Threshold is the kind of horror game that keeps just enough at arm’s length to really set your mind ablaze while you’re playing. After landing a coveted job with the government, the game begins as you prepare to take on your first shift looking after an important maintenance post just outside the city walls. But before you even arrive, it’s clear that something’s a bit off. A low, angry and muffled voice directs you into a lift. There’s an oxygen meter to your left, and as you start the long ascent up to the surface you watch your supply dwindle away to almost nothing. The air is thin up here, so much so that the clerk you’re relieving, a no-nonsense chap called Mo, speaks to you via hastily written notes, as talking simply involves too much effort.
Threshold reviewDeveloper: Julien EveilléPublisher: Critical ReflexPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC (Steam)
Before you can wonder ‘what the heck have I walked into?’, Mo hands you a whistle and brings you to a large horn at the centre of your work area. Blowing the whistle here makes sure the large, ominous train trundling along on the other side of the river keeps moving at the ‘expected pace’, and you’ll need to rush back here every time it starts to slow down to make sure it keeps up to speed. For what purpose, you’re not told. Only that this is what the capital dictates. Trouble is, with the air being so scarce up here, blowing that whistle is surprisingly taxing, so you’ll need to clamp your teeth down on tiny little Air Cans to get your breath back every time you start wheezing or black, pixely veins start clouding your vision. And the more Air Cans you consume, the more bloodied the little picture of your mouth starts to become in the top left corner of the screen.
THRESHOLD – Release Trailer Watch on YouTube
But this strange and unnerving setup is just the tip of the iceberg. As you settle into a gentle rhythm of keeping the train going and fetching tickets from a special machine to swap for more air cans, questions about the reality of this place start building up – both for your clerk and you as a player. Why is the toilet locked? And why does the river drain when the train slows down? Who was Ni, the clerk you’ve replaced? And why does Mo hate them so much?