Vlad Circus: The Fall Into Insanity Review of the switch: flee, you clown!
Our Verdict
Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness is a deeply atmospheric survival horror game with a hefty dash of puzzles to keep you engaged. Its twisting tale, tragic characters, and deeply hostile yet claustrophobic world sucks you right in from the beginning, and while it may not be for everyone, I’ll never forget my time at the circus with Lazy Ollie and pals.
I knew I had to play Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness as soon as I watched the trailer. As a lover of all things horror—the more bizarre the better—it captivated me right away with its distinctive but understated graphics, captivating characters, and arresting location. It was a true standout for me at Fear Fest 2023. For this reason, I put on my red nose and face paint as soon as I noticed a chance to get a ticket to the performance in order to be ready for this Vlad Circus Switch review.
There is a Vlad Circus demo available on PC as part of Steam Next Fest, but I was determined to wait to go into the complete experience blind and without any understanding of the game's plot beyond the little trailer, and I'm so happy I waited. In its own macabre way, this very strange story is both beautiful and mind-boggling.
In Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness, which is set in the 1920s, you take on the character of the very disturbed Oliver Mills, who is reprising his previous role as the circus clown Lazy Ollie. Oliver gets a letter from eccentric wealthy man Vlad Petrescu, the former owner of the renowned Vlad Circus, requesting him and all the surviving members to visit the estate in the hopes of reestablishing the circus after a catastrophic fire destroys it.
You accompany Oliver as he reconnects with old acquaintances, struggles to keep the reunion on schedule, and faces his own issues over what seems like an unending night. But as reality becomes more hazy, you soon find yourself fighting terrifying headless apparitions, hearing whispers and cries from the dead, and having to crawl through eerie sewers in an effort to keep everyone happy and yourself out of the institution.
The story is masterfully written, demonstrating much study and a thorough knowledge of the time period. Even though the characters are strange and sometimes harsh, they exhibit empathy for the predicament of freak show "attractions," and they do a good job of portraying a very broken and dysfunctional but familiar discovered family. Like a good novel, I found the plot to be very engrossing and found it difficult to put it down despite its many twists and turns and fairly predictable finish.
The gameplay loop is straightforward yet entertaining, and it's a great combination of survival horror with a puzzle element, in my view. In general, you'll be tasked with completing what at first glance seem to be straightforward quests—either from Oliver or the other characters—while exploring the estate and its environs and working through riddles to get there.
The game's puzzles are often very easy, but they nonetheless provide a cramped, bizarre feeling as you scramble about looking for objects and hints. This does result in a lot of back and forth, but because the area is usually tiny and things change often throughout the game, it doesn't seem tedious or unnecessary in my opinion.
Oliver has a journal in which he records every job you take on and include in your inventory. In addition, he makes notes after significant events, which provides you with more understanding of his thoughts and the environment he lives in. This personal touch is a great way to provide history and help you develop stronger relationships with the people around you. It may also sometimes hint at significant plot points or clues, and I really started to look forward to hearing Ollie's pen scribble over the page.
Like in other survival horror games, you have a limited amount of inventory spaces. The journal, lamp, and rosary take up three of these slots, which are almost always in use. Since much of the grounds are in near total darkness and you cannot read in the dark, having a lantern is essential. Without one, navigating the grounds is almost impossible. The fuel percentage gradually decreases as it runs out, and the light's radius gradually becomes smaller. To do this, you must replenish the lantern at one of the two kerosene tanks you will encounter throughout the game.
Although this kind of limitation might be annoying, in this case, I think it works rather well. After you unlock both tanks, controlling your kerosene levels isn't too difficult, but it's still something to keep in mind, and it really heightens the suspense when you go into the garden to restock in low light and all of a sudden something lumbers at you from the shadows.
That brings us beautifully to the second thing that is needed, which is Oliver's late mother's rosary. Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness gives you a stress metre in instead of a health metre. Oliver experiences stress from a variety of situations throughout the game. Some are as little as a rodent biting his ankles (you will soon realise why this is such a problem for poor Ollie), while others are as horrifying as a vision of a burning circus waggon full of corpses.
Oliver has an even greater loss of reality than usual as his stress level rises, and you have to put up with a chorus of unnerving whispers all around you. You must pray with the rosary and refer to your inventory in order to lower your stress level.
Oliver's heartbeat may be heard, your controller rumbles, and your eyesight displays a nice multiply and blur effect as you see your first apparition of one of the headless corpses. This is a clever technique of warning you that danger is there if you see anything similar happen in the future. When it comes to tutorials, I really like the "show rather than tell" method as it gives you clear instructions without giving you too much help, and the practical application helps you retain the material.
Since you are without a weapon at the beginning of the apparition, you must go get a tonic from the doctor and sip it while standing close to the ghoul. You can carry an infinite number of tonics at a time, but you have to go to the fireplace at the mansion doors to get more. It's fortunate that you eventually discover a lovely, bloody butcher's knife to use for self-defense.
A kitchen knife, a revolver, and a shotgun are among the few weapons you may discover throughout the game. The butcher's knife has a metre attached to it, much like the lantern. This metre indicates the knife's sharpness, which can only be restored by going to the garden shed's grindstone. This adds to the overall stress of the encounter and is another component that you should be aware of. Aside from this, you'll need ammunition for your shotgun and handgun, both of which are quite scarce, particularly early in the game. But sometimes, adversaries may drop ammo, which increases your motivation to engage them rather than fleeing.
The actual combat is not that difficult, and the adversaries are not very varied. Oliver may be a little difficult to shoot or place precisely at first since the environment is 2.5D, but you soon get accustomed to it. With a little experience, you should be able to defeat opponents without suffering any harm. However, Oliver's sanity is steadily eroded by the apparition's presence, so you will still need to pray after most bouts. Hitting adversaries also usually cancels their attacks.
Oliver faints when his stress level is too high. You maintain all of your progress and equipment, and there is no death count or anything else. There is no punishment for doing this. You just wake up close by, maybe to a supportive but derogatory remark from Oliver's late mother, and go out. It's possible that the absence of consequences lessens the tension in some way, but I don't think this is meant to be a harsh survival horror, and it makes sense that the harm is psychological rather than physical.
Though I do think certain places—like the train station and the art shack, which you really only need to visit once—are a little underutilised, generally I think every area is masterfully crafted and has a function that either advances your progress or deepens your awareness of the game's universe. Another clever feature is the old group picture of the circus performers, which you may touch to delve into Oliver's recollections and be sent to a surreal, sepia-toned version of the circus tent. There, certain recollections of Ollie's previous encounters come back to you that may be useful right now, such knowing where a certain key is hidden or the combination to a safe.
On to the pictures now. I really like the game's visual, albeit it could be one thing that turns off certain people. Although the monster and character sprites are quite basic, the pixel portraits that appear when characters talk are quite clever. Then there are the utterly stunning but morbid settings, which include dark hallways teeming with rats, odd green ooze-filled restrooms, and more. These are all home to those horrifying ghouls living in labyrinthine gardens.
Additionally, there are the sometimes appearing short, intricate, pixelated computer-generated sequences, which are always a pleasure to watch—from Oliver on the train at the start to the scenes with the dead corpses later on. It creates a world that is both dark and completely hostile in the most amazing manner, and it's a great illustration of how beautiful games don't necessarily need expensive production values and eye-catching visuals.
An additional element that significantly enhances the ambiance is the sound design. It creates an incredibly tense environment with its droning, dull soundtrack, occasional operatic or classic number, howling winds, rumbling storms (which, incidentally, rumble your controller), whispers, and Oliver's heartbeat. If at all possible, I suggest playing this game with headphones.
Finally, the Switch performance is shown. Nothing of the kind occurs—there are no stutters, framerate decreases, or input lags. Everything plays smoothly. There are few and far between load screens since the game doesn't seem to be that demanding. Everything looks fantastic while in docked mode as well as portable, and the control scheme is simple to understand and intuitive. Beyond that, everything works OK. My only complaint is that the writing seems a little tiny on the TV, and it would be wonderful to be able to expand it.
What is the conclusion then? I mean, if you've read this far, you probably already know how much I like this game. Its distinct visual aesthetic and straightforward gameplay make it an excellent vehicle for a really entertaining, if somewhat predictable, plot. In my opinion, it's the epitome of why indie horror games are becoming so popular these days.
Above all, Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness is an experience that lingers in your bones. I was always excited to see what would come next at every turn, and I approached every twist and turn with a jittery feeling of anticipation. I have no doubt that its universe and tale will stick with me for a very long time, and I can picture myself visiting Lazy Ollie and his companions often in the years to come.
Okay, I'll stop talking now. It's time to bid the circus farewell. However, if you're still looking for more spine-tingling horror, don't forget to check out our guides to thePoppy Playtime characters,FNAF characters, and all theFNAF games, as well as our list of thebest horror games.