First-person, lightweight farming sim, PS1-retro styled graphics and emphasis on disquieting tension? First it was HORSES, now it’s Dread Fields. A day spent out in the blistering heat, plucking vegetables and throwing down manure for fertiliser is thought enough to terrify most people. Now, however, it appears that farms and crop fields are all the rage for indie horror.

Does Dread Fields match the execution with its concept? For that, we’ll need to take up our pitchfork and jab our way through the fields of wheat to unveil.

Exis-till-tial Dread

We begin our journey as an unknown everyman who’s had enough of modern life, with their only recourse an escape to a rural, seemingly idyllic farmstead in the middle of nowhere. Given the name, you can likely guess with decent certainty that this farm is about as welcoming as a bee’s nest. Upon arrival, a creepy, older farm hand will give you a cryptic warning, before upping and leaving.

There isn’t a massive amount of story to cover here, but Dread Fields has a mystery to uncover, largely told through a couple of in-game cinematics and environmental cues. A nasty secret, cult sacrifices and strange interactable objects flesh out proceedings, ticking the requisite horror tickboxes. However, I never truly felt engrossed during its short runtime. Sure, there’s a couple of optional keys to find to access a slither of more exposition, but I struggled to feel any compulsion to replay.

I wouldn’t downplay the work and effort that’s gone into what is here, it just feels rather by-the-numbers. Given this is a horror based title, having something that drifts into boring territory is likely more detrimental than something that’s bad, but that’s the unfortunate reality I found myself in.

Scythe-stepping The Challenge

Dread Fields plays out over a series of in-game days and nights, with the farm becoming progressively more deranged as time moves forward. During each day, you’ll engage in a variety of farm sim tasks. Collecting eggs, gathering water for troughs, cutting wood and fishing are all on the menu. While very basic and rudimentary, the loop is fine and plays into more of a walking simulator type with added button presses here and there.

Infrequently, there’s a chase sequence, or a more spooky night-time section, but these are very brief and require little critical thinking. Disappointingly, the couple of jump scares landed with the impact of Teresa May’s declaration that running through fields of wheat is some kind of devilish act. They happen suddenly, sure, but the lack of accompanying threat and significant audio stops them in their tracks.

Having said that, the actual atmosphere and feel of Dread Fields is quite good. In places, imagery of bloodied animals works well, as does the more cult-like elements. There are small touches, like changes in the animals on the farm over time, that effectively sell the “haunted farm” idea. As someone who’s played a lot of horror however, I felt it held its punches somewhat. Given there’s not a lot of real gameplay, going all-in on the scares might have elevated the experience a bit higher.

A Sullen Field

I should note here, that Dread Fields is a very small indie project, so it’s important to view it through that lens when considering what it’s aiming to achieve. It took me just under an hour to finish, with the aforementioned keys to discover and alternate ending states involving saving certain elements of the farm. While I personally wasn’t too compelled to go back and replay, I think other people’s milage with this may vary.

I certainly appreciate Dread Fields’ retro visuals, which has become something of a staple in the indie horror genre. The pixelated environments and models lend themselves towards the uncanny, unsettling looks. The farm cat is suitably disturbing, with its bright glowing eyes, and don’t even get me started on what the cow looks like by the third in-game day.

All of this brings me to say that, while I believe Dread Fields is an earnest effort, it was challenging to latch onto much of it. The visuals and atmosphere are solid enough, but the gameplay and lack of tension cause it to stall like an old combine harvester. I’d recommend checking it out if you’re a fan of indie-led, smaller horror games, with the caveat that it’s a perfectly average experience.

Dread Fields is available from May 28th on PC (review platform).

Developer: Podoba Interactive
Publisher: Podoba Interactive

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

If you enjoyed this article or any more of our content, please consider our Patreon.

Make sure to follow Finger Guns on our social channels –Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, Spotify or Apple Podcasts – to keep up to date on our news, reviews and features.