REVIEW

White Day: A Labyrinth Named School Review

by Rob Pritchard, September 1st, 2017

The survival horror genre has seen many classic games since its inception, with titles such as Silent Hill, Clock Tower and Resident Evil standing out as their greatest successes. Originally released in 2010 for Korean PC gamers, White Day was a horror game set in a high school plagued by terrors both natural and supernatural. Last year, it was announced that the game would receive a high definition remake for PC, mobile devices and consoles, with the added subtitle A Labyrinth Named School and the debut of an official Western localisation.

After breaking into his new high school on a traditional Asian holiday known as White Day, a young student named Lee Hui-min proceeds to leave a chocolate gift and return an important item belonging to his crush, a girl named Han So-young. The plan goes horribly wrong when he becomes trapped inside the building along with Han and several other students, and his life is threatened by supernatural creatures and possessed staff members such as the murderous janitor named Lee Bong-gu.

Like the original version of the game, A Labyrinth Named School’s gameplay is presented from a first person perspective. The main aim is to find a way to escape the school and rescue your imprisoned classmates, by collecting several important items such as a screwdriver and solving several puzzles that require both intellect and speed to prevent you from being targeted by the various evils you will encounter. As well as key items, you will discover notes and documents which detail the dark history of Yeondu High School, which certainly help to build the atmosphere that survivor horror fans have come to expect.

One of the best features is how the difficulty chosen at the beginning of the game can dramatically alter your playthrough. On the easier difficulty levels there are more clues hidden on how to complete puzzles, as well as additional health powerups and felt tip pens to save your game progress. Whereas the harder difficulty levels remove the ability to receive hints via your in game mobile phone. Even on the lower difficulty levels, there are occasions where you need lightning fast reactions to prevent your death, so you will need to make notes or have a case of beginner’s luck to proceed. One of these puzzles takes place early in the game, where you are needed to disable a fire alarm to disrupt the opening of a portal between worlds.

During the game, you will need to talk with the students that are sharing your predicament. At various points, you will need to choose whether to respond in a positive or negative manner to their conversation. The choices are not just for show, as making the wrong decision can cause one of your students to meet their untimely demise. Completing the game in certain ways will unlock the ability to play through the game as one of the other students, which adds a layer of replay ability by ensuring that certain characters are kept alive. One of the key barriers to this goal comes in the form of the janitor, who randomly spawns as you wander through the school grounds, and will mercilessly attempt to kill you if he should discover your presence. This can be prevented by using the school’s light switches and the lighter in your possession. Although it is easier to remain in the dark, you will need to have some light in the room to interact with your environment, so you will need to learn to manipulate light and darkness effectively when the staff member makes an unwelcome appearance.

The newly created graphics for the character models in this high definition remake can confidently stand beside the current generations triple A titles. There are a few occasions where the environments don’t quite match the quality, with slight blurring and tearing present on some of the school buildings assets. The soundtrack consists of the usual orchestral arrangements you would expect from a horror game, with one of the best tracks being the threatening theme that plays when the janitor has discovered your presence. Surprisingly for this low key release, A Labyrinth Named School contains an English language dub track alongside the newly recorded original language voiceover. Some of the highlights include Erica Schroeder as the antagonist Kim Seong-a, and Sarah Natochenny as the protagonist’s high school sweetheart Han So-young.

Overall, White Day: A Labyrinth Named School is an entertaining survival horror that deserves all the attention it receives. While its steep difficulty curve may put off newcomers, fans of the survival horror genre will appreciate the attention to detail which has been awarded to this remake. If you are looking for an experience to tide you over until the next Resident Evil or Silent Hill makes an appearance, this small scale survivor horror provides exactly what it promises to offer.

A well built remaster of a cult indie survival horror game, White Day: A Labyrinth Named School provides the scare that fans of the genre have been eagerly waiting for.