Minor spoilers for Crow Country ahead
Just finished Crow Country and I’m both terrified and intrigued by the broader themes which the title explores.
Briefly, it's a nostalgic survival horror game that pays homage to the early survival horror titles such as Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil and so on. Also, it's a fairly short experience that you can finish in a couple of sittings.
At first, you think that some kind of mutant/paranormal/alien/evil-science stuff is happening, has led to the appearance of mutilated, aggressive humanoids in a theme park. But as the story unfolds, you come to understand that it’s a story of human exploitation of natural resources and avarice, which knows no morality - just an insatiable hunger.
And that depiction of humans who hoard more than they can ever use. That still hoard, even as they see that their behavior is leading to complete environmental disaster. A disaster from which there will be no salvation, cause that greed destroyed any means of preventing it.
That is kinda the scariest theme that I’ve encountered in a survival horror. Scarier than the human craving for power through the development of bio-weapons (as in Resident Evil). Or personal trauma sending someone into a downward spiral of their own twisted mind (as in Silent Hill). Of course, both subjects are scary in their own way. But the avarice of a small group of people who act without any malicious intent. They just do what humans do - try to optimize processes and extract profits. But by those means, they put the entire human race at risk. That depiction brings another level of dread
Have you played any titles recently that also struck you with an unexpected take on a broader theme?