Fatal Runtime

My playtime: 00:25:51

Intro
Fatal Runtime is a horror game in a sci-fi setting. In here, you'll play as a nurse, "taking care" of your patients that are placed on tubes.

Graphics
The nuance of the sci-fi setting fills the whole game. A lot of electronic devices are placed in each room along with high-tech machinery for treatment care in the hospital. It also tries to give a unique look in every area with a different focus. This is not everything that the game has to offer though. The game's strength lies in its glitchy visuals. The animation helps to bring it to life, along with the lively sound effects.

Story
To be honest, I didn't get the story at all. The game starts by telling you that you have patients to tend to with no other information in it. I didn't realize that I was a nurse until later on in the game, I didn't know where my patients are, nor why they are inside a tube. You'll learn of your patients' backgrounds later on, although it doesn't mean much since they only serve as a way to proceed with the story. The ending also doesn't seem to make sense with everything that is happening - everything is just full of questions without an answer accompanying it.



The Game
Gameplay
If you're craving for jumpscare moments, you'll be in for a surprise. You're tasked to explore the mind of three patients, each with a different theme. Despite the lack of horror elements, you'll still get surprised by the suddenly-appearing enemies and screen switching. The high-pitch sound effects also do a good job of giving the element of surprise, and surprisingly, I didn't get bored of it throughout my playthrough. You'll eventually get used to some of the "jumpscares", but there will still be something new to get surprised by.

While the whole exploration and surprising element work well in my favor, the gameplay can be unfair sometimes. You can get killed instantly just by interacting with something that you're not supposed to do, forcing you to reload your save or restart it from the beginning. I didn't know about this at first and had to restart a few minutes of my playtime just because I haven't saved anything. Having an autosave feature or something similar will benefit a lot when these kinds of "accidents" are happening.



Length and Difficulty
The in-game clock states that I finished the game in ~26 minutes. The game isn't difficult at all apart from some scenes where you have to avoid getting hit too much by the enemy. Although there are places that can kill you instantly, some places have walking enemies that will drain your HP by touch. Getting hit several times will cause a game over, although luckily, you can always heal yourself after you clear the area. Backtracking is also not happening that often so you'll always have something new to explore.

Problems
I didn't like it when the game progresses the optional, interactable text on the wall automatically.

Pros:
- "Jumpscare" moments are well executed

Cons:
- Getting instant death when you enter the wrong room feels unfair

Final Rating: 4/5
To be honest, this game is kinda hard to rate. On one side, I didn't like how the game punishes you for exploring the whole area by giving that instant game over screen, although I still enjoy the unique cutscene that is happening before you die. The jumpscare moments are also executed perfectly in both music and visuals. It was a unique, positive experience for me, which should be all that you need when you play these kinds of games.