DaRmaZat Totally alone in the dark, in a wheelchair, with a monster somewhere nearby — Shock wastes no time to… well, to shock you. In this twenty-minute demo, you embody Jack River, a disabled ex-soldier stranded in an underground parking garage where the power’s gone out, so the elevator’s dead, and something inhuman is hunting you. It’s a pitch-black mini-labyrinth where survival depends on memory, audiovisual awareness, and the limits of your own patience.
Parked In A Nightmare
The setting where Shock kicks off is as mundane as it is terrifying: an empty concrete maze filled with stalled cars, blood smears, and the hum of emergency lights. Crawling through these dim corridors feels claustrophobic by design. The first jolt comes early—an entire car hurled across your path, sealing your only exit. From there, Shock shifts between eerie stillness and orchestrated panic, pulling you from one claustrophobic corner to another.
Jack’s situation—no legs, only a wheelchair and his arms—defines everything. Finding your wheelchair becomes the first real mechanic: press the left stick to locate its faint silhouette, or crawl if you’ve been forced to abandon it. That constant tension between mobility and vulnerability gives Shock its pulse. Crawling through narrow gaps, scraping your palms against cold floor tiles, feels slower than death—but also strangely empowering. Without your chair, you’re somehow freer.
Crawl, Distract, Survive
The demo’s gameplay leans heavily on stealth and improvisation. You can pick up bricks, tossing them to distract the roaming creature. Hit the right stick to toggle your headlight, but light cuts both ways—it helps you see, but it helps it see you too. Accidentally bump into a car, and the blaring alarm might just summon the monster from across the lot as well.
The puzzling in Shock relies on small, glimmering objects that pop like beacons against the suffocating darkness. These glowing hints help, though the repetitiveness of throwing, crawling, backtracking, and re-searching for new objects sometimes drags the pacing down.
Still, there’s something compelling in how tactile it all feels. Jack heaves himself from wheelchair to floor with unnerving speed, his arms pulling him forward through puddles and debris. Occasionally, scripted jump scares—dangling corpses, sudden bird swarms, or grasping hands—jolt the flow, but not all of them land. The creature itself, grotesque and cybernetic, tears into victims with exaggerated gore—half a jaw missing, intestines strewn like ribbons—but it’s surprisingly easy to avoid if you stay silent and smart.
Echoes of Pain
A scratchy voice over a walkie-talkie—Jack’s commanding officer—anchors the horror in something more psychological. Hints suggest this nightmare might be a projection of trauma, a grotesque reflection of his injuries and guilt. Whether literal or metaphorical, the dreamlike pacing and constant disorientation make it work. Each crawl forward feels like dragging through memory.
Performance-wise, the demo stumbles a bit. Severe stuttering occurs during scene transitions, and the camera tends to whip too sensitively when the analog sticks are pressed too firmly, breaking immersion just when tension peaks. Yet Shock’s Unreal Engine 5 foundation occasionally shines, with some visuals seemingly inspired by classic horror cinema—harsh contrasts, flickering shadows, bright fires, and compositions that feel almost filmic.
Preliminary Thoughts
Shock is raw, uneven, but undeniably intriguing. Beneath its rough edges and clunky camera lies a concept that feels genuinely fresh: horror shaped around physical limitation, not in spite of it. The demo begins aimlessly, even frustratingly, but once it opens up, the tension and environmental storytelling begin to click. With a bit more polish—and fewer cheap jump scares—Shock could crawl its way into something special. For now, it’s a nightmare worth watching closely.
Additional Information
Release Date: TBA
Reviewed On: PC. Download code provided by the publisher and PR agency.
Developer: Hero’s Punch Productions
Publisher: Hero’s Punch Productions
Relevant links: SHOCK on Steam
