When it comes to crafting a good horror story, atmosphere is essential. While visuals and creepy storytelling help set the tone, good audio design can do much of the heavy lifting—if you know what you’re doing. The team at Surgent Studios clearly had this in mind when developing Dead Take, their latest horror puzzle game. To that end, they enlisted the help of some notable voice actors, including Neil Newbon, Ben Starr, Laura Bailey, Sam Lake and many more.
That’s not to say Dead Take slouches in other areas. While the game’s sound design is immaculate—featuring eerie ambient noises and top-tier voice acting—it also looks fantastic. Players will spend most of their time wandering through an abandoned yet opulent mansion after a disastrous party. The elegant halls never fail to inspire unease—whether you’re exploring confetti-strewn corridors, dismantling an overworked robot vacuum for puzzle components, or discovering that a bloodstained baby crib has been moved into the room you just left.
Even better, Dead Take is peppered with a classic horror game staple: full motion video. I’m a sucker for good FMV, and giving these talented voice actors a chance to flex their physical acting chops only adds to the experience. Since much of the game involves roaming spooky corridors with few human figures, these FMV segments—often integrated directly into the environment—give everything a surreal edge. Sure, you’ve been exploring a creepy, possibly haunted mansion in search of your friend, but then you stumble into the theatre and there’s Ben Starr on the big screen. And it’s great.
“Dead Take is a great, creepy romp through an opulent manor filled with dread, disorder and some extremely toxic relationships.”
The story in Dead Take starts simply but becomes more complex as the game progresses. Players take on the role of Chase Lowry (played by Neil Newbon), searching for their friend and fellow actor Vinny at the home of unhinged film producer Duke Cain. To complicate matters, Vinny and Chase are up for the same role, and it’s unclear whether Chase was even invited to the party. From there, players uncover an increasingly sordid web of relationships among other Hollywood professionals, all competing to work with this intensely demanding and demented auteur, along with the secrets of his own twisted past.
Gameplay-wise, Dead Take functions as a horror-themed escape room. Players move through a mostly open space, identifying puzzles and finding ways to solve them. The atmosphere grows steadily more tense until a jumpscare knocks the wind out of them. Notably, some puzzles involve finding and feeding video clips into an AI-powered editing suite to produce completely new footage. While these puzzles can feel a bit nonsensical, they result in more excellent FMV sequences, making them a win overall.
While I love much of what Dead Take has to offer—its creepy atmosphere and high production value—there are a few places where it stumbles. The over-reliance on jumpscares feels cheap and wastes some of the excellent work done to set the spooky scene. The puzzles lean more on repeated backtracking through the environment than on thoughtful problem-solving. Most notably, a problem arises from the game’s own excellence: because the sound and voice acting are so strong, the rare instance of a weaker performance stands out awkwardly. It’s only one character in an otherwise exceptional cast, but it’s hard to ignore.
That said, Dead Take is a great, creepy romp through an opulent manor filled with dread, disorder and some extremely toxic relationships. If the summer heat has you longing for the cooler, spooky season, you’ll be well served spending time with these talented actors as you unearth their dirty secrets and make a movie.
