off, while home alone. So it wasn’t without an active effort on my part, and even so, I didn’t find myself scared more than once, and even then it was only for the briefest of moments.

All in all my thoughts on S.I.M can be summarized as:

The style reminds me a lot of my IOS operating system, which was a nice feel; the music needed to be more diverse, listening to the same song again, and again gets a bit much; the story could have been good but instead was just completely underwhelming and you can only read through so many emails before it becomes boring.

S.I.M shouldn’t take you much more than an hour to complete, and that’s if you take your time experiencing it.

I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to 'scary' games. The love part comes in because I love games that make me feel something, be it a game that makes me laugh out loud, cry onto my keyboard or constantly look over my shoulder because the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on edge. I live for that emotional high. The hate comes in because scary games are very rarely actually scary, instead, they seem to rely on the 'youtube gamer' method-that is piggybacking on you putting in all the effort and working yourself up so that they need to deliver minimal scares on their part. And it's right there, on that lazy 'cheap thrills' ride that Sara Is Missing sits. Now for those of you who don't watch Markiplier on YouTube, you probably haven't heard of Sara Is Missing or S.I.M if you will. So what is S.I.M: You pick up a phone that's not yours, and when you start going through it to find it's owner you find yourself swept up in a story about as interesting and scary as when you show someone a photo on your phone and they continue swiping through the rest of them while you silently panic. According to Monsoonlab, the devs behind S.I.M, you 'search for clues by investigating Sara's personal messages, notes, emails, pictures, and videos while trying to piece together her final days'. Now this is true, yes, but it's also a gross exaggeration of what you actually spend your time doing, which is pretty much just data mining through the most mundane of virtual interactions while holding your finger down in utter desperation hoping that you've 'found a clue'. There have been other games before that used a very similar 'spy' type gameplay so in that aspect S.I.M is hardly unique, and not only have games done it before, but they've done it better. One only has to take one look at Republique to see how dead S.I.M looks in comparison. The game utilizing a similar typing mechanic as most popular smartphone messaging apps where it auto suggests responses on your behalf, that does give the game a realistic, albeit limited and linear feel. But it does true help to make the experience feel more realistic. A whole section of the game consists of you going through Sara's photos, and they were a really nice touch and in my opinion one of the strongest things the game delivers - it was here, and here alone that I felt some connection to the game itself, the rest of the time I was just an outsider who really didn't care much about anyone in the story. And just to say, it wasn't for lack of trying on my part. The game suggests that you play with headphones, which I did. I also played it at night, with the lights off, while home alone. So it wasn't without an active effort on my part, and even so, I…

Video Game Review: Sara Is Missing… Thank goodness

2017-01-20

Constantine104

total - 3.5

35 3.5

The game is currently available for free, so if you find yourself in a particularly 'snoopy' mood one night, give it a go. But if you want an experience that will truly scare you? You're better off looking somewhere else... Like the history of a teenage boys computer.

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Constantine104

Gaming / Entertainment / Geeky Goods Author at Geek Node

Arielle "Constantine104" Pieterse, is a walking, talking, breathing contradiction to the age old insult that girls can't game. Yes she's for at playing The Sims, but she's also pro at other games... Or so she's said. She is a co-host of the NAG podcast and the full-host of a YouTube channel that can be found somewhere on the Internet machine. Her mother is her biggest fan, and her only viewer.

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Article Tags: Constantine104 · Monsoonlab · s.i.m · sara is missing

Article Categories: Video Game Review