- Maid of Sker is the new mobile version of Wales Interactive’s homegrown horror
- It’s set in an isolated 19th-century hotel on the titular island of Sker
- All is not as it seems as you arrive to investigate strange goings-on, however
A windswept island, a haunted hotel full of Lovecraftian horrors and a mysterious woman who may be an innocent swept up in the chaos, or who might have her own agenda entirely. No, this isn’t the tale of a weekend getaway gone horribly wrong, but instead the opening to homegrown Welsh horror title, Maid of Sker.
Set on the titular island, Maid of Sker is based very loosely on a Victorian novel of the same name, and set in the same era of the late 1800s. You play as Thomas Evans, who travels to the island and the Sker Hotel to investigate a letter from his fiancee Elisabeth Williams that, in grand weird-fiction tradition, only loosely hints at the strange goings-on in the hotel.
Is Elisabeth as innocent as she seems? What’s the connection between these monsters and music? And the all-important question; can you make it out alive?
Wales Interactive’s previous efforts have mainly been focused on FMV (full-motion video) titles, so Maid of Sker is a bit of a departure by focusing on horror. Reviews were generally favourable, if sitting comfortably in the 50/50 category, although it’s worth noting that spiritual predecessor Alien: Isolation also received rough reviews on launch despite being an unmitigated classic.
But this isn’t meant to be a retrospective on Maid of Sker itself. Instead, I’m going to focus mainly on how this game functions on mobile devices. Does it hold up as a technical marvel? Or fall apart like it’s held together with chewing gum and string? Let’s dig in and find out!
If you’ve played Resident Evil or Amnesia: The Dark Descent, then you know what to expect. If not, let me lay it out for you. You traverse the Sker Hotel in pursuit of the brass cylinders that will (at least according to Elisabeth) put an end to the strange supernatural happenings.
To do so, you’ll explore every nook and cranny, gathering keys and opening locked doors in order to uncover whole new areas, all while avoiding enemies and uncovering various hints of the grim goings-on that are taking place in the hotel.
So if you’re a fan of shoot ‘em ups or more action-oriented horror games, Maid of Sker most definitely won’t be for you. But if you’re irritated by the fact you can’t even look at a monster in something like Amnesia, you’ll be glad to know the only real ‘threat’ is not getting your head ripped off. And moving low and slow is usually enough to keep away from most enemies.
Judicious use of a breath-holding mechanic and slow walking around in order to not cause any noise that’ll attract the sightless beasties inhabiting the Sker Hotel means you’re often on edge as you’re forced to balance speed with the necessity of not, well, dying. You’ll occasionally need to hold your breath if an enemy is uncomfortably near, or when walking through a smokey area that causes you to cough.
Movement is serviceable, but this is very much in the walking simulator camp. And you’ll find that the occasional inability to hop even the smallest of bricks or logs can be a real hassle, especially in the occasional outdoor section. But outside of that, it’s manageable, and since there’s no real point in trying to escape your pursuers, running is mainly a way to cut down on time in the safer areas.
If your phone can handle it, Maid of Sker can look more than decent, with some great dynamic lightning and moody atmospherics. But as I’ll mention in the ‘Performance’ section, this is also where the game takes a major hit. On a small phone screen, the various details and greebles through the environments can quickly become indistinguishable, and I’d have preferred to perhaps see some of it excised to boost performance.
One particular aspect that frustrated me was the fact that when examining items in your inventory (a common trope for Resi-likes) you won’t see the textures boosted, leaving them blurry and hard to discern, which isn’t usually much of a problem but can take away from the sense of immersion. There’s also the cutscenes, which are pre-rendered, not real-time. I’m not sure if it’s dependent on settings, but in my case, they were very compressed and not the best quality.
Sound is a major component of Maid of Sker, and I’m happy to report this is where the game shines. The constant creaking and groaning of floorboards in the hotel, the buzz of early electric lightning and the distant sounds that could be a monster all serve to put you on edge even if you’re playing in a brightly lit room. I highly recommend using headphones for this game, as it can really elevate the experience and help you pick out the various sounds.
The acting can be a bit hokey at times but is perfectly serviceable. And the requisite doomed NPCs letting out a scream or a whimper as they’re torn up by monsters offscreen is more than enough to send a shiver up your spine. Music is of course a major aspect, and the gentle melodies can really set your nerves on edge even without any other loud bangs or jumpscares.
With my Bluetooth headphones, I did find that sound delay could be an issue. Not to the point of unplayability, but it did offer a disconcerting sense that my character’s movements were being mirrored by something behind me. However, in terms of spatial awareness, it was surprisingly easy to locate enemies, collectibles and other points of interest.
Performance
Unfortunately, performance is definitely where Maid of Sker fell apart for me. But at the same time, I should clarify I’m using what (unfortunately) is now a lower-end device with my Samsung S20. Admittedly, it didn’t stumble – but even at the lowest settings, I saw moments of stutter and a general heat to my phone that was occasionally a bit worrying. When I resumed later on, performance seemed to generally be smoother but quickly began to take a slight downturn, suggesting heat was the main issue.
In particular, the opening, which sees you trudge from the train station up to the Sker Hotel itself, I felt could have been cut out for this port in favour of something a bit less resource-intensive with all the foliage to take up your phone’s resources. Perhaps dropping you right in front of the hotel instead, especially since the walk-up to it doesn’t really have any spooky goings-on to set the mood anyway.
I think my major gripe is that there’s so much that seems to have been left in which could’ve been chopped out to help those with less powerful devices. I don’t think it’d necessarily have taken away from the experience if Wales Interactive had done so either, as much of the clutter in the environments is hard to see on a small screen anyway.
What I liked
The thing I liked the most about Maid of Sker was the setting. Putting aside my own Welshness, the Sker Hotel is a lot more open and fairly well-lit compared to games like Amnesia, and puts me in the mind of a less claustrophobic Alien: Isolation, where you’re unlikely to be blindsided if you’re cautious.
I also quite like the story. The hints at some strange Lovecraftian horror and the constant references to singing certainly add a very spooky aura to the game, instead of the more outright ‘horrific’ but somewhat gruesome sort of thing you see in other horror games.
What I didn’t like
Maid of Sker is the very definition of a mixed bag, and porting-wise, it’s hard to make a firm judgement given that I’m sure my phone was not what Wales Interactive had in mind when porting a game that first released the same year as my device. But that being said, I think it’s fair to say that you would expect the game to be optimised enough that it would run a little better even on an older device like mine.
A personal gripe of mine is also the simple issues with controls. I’ve never liked playing games that are in first person which necessitates you using touchscreen controls as it tends to be a bit too finicky. The number of times I had to recenter my camera because the movement stick on the left hand of the screen leapt onto my thumb when tapping an interactable object also quickly became grating.
Conclusion
Overall, Maid of Sker is a perfectly fine game which sadly suffers when ported to mobile. If you’re looking for a survival horror hit then Maid of Sker is certainly a worthwhile pick. And if you’re looking for a game with which to show your support to a Welsh company then it’s certainly worth a buy. But at the same time, it’s not without issues that detract from what was already a somewhat mixed experience.
