Decay- Part 4(final)
Developer: Shining Gate Software
Cost: 3 dollars
And so the Decay series, one of XBIG’s true bright spots, has come to a close. How is it? Decay Part 4 is worth people’s time.
Decay Part 3 was a great looking, but poor playing title. Decay part 4 is just the opposite. The very first thing players will notice is that the game takes one giant step backwards in graphics. In fact, I could go as far to say it’s the ugliest one in the series, despite the fact you can now freely look around. Gone are the visual treats like spinning fans and flashing lights.There are cut scenes here, but they tend to be static, with little movement. This lack of visual prowess makes the game whole lot less scary this time around. But I’m alright with that, as the game is chock full of adventure game goodness.
Part 4 needed to be the strongest in game play department to end the series on a positive note, and Shining Gate pulled it off. Part 4 is brimming with puzzles. I would like to say there are at least a dozen puzzles and they are all well done. There’s so much stuff here, there are even optional collectibles like coins and handcuffs to collect, which unlock bonus art and effect your ending.
There is no shock scare here, seriously, move along.
There are a few game play hitches that players should be aware of. First, there is an inventory bug where certain items got multiplied if you die and reload. By the end, I had to wade through about 100 compasses and wooden panels to get to the stuff I actually needed. This can be fixed with a patch, and doesn’t prevent you from winning, it’s just annoying.
You also can die in this game, but that’s not the issue. The issue is the main way you’ll bite it early on is by failing this bullshit balancing mini-game where you have to center yourself on a beam. It was ok the first time across, but you have to do it every time you cross, both ways. While you can beat the game by only doing it twice, chances are most people are going to cross it several times on their first time through. Shining Gate should just patch this shit out. That mini-game is the one game play blemish here and angered me enough to keep the game off the Must Play list(not really).
Who is this? Is she dead? Does it even matter?
Decay Part 4 will take you several hours to complete in full because there are 8 endings in total, plus bonuses for doing well on certain puzzles. I only got two alternate endings in time for this review, but they were satisfying, even if they weren’t the real one. I’m probably going back to replay it, and get everything.
Overall, despite the unfortunate inventory bug and the balance beam, Decay Part 4 is a great game and an easy recommendation. I hope some big publisher lets Shining Gate work on a full retail title with a larger budget, because they proved with the Decay series that they certainly have the talent to do great things.
I’m stuck at the escape sequence. I’ve did it at least 20 times. I enter the “hidden room”, go through the east door, the west door, the north door, but then there’s no southeast door!!! I have to look at my compass BEFORE the sequence, since it messes up during the actual escape sequence, and it says that straight ahead is north. How do you beat this?
April 28, 2011 at 3:12 am
I had to ask about this, it’s really clever if you think about it. Run until you see the doll, go in the door the doll is next too, the doll will be in the very next room, but you will have to turn around to find it, follow it two or three times and you’ll pass. Kind of a “duhh” solution, especially if you played Decay part 3. It’s a nice reference to the previous game. The diary page is a red herring to throw you off.
April 28, 2011 at 7:17 am
Thanks so much!
April 28, 2011 at 7:54 am
How does one beat the puzzle where you have to move the green/white/red/blue balls around to (I assume) all fit in their proper rows? I am stuck on this really bad :(
April 28, 2011 at 3:53 pm
There’s not a set solution, but you have to use the extra columns on the right and bottom to get the red and blue rows in place, then the silver and green. It’s the toughest puzzle in the game. It will take at least 60 moves to beat, can’t tell you more than that.
May 1, 2011 at 9:18 am
I had to take pics of it with my cell phone before and after each move, to analyze what happened when I moved certain parts. For example, if you want to switch a blue ball with a green ball to it’s right, then focus on the blue ball, becuase you want to move it to the right. You pick the piston to the left of it, then the piston above it, then the one to the right, then the one at the bottom. Just use that pattern. It should help.
May 1, 2011 at 2:29 pm
I still can’t get the “Main Ending”.
May 1, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Pick Lysie, free the woman tied to the bed, shoot oswald.
May 1, 2011 at 3:32 pm
I need the ring so that I can put it in the bowl under the portrait of the finger in Ann’s room. Where is it? And also, how do I solve the lights puzzle in the room next to the valves? I have the light bulb but haven’t a clue.
May 1, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Beat the light my my way puzzle for the ring. In the room next to the pipe room, put the light in the open socket, then touched them in the order on the diary page which just listed directions.
May 2, 2011 at 5:01 pm
SERIOUSLY!!!?? How could I have been so dumb? I am missing pages 5,8 and 9. Do I need either of those or just use the page that says north, south, east and all that?
May 2, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Scratch that I foud everything I need but I can’t get out. What is the path to escaping? What does the doll represent?
May 2, 2011 at 9:55 pm