What makes a good horror game? A gruesome story? Terrifying monsters? That creeping dread when you realize you’re not alone? The answer is different for every player. But one thing is the same for everybody. The moment the facade starts to crack, the fun can vanish in an instant.
Who am I?
Ashes of the Damned: The Forgotten Ward is an indie horror game by Crimson Cloud Games, a solo creator—at least, as far as I can tell from the release communications. As the title suggests, you awaken in an abandoned ward of an insane asylum. Your goal is simple: uncover the truth behind the horrors that unfolded there. You do this by searching for the patient files of the old inhabitants and other collectibles related to their story. But, as you might expect, there’s more to the ward than meets the eye. It’s haunted by those former inhabitants who may or may not have met gruesome ends.
It’s a simple premise, but unfortunately, the execution is just as simple. Let me explain a bit further.
A Recipe for Horror
Let’s start with the positives. The Forgotten Wards opening sets the horror tone perfectly. You start in a dark, abandoned office, armed with nothing but a flashlight. Exploring an abandoned building with nothing but a dim light source isn’t new, but it’s a proven formula for a reason. You’ll encounter genre staples like filthy solitary confinement cells, operating rooms, and dark storage rooms. Combined with the late PlayStation 2/early PlayStation 3 visual style, it creates a promising atmosphere. The problem? The recipe is followed
After finding my first patient file and encountering the first of five abominations, I noticed something odd: the scares were scripted. Every time you find a file, you’re treated to a cutscene of your character being mauled by the person described in it. Only afterward can you read the file to learn their backstory. This revelation completely changed my experience. I was no longer afraid of what might happen next. Instead, I systematically scoured every corner, collecting everything within an hour. I wasn’t scared, I just wanted to see the end.
At one point, I even walked right up to an enemy that like it could kill me. I stared it down. Nothing happened.
Fetch Quest
Besides collecting patient files, the game promises puzzles. But this promise is misleading. There’s only one puzzle: find a pair of glasses, then locate nine scraps of paper to crack a safe code. After searching the entire hospital, not once, but three times, I finally found the glasses tucked away in the corner of a closet. The disappointment was real. I had to search the entire place again?
In total, Ashes of the Damned took me an hour and forty-five minutes to complete, all because of those glasses. After an hour, I wanted to quit and return later, but the game lacks a save system. So, I had to push through. I don’t want to be too hard on a solo indie developer, but in 2026, shouldn’t a save feature be standard?
I can’t shake the feeling that Ashes of the Damned is more of a proof of concept than a full-fledged game.
Conclusion
Ashes of the Damned: The Forgotten Ward starts strong, but as soon as the cracks in its world begin to show, the fun quickly fades. The scares and spooky events are scripted and consequence-free, and the gameplay is one-note and linear. It feels more like a proof of concept than a finished product. A year of development, especially for a solo creator, is impressive, but I can’t help but think a little more time could have turned this into a full release.
2/10
Reviewed on PC