Since I’m always committed to providing a full disclosure, when appropriate, and since Crow Country’s design very purposely overlaps the classic Resident Evil, I’ll open by saying I really was never much of a fan of the OG series. Now, to the Crow Country developer’s credit they didn’t encumber it with dreadful tank controls, which is a big plus, but that isn’t to say they’re ideal either. Regardless, there’s no question that this is an indie love letter to the original games and made for people who were fans of them, looking for something that can recapture some of their essence.

Working to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Edward Crow, and the subsequent closure of his theme park, you’ll need to use your wits and a fair amount of patience to explore, solve puzzles, and simply survive in this adventure. Between its grainy look and relatively primitive models, there’s no mistaking the classic Resident Evil vibe, and periodic attacks and surprises will absolutely have you treading carefully as you explore this abandoned amusement park, and the dark corridors within it. For the most part the problems and puzzles will be straightforward, but I’ll admit there was some trial and error required to work some things out.

Where the experience struggles, perhaps a bit unsurprisingly, is where the use of your gun is involved. Quite simply, aiming is a bit of a chore, and while I understand that this helps amp up the anxiety of trying to face down enemies that can sometimes be tricky to hit in the first place, it doesn’t make me feel better about it. Especially considering the fact that your ammo isn’t something you can just waste needlessly, I did find it a bit irksome. Also, while having control of the camera is a vast improvement over the fixed angles of the original Resident Evil, trying to evade enemies, aim your weapon, and get the camera into a position where it’s keeping an eye on the action is perhaps more of a challenge than it should be. I do find the inclusion of a mode where you can simply move through the environments and focus on the story without all of the attacks to be interesting, though that does seem to ruin most of what I’d consider to be “the fun” of a game like this so it may be more of a novelty than anything else.

In the end, perhaps predictably, I’d say that your interest and enjoyment in Crow Country will likely be driven by how much you enjoyed the early PlayStation era and survival horror games like the early Resident Evil. Where the developer deserves some credit is for modernizing at least some of the more irritating aspects of those titles, in particular the terrible controls, and at least making them more tolerable. While perhaps its moments and enemies aren’t at the same practically iconic level of Capcom’s classics, they do at least honor their memory and for fans that may be enough to warrant giving Crow Country a look.