Every once in a while a new horror game comes out that blows me away. It’s such a deeply varied genre, that so much can be done and explored. Games like Signalis, Amnesia the Bunker, and Visage have all done a great job invoking different senses of dread, from the existential to the psychological, as well as being hunted down by an unstoppable foe. Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation is an indie horror game developed by Taiwanese developer SOFTSTAR. It’s the kind of game I tend to keep an eye out on, but the original PC release somehow slipped by me. Now that’s it’s been released on PlayStation 5, I finally get to try it out.

Set on a university campus, a group of friends team up to do a livestream on the legendary Bridge Curse. However, what was supposed to be just a viral livestream full of effects, turns out to anger the spirit, and they are hunted down one by one. They must figure out the source of the curse, as well as how to stop it before it takes them for good.

Whilst being based on a movie, the premise of the curse is an urban legend in Taiwan. It says that at midnight a fourteenth step will appear on the stairway to the bridge, and if you happen to be there, a spirit girl will drag you away, never to be seen again. I couldn’t find too much on this legend, but it does lay an interesting foundation. It’s the strong central narrative that will keep you playing Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation to the very end, as you slowly uncover more and more about the angry spirit through the perspective of the group of friends. It features some pretty disturbing scenes and twists are cleverly hidden.

As for the horror itself, this is a bit of a mixed bag. Don’t be expecting much here. For the most part, Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation is a narrative exploration game that has you exploring a university campus. Exploring the campus is a suitably tense and atmosphere that had me creeping around. However, that’s pretty much where it stops. Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation isn’t a scary game, and when it tries to do something different, it just trips up.

You will occasionally encounter hostile ghosts, and your only options are to run or hide. These encounters are kind of dull, and don’t have the same impact as games like Amnesia, Haunting Ground, or even Fatal Frame. The chases themselves are either running away in a straight line or scripted encounters where the ghost will block certain routes forcing you to go the other way. Very occasionally you will need to hide to avoid the ghost, but again it feels like a scripted encounter.

The biggest problem with Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation is it does nothing interesting with the gameplay ideas it has. Some puzzle-like encounters where you have to interact with dolls before another ghost kills you are a frustrating trial and error. The other puzzles mostly consist of collecting a few items and putting them in a certain order.

If you do plan on playing the game, make sure to switch the vocals to the native language. The English voices just feel completely off here, with acting that will take you completely out of the experience. As for the native language, it’s much better and does a great job immersing you into the game world, but it’s not perfect either. Despite being the better option, some of the deliveries still come off rather flat.

As for the visuals this is where things get pretty messy. Whilst it’s quite clear this is a budget game it doesn’t look half bad sometimes with decently detailed environments that are solid enough to look at. Character models are decent at best, with some cool ghost designs that you won’t see very often. Where it does fall apart is in some of the darker sections, the darkness in this game is oppressive. Visibility can often be a problem, and darkness doesn’t always make a game scary. Instead, it can have the opposite effect and simply make it annoying, which is often the case here.

Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation is a competent horror title that won’t be for everyone. It’s not traditionally scary, but the engaging premise and structure make it worth seeing. There are quite a few rough edges, but the strong central mystery to unravel makes it worthwhile.

 

Graphics: 7.0 There are some rough edges around the character models and certain darkness, but it has an immersive and oppressive atmosphere that is quite well executed.	Gameplay: 5.5 Lacklustre ghost encounters let down a solid horror experience.
Sound: 6.0 Some flat voice delivery, but make sure to switch language from English to its original Taiwanese.	Fun Factor: 6.0 Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation is a tense exploration game, but is lacking in anything else of substance.
Final Verdict: 6.0

Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on PS5.

A copy of Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation was provided by the publisher.