The cooler nights are coming and with that comes the promise of horror.

Just this month in the cinema sees the return of the Conjuring, and then on TV we’ve had the likes of Alien: Earth pop up. Now in video game world we’ve got Goosebumps.

Not a game based on the new TV, no, more an adaptation of some of R.L Stine’s classic books, brought together in an original tale. Definitely ambitious considering the amount of stories to choose from and as you’d expect, this one definitely leans toward more Young Adult Horror than full blown terror but it still presents an interesting and sometimes enjoyable puzzle solving adventure. Though admittedly one that packs quite a price tag for its length.

In Terror in Little Creek, you play Sloane Spencer, a teen who meets up with a group of friends to learn more about the haunted little town they find themselves in. The problem is, the friends get scattered and it sets Sloane off on a mission to help them out in an hour of need and face down some ferocious little creatures in the meanwhile.

It’s a narrative heavy adventure with full voice acting – which also works surprisingly well – as Sloane moves between locations like a museum, library and theatre, encountering different people who can help her on her quest and gathering glues to solve a range of puzzles, from the simplistic to a little bit of a brain tickler, though admittedly none are overly challenging.

In the game you’ll gradually gather new items to help you on your mission. Initially you’ll grab yourself a slingshot that can help defend yourself from spirits that roam, but you’ll also get keys to unlock hidden areas, find shovels to dig up important items, and even a conjuring book that enables you to unlock secret areas from hidden symbols throughout the town.

Facing monsters head on isn’t always advisable, even with the slingshot and the variety of ammo you can find – from a strong pellet to an explosive one and even a pellet that spreads out gas which temporarily blinds an enemy. So you can also sneak around and this lets you climb through vents or clamber beneath small enclosed areas. Combat isn’t exactly the most fun here, as enemies often seem barely phased by your shots, so evasion might be your best options.

The game also has lots of little areas for you to hide from the monsters, like inside cupboards or bathroom stalls, definitely advisable as some creatures hit especially hard and others will pursue you relentlessly and tear into you.

Sloane has a sort of Resident Evil style life bar that gradually depletes as she’s attacked by monsters, but fortunately can replenish it through energy bars and first aid kits often found in vending machines. And the game’s homage to the classic Capcom horror doesn’t even stop there, as you can only save with typewriters. Though it’s fair to say there’s quite a gulf of depth and overall quality between the two games.

Although, it might surprise you to at least know there’s multiple endings in the game for you to discover, though these mostly boil down to choice near the end of the game. Still, it’s nice to have options and this one is also a nice and easy game to get a full gamerscore for if that’s your bag!

As a game though, it works to a point. There’s a pretty direct path through and not much to distract you by the sides. Puzzles are often spelled out for you between essentially being tutorials for the new items you acquire or finding the crystal balls scattered through Lost Creek that give you some cryptic clues on where to go next.

Goosebumps is enjoyable enough, and there’s definitely a decent blend of mecahnics that stay freshened up over the game’s surprisingly short length. I say surprisingly because, for the over £30 price tag, you’re looking at around 4-5 hours and it’s not always of the highest possible quality.

Still, Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek is a cute horror game for first-timers that isn’t too imposing or intimidating but does give a nice mix of everything, shows the right amount of faithfulness and respect to the source material and has enough going for it’s above other previous sub-part attempts in the series and similar-minded games. The puzzles are even quite smart at times, and while they can be breezed through, at least give you pause for a few moments.

Verdict

Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek does a solid job of building an original story in R.L Stine’s universe that pays homage to the classics and builds up a nice amount of tension with some decent puzzles and surprisingly good voice acting. It even has multiple endings. It is a tad short though, and at the current price tag, can be a little bit of a tougher proposition to swallow. It is also pretty easy to breeze through, though the game never feels overly padded and is paced well enough to mostly be enjoyable and the combat’s a bit of a slog. A good first time horror for kids or super fans of the Goosebumps world, despite a somewhat surface level substance.

Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek is out now on PC

Played on Xbox Series X

Code kindly provided by GameMill for review purposes