Face the horrors of your past and fight to set things right in Sable Maze: Sullivan River. Summer camp is supposed to leave you with memories, not gaping holes where those memories once were. But the faded remembrances of that horrifying summer are creeping into your dreams and leaving nightmares and insomnia in their wake. Now you must return to Sullivan River and discover what really happened, before your future is lost to the nightmares.

Coming out of one of the toughest weeks of my academic life (all four of my classes had tests last week), I knew I had to find some kind of reward for myself for getting through it. So, I surfed around for a while and when I happened across Sable Maze: Sullivan River I knew my quest was complete. This creepy looking game was just what the doctor ordered.
 

In Sable Maze: Sullivan River, you play the only survivor of a summer camp that went terribly, terribly wrong. Most of the memories of that summer have been blocked, but the remaining ones have been coming through as terrible nightmares.

On the advice of your therapist (not making this up, it’s all in the opening sequence) you head back to Sullivan River to face your past and get to the bottom of what happened. I have to admit, probably my favorite part of this game is the storyline. It was interesting, engaging, and well plotted out. Even if the rest of the game had been awful, I still would have liked it just for the plot. Luckily, the rest of the game was most definitely not awful.

I am a huge fan of scary, and because of this, I tend to be rather critical of things that fall in this genre. I nitpick and am hypercritical of things that try to make themselves too creepy and end up just being strange.

Knowing this, I go into every spooky game bracing myself for the potential of cheese. Happily, Sable Maze: Sullivan River delivered on the spooks without ever venturing too far into the realm of ridiculous.

The graphics were haunting and just lovely to look at, and each area was distinct and easy to remember. Because of this, there wasn’t a lot of needless running around, and I was never distracted from the flow of the game by wondering, "Where was the fire pit again?" And coming from someone with my sense of direction, that’s really saying something. Add the creepy scenery to the downright spooky background music (which often featured a child chanting this eerie little kid rhyme), and you’ve got yourself a legitimately scary game.
 

While I loved the overall feel of Sable Maze: Sullivan River, I admit I didn’t care much for the hidden object areas. I found them to be a little too challenging, and I especially struggled with any object that needed to be manipulated before it could be added to the inventory.

I often had no idea what I was supposed to do to modify the object, and I’d sit there, frustrated, for several minutes before figuring out what was going on. I am not above using the Hint button for help, but the clues were vague at best and never seemed to help. Oh well, at least the areas were interesting to look at.
 

I also had issues with the mini-games and puzzles, which ranged from "super easy" to "impossible." I like a challenge, but with many of the puzzles, I’d start out with no clue what was going on. Even after checking the purpose of the game, I’d often have to work a while before making any progress.

On the other hand, some of the puzzles were easily finished within a few seconds. That kind of dichotomy bothered me; I’d much rather have a consistent achievable challenge than constantly be swinging between the two extremes.

Still, I have to give credit where credit is due: Sable Maze: Sullivan River has the cutest mini-game I’ve ever played. Just look at that little train, it’s adorable.
 

All-in-all, I think Sable Maze: Sullivan River does what it set out to do; it’s a scary game with a great story and an amazing villain (it’s an evil tree; once you’ve made a tree evil, you’ll never be safe anywhere).

I can’t help feeling, though, that something, some wow factor, is missing. I had a really tough time writing this review because of how the game just doesn’t stand out for me. I enjoyed playing, but I never really got excited about anything (except that little train).

For me, Sable Maze: Sullivan River followed the pattern of "scary hidden object" extremely well, but it didn’t do anything to break the mold; it didn’t take any chances. And on the one hand, that’s a good thing; it’s why they never got cheesy with their scariness. On the other, it makes giving Sable Maze: Sullivan River a unique identity very difficult. It’s just another face in the crowd that never took advantage of its potential.