Crisol: Theater of Idols review – An impressive horror debut

How far would you go for your god? Nothing’s apparently off the cards when it comes to Gabriel, the protagonist of Crisol: Theater of Idols, who has travelled to the cursed island of Tormentosa at the behest of the Sun God. And as you can imagine, being a cursed island and all, nothing good can come of it. Instead, all he’s going to find there is pain and misery as he works his way ever-closer to finding the truth while dealing with an army of statues brought to life.

Created by Spanish developer Vermila Studios, Crisol: Theater of Idols is a first-person survival horror game that feels a little reminiscent of the likes of modern Resident Evil titles. By that I mean you’ve got puzzles galore and plenty of action, and you also need to manage your resources effectively. There are action RPG elements here as well, with you able to expand your maximum health by finding certain items and upgrade your weapons should you happen to collect any coins on your exploits.

Despite these familiar elements, though, Crisol: Theater of Idol largely manages to stand on its own two feet to find its own identity. Part of that is down to its setting and story, which leverages elements of Spanish history, folklore and religion. So, while the constant gloomy weather here might not make for the most picturesque trip to Spain, you’ll perhaps still appreciate its atmospheric and overbearing architecture, while the adversaries it throws at you, from troublesome cherubs to skeletal-like contraptions that love to make themselves invisible if given the chance, will truly creep you out.

Thankfully you have a decently varied arsenal with which to defend yourself, though it’s a shame that a couple are acquired quite late into this adventure spread over four chapters plus a prologue. Though, while using your weapons here is necessary at times, it comes at a grave cost: your health. You see, for reasons you’ll discover if you play Crisol: Theater of Idols, your weapons are powered by blood – your blood. So, you can make use of your pistol or shotgun to take care of a statue making its way towards you if you wish, but if you need to reload you’ll need to sacrifice a portion of your health to do so.

Your blood can be topped up by using syringes and absorbing the corpses of any recently dead humans or animals you come across, but weighing up whether it’s worth engaging in combat and losing health or simply trying to avoid enemies is something you’ll become acquainted to while playing Crisol: Theater of Idols. If it’s a mechanic that sounds too punishing for you, don’t worry: multiple difficulty settings are available. You can change the difficulty if you want to able to combat most or all enemies you encounter, though it has to be said that it does diminish one of the game’s more unique features.

Despite its modest asking price of just £14.99/$17.99, there’s plenty of game here, with it taking around 15 hours to complete on your first playthrough if you do a bit of exploring for collectibles and upgrades. And while it does threaten to outstay its welcome at times, there’s typically a boss fight, a challenging puzzle or a stealth section ahead to mix things up a little and pull you back in. There are some issues that persist throughout, however. One of them is a lack of enemy variety, and the other is the game’s English voice acting. While some characters are decently voiced, others may grate a little.

Considering that Crisol: Theater of Idols is the debut title from Vermila Studios, it’s very impressive indeed. It finds a nice footing between horror and action, impresses with its enemy design and visuals in general, and has a surprisingly meaty campaign considering its price. If you’re a fan of the survival horror genre, then this is very easy to recommend. And if Vermila Studios can build on the foundations it has laid out here, it might very well be a studio to keep a close eye on in the horror space going forward.