Too busy with work to attend his mother’s funeral and console his sister, it might take you some time to warm to Lazarus.
The protagonist of Last Days of Lazarus does soon have a change of heart, however. While he may have missed his mother’s funeral, he heads home to provide support to his sister. Only, she’s not there. While searching for clues of her whereabouts, being back in his childhood home brings back memories, many of which he’d rather not resurface. But soon, those will be the least of his worries.
With a story that combines horror, politics and religion, Last Days of Lazarus might leave you confused at times, wondering how everything is connected. Somehow things come together in the end, though, making your time with the game somewhat worthwhile. You’ve just got to forgive a fair amount of dire dialogue, mediocre voice acting and awkward reactions to some pretty unusual and downright horrific events.
Split into numerous chapters, your time is spent exploring your old apartment, as well as various external locations in the hope of learning more about the mysterious events currently happening nearby and to your family. You discover that your father, who left years ago, might not be that far away, for example, and seek him out in case he might be able to help. But the further you get into Last Days of Lazarus, the more alarming the revelations about your family become.
Essentially a story-driven puzzle game at its core, there’s no combat to be found in Last Days of Lazarus. There are some shocks to be found, however, and plenty of disturbing imagery. In each location you’ll find numerous puzzles to solve, though often you’ll need to search around for items first. This is sometimes made a little harder than it should be thanks to things like keys being hard to spot. If you have a keen eye, however, you won’t have many problems.
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The puzzles here can be a little obscure at times, but they’re mostly logical. They can be quite fun to solve, too. For the most part though, it’s simply a case of finding the right item to use in the right place. And while you do have an inventory, you don’t have to worry about combining items or selecting the right place to use them. Just interact with something, and if you have the required item it will automatically be put to use.
If you manage to overcome the challenges presented by Last Days of Lazarus without much fuss you’ll probably be done with it in just a few hours. After that, without multiple endings, the only reason you might return to it is to grab any documents or collectibles you might have missed, especially if you’re a trophy or achievement hunter.
Overall, there’s nothing particularly impressive about Last Days of Lazarus. Its story is perhaps the main reason to play it: it lacks real impact, but it’s so corny and unhinged that you can’t help but get drawn into it. Outside of that, the gameplay is mildly entertaining but not really clever or challenging. Add in its middling presentation, and you have a game that can be enjoyed for a few hours but is utterly forgettable.
Last Days of Lazarus Review – GameSpew’s Score
