What makes small-town Americana so scary? Perhaps it's the fear of trouble in paradise – think Laura Palmer's murder in Twin Peaks, or the deep-seated evil lurking beneath Bright Falls in Alan Wake. But both examples are also set against vast natural backdrops, where civilization's foothold feels tenuous at best. Where mother nature casts a long shadow, trees blot out streetlights until you're left in the darkness – and that weight brings its own sort of primal dread.
Radiolight, a thriller from developer Krystof Knesl, understands this feeling well. Set in 1985, you play as Ethan – a police officer for the town of Ashwood Creek, where a teenage boy has gone missing in its national park. When a second person goes missing, Ethan is sent out into Ashwood Creek National Park in the dead of night to look for them – and as someone who loves nature but struggles with horror, I hate that Radiolight's investigative hook was strong enough to keep me tip-toeing beneath the trees.
