The good part about indie games is that they get to experiment with concepts and gameplay mechanics oftentimes not featured in mainstream AAA titles. In fact, I can’t think of the last AAA title that actually stepped outside the box and did something unique. That being said, one of the issues with indie titles that do try something new is that they oftentimes run afoul of many game-debilitating bugs, and unfortunately DreadOut 2 is one of them.

The survival-horror title from Digital Happiness is currently available right now on the Steam store for just $19.99.

The game is themed around Indonesian supernatural horror, where players will have to gather melee weapons, use a smartphone to sunt ghosts, and run and hide when the going gets too tough for their own good.

Outside of the ghost hunting you’ll also be able to interact with NPCs around various locations and even pick up some side-quests along the way.

It’s a little bit like Fatal Frame meets Detention.

Well, the game is already receiving a lot of positive review scores from users, but buyer beware that some reviews are reporting that there are bugs that can completely hamper your progress.

Great Bear ran into some problems on Act 4 after loading a checkpoint where a puzzle segment has glitched and now they’re stuck, writing…

“9th floor door won’t open after loading checkpoint in ACT 4 and the lock is already removed, stuck with this bug. Also got many bugs which don’t bother so much though.”

Some users had issues with the gameplay pace and story, as well as the reliance on combat mechanics but that was all subjective. What was not subjective was some of the bugs they encountered that hampered their progress, as explained by Steam user Aya…

“[…] DreadOut 2 is incredibly buggy. If I’d have to do a rough count of bugs I encountered during the playthrough I would estimate it being in the region of 50-100 from small things like visual glitches, incorrect subtitles, missing subtitles to more serious issues such as broken collision that could only be bypassed by attacking through it, boss fights breaking and requiring reload, progress blocking bugs that require restart and as a final bonus, even the end credits themselves bugged out. […]”

These sentiments were echoed by various other users as well, including функция, who felt as if the bugs were “embarrassing”. They did, however, add the caveat that their thumbs down was only temporary insofar that they stated that the game was buggy for now”…

“Who would’ve guess, it’s unplayable piece of buggy mess again. Powered by Unreal Engine 4 now!
Don’t buy it for now. It looks interesting, yes, but bugs are embarrassing and can make your playthrough stuck at some important point. And I hate these boss fights, they’re not fun at all.”

Now if you’re thinking that these people complaining about the bugs are just trolls, they’re not.

Almost all of them have several hours or more invested into the game, with most of the people with the major criticisms having more than five hours put into the game so far.

However, majority of gamers still praise the game for what it is but don’t do so while ignoring the bugs. Even some of the top-rated positive reviews still note that the game is a bit finicky around the edges, with gnarkillguch writing…

“Hopefully with some patches and a bit of elbow grease, this game will be up there in the ranks of hidden gems/cult classic horror games. I wish the devs all the best, and really hope they turn a profit so we can maybe one day see a Dreadout 3, or something else from this team.”

Here’s to hoping that Digital Happiness takes some of the feedback to heart and improves on the parts of the game where they’re a bit lacking. Once they do so I can easily see DreadOut 2 becoming an instant cult classic.