Dead Take Reviews
Dead Take clearly wants players to focus on uncovering its story, and the mansion is built in a way that makes exploration feel rewarding even without much resistance. The atmosphere does a lot of heavy lifting, with sound and lighting creating an ever-present sense of tension that kept me leaning forward the whole time. Dead Take might not break the escape room genre wide open, but it finds a creative way to pull players into its world, and it's worth seeing through to the end.
Dead Take too often dips into the surreal but is otherwise an authentic and terrifying view into the trauma of being an actor.
Dead Take features Ben Starr and Neil Newbon as opposing actors fighting for a seat at an auteur's table
If the story were longer and there were more live-action sequences, then the game could have been something truly special. However, what’s here is still worth checking out, especially for horror aficionados who are looking for something a bit different, and a little more real.
Dead Take isn't trying to out-monster anyone. It's interested in something scarier: how performance and power warp people, and how easy it is to mistake a good cut for the truth. The house is empty, but the screens are crowded with ambition, with compromise, with the awful clarity that comes when you choose which version of someone to believe. Imperfect puzzles and a few cheap jolts aside, this is a confident, claustrophobic horror piece that sticks because its actors do. When the credits roll, you're left with exactly what it set out to give you: not a scream, but a shiver.
Yes, Death Take has an interesting plot and an excellent cast. However, as a game, it is absolutely mediocre, and what's more, it can be completed in just two hours.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Dead Take is a sublime horror game filled with some phenomenal performances expertly heightened by the live-action nature. It's unique, fun, and fantastically paced.
Dead Take is a fascinating experiment in blending video game and cinematic language. With an escape room feel and a psychological thriller atmosphere, Surgent Studios' experience fails to fully realize the potential of an intriguing concept.
Review in Italian | Read full review
This short jaunt through a haunted mansion leads you through entertaining puzzles, even if you're not quite sure why you're there, but will entice you further with a deeper mystery about the abuse of power in the entertainment industry.
Dead Take is a game about actors, made for actors by actors. While the plot and mystery surrounding the narrative turns shoulder the burden of keeping up interest throughout, sound puzzle design and a blanketing atmosphere make it a worthwhile play for horror fans.
Dead Take is a sharp turn for Surgent Studios after Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. But the developer's attempt at first-person narrative horror via escape room is a bold jab at Hollywood's dark underbelly, helmed by some incredible performances.
Dead Take has got some great atmosphere, wonderful voice acting, and a real creepy story, slightly hampered by simple puzzles and an over-use of jumpscares.
Dead Take is a solid adventure for the FMV genre that provides an eerie and moody atmosphere set in the Hollywood hills. What's there is an intriguing exploration of the powers that be and the dog-eat-dog nature of the film industry, and how it can consume people. It may not contain the deepest or most complex puzzle, nor does it make replayability easy for optional objectives, but you don't stay for that. What you're there for is the stellar performances; the likes of Ben Starr, Neil Newbon, Laura Bailey and more giving it their utmost all to deliver you a sufficiently chilling horror experience. There are horrors in that mansion, and though not all in there may delight, it's a worthwhile and memorable jaunt behind Hollywood's closed doors.
A short first-person psychological horror game, Dead Take cleverly incorporates full motion video footage to explore the lengths that some will go to in order to achieve success. It's not particularly scary but it does go to some dark places, making it definitely worth checking out for fans of the genre.
A well-executed psychological horror game that looks beyond the glossy surface of the film industry to reveal its compromises.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The worldbuilding, the performances of the actors and the story itself create a damn good symbiosis of escape room, story, and FMV serving as the perfect playground for psychological horror and making Dead Take a truly special experience. The fact that it ultimately became a video game rather than a film definitely made for the right choice of medium. Even if I would have liked a bit more gameplay when splicing the films.
Review in German | Read full review
I can’t fault Dead Take. The acting in this game is jaw-dropping and seen from a perspective we very rarely get in this medium. Dead Take made me feel things that AAA games often fail to, and I was kept guessing about the story at all times.
Dead Take is a short yet strikingly original experiment, weaving a disturbing story through a strong cast and inventive use of the medium, where atmosphere and writing outshine its technical flaws.
Review in Italian | Read full review
For me, Dead Take was a unique and haunting psychological experience that stayed with me for a long time, even after completing it, while also being an enjoyable puzzle-solving escape room-like game filled with mystery and intrigue that had me guessing the entire playthrough. The best part for me was the acting, as each moment felt full of personality and passion for the craft by each actor.
Dead Take is a very good cinematic escape room with elements of psychological horror. Great acting, a well-crafted atmosphere, and interesting puzzles make for an interesting departure from Surgent Studios' first title. I hope the creators don't abandon this direction and stay with the horror genre in their future productions.
Review in Polish | Read full review