Review: Camp Sunshine (Nintendo Switch)
Playing through the horror game Camp Sunshine was not entirely unlike stumbling upon an unknown indie horror movie on Night Flight back in the mid-’80s (although you can still do that now). It’s a small game that seeks its niche and occupies that space comfortably trying to make sure you are not comfortable.
The game starts with Jez, his attitude, and his mother driving to Camp Sunshine. Seems mom and dad are separating, and I guess that means they’d rather not have to think about their child for a week. Good job, ’80s parents!
Jez meets his counselor and bunkmate upon arrival, then goes right to bed for the night. This is absolutely not how camps work, but it sure pushes the story along quickly. That night, Jez awakens to find everyone gone, mostly replaced by an awful lot of blood and mutilated body parts. He’s also being chased by a giant, knife-wielding teddy bear.
Jez grabs his flashlight, swipes a map of the campground, and seeks cover in a building where he starts to learn a bit about the camp’s history. This comes via documents scattered across the camp. Gameplay, then, centers around uncovering the camp’s past while avoiding the constant pursuit of the killer furry. The bear can make quick work of you, by the way, so save often.
Stealth horror is at the center of it all. Unlike your typical slasher movies of the period when this game is set, Jez doesn’t arm himself with machetes or harpoon guns. He has his flashlight, and knowing when to use and douse that is key. The player will need to keep it on to see a lot of the important stuff, but that can also draw attention from the bear, from whom you can only hide. His sudden appearances made for some fun, frightful moments, but I think it was scarier just discovering whether my chosen hiding spot would work. And, of course, the flashlight’s batteries won’t last forever, so you need to use it judiciously. This means the game is mostly played in the dark, as it should be.
As is tradition, the killer is pretty stupid. He’s easy to run away from and even easier to hide from; line of sight appears to be his only method of detection. That doesn’t mean I didn’t die a few times, but rather that I never felt I didn’t stand a chance against him. It’s actually scarier anticipating the bear showing up than it was fleeing him.
Jez isn’t completely alone at the camp. He stumbles across other survivors who are mainly there to give him fetch quests and to push the story along. While playing, I realized we’ve always had the answer to why so many horror movie characters enter darkened forests and basements and abandoned hospitals. Ends up they’re not stupid, they’re just on fetch quests. Gotta get those achievements! I also enjoyed the comic absurdity of some of Camp Sunshine’s fetch quests considering the environment.
Equally absurd is the amount of gore in the game. I mean, everything looks adorable in 16 bits, and I guess that includes chopped up human remains. There are a lot of body parts lying about the campgrounds, and they make effectively gross noises when you step on them.
The music is good, too, clearly taking inspiration from the cues of your favorite horror movie soundtracks. The audio and music are more effective via headphones in handheld mode, but the visuals fit nicely on the big screen which allows you to play through the game with the helpful eyes of others in the room. They can also help with the minigame puzzles when they show up.
One of the best things about Camp Sunshine, though, is its length. You can finish it in under five hours, making it a great gaming option for a Halloween weekend. A good amount of this time is devoted to animated cutscenes and puzzle solving, so you’re just constantly running from the killer. Skip a couple Friday the 13th or Sleepaway Camp rewatches and you’ve cleared time to work this in. It’s also only $7, so it costs less than renting those movies.
Aside from some effective jump scares, the game is never really all that terrifying. It is fun, though; more so if you’ve a decent knowledge of the slasher films it’s clearly referencing. And although the gameplay never changes much from the start, the story goes places you may not expect, even if it does seem to be written by someone with no knowledge of legal procedures, camp policies, or human psychology. I guess that’s accurate for the genre. It’s safe to say horror fans will enjoy spending a night or two at Camp Sunshine while your parents sort their relationship troubles back home.
