Project 13: Taxidermy Trails | PS5 Review

The Project 13 series continues onward into taxidermy territory within this latest Dolores Entertainment indie release for the PS5. This time around you are on a perpetual tour of an unusual taxidermy museum until you find 13 anomalies in a row. During this endeavor you'll find all sorts of stuffed creatures, humans, and bipedal monsters of myth as you tour two separate hallways filled with preserved natural wonders. 

It seems the resident manager and receptionist also make their uncanny appearance alongside their captured specimens as well. The old man of the crew often times walking not far behind you observing you as you report or don't report your findings on each walkthrough. 

Filled mostly with jump scares, and creative creature anomalies beholden to the stars of the museum setting you'll find plenty to gawk and stare at as you attempt to complete the tasks at hand. As you go about your business you'll be making your way down two connected hallways filled with display cases, taxidermy trophies, artifacts, and hunting photographs as well as posters. You'll need to pay very close attention to each and every item of interest taking note of anything strange and unusual that might have occurred before your eyes. Anomalies include, but are not limited to exhibit alterations, environmental variables, and staffing oddities. 

The museum, itself, is lit in a dark moody style with a dark wooden interior. The halls each contain posters, photos, artifact stands, glass cases, and stuffed animals outside of the enclosures. Even head mounts can be found plastered across the hall's walls. The purpose of of all of this this is to get you to notice, and report any anomalies or differences during each walkthrough. Either that or to get you to pass without reporting when nothing is found. 

Finding one anomaly on a walkthrough is all it takes for it to be report worthy. That, and the flipping of the switch at the exit door are all that needs to be done if there was an anomaly before exiting to the next loop. Not flipping the switch before exiting being reserved for non-anomaly walkthroughs. Doing this correctly will increase a digital encounter by a single digit. The end goal being to reach 13 in a row without incorrectly reporting/not reporting. Supposedly at the end of that 13 you'll be able to exit this neverending nightmare.

The Verdict ...

For what it's worth this indie is what it says it is. It is a walking simulator. It has you walking on loop until you successfully make 13 passes in a row by correctly observing whether or not there's an anomaly. In the way of anomalies nothing is really truly scary outside of the occasional jump scare. 

The game crutches a bit on the thrill of startling players more so than creating a realistically unnerving atmosphere. Part of the immersion breaking that keeps it from reaching peak tension is it's 3D assets. They have an unrealistic art style that makes their anomalies a little less impactful. Even with the player character's heavy breathing, and the moody lighting it does little to build tension, anticipation, or peak paranoia. You know something's coming, and that it could be a jump scare, but only at the jump scares do you get startled. It's a cheap thrill. 

That being said, "Project 13: Taxidermy Trails" lives up to what it is. It is an anomaly detection game with a walking simulator base. A gaming experience set to a horror theme that depends heavily on jump scares to frighten it's players. It's simple, but effective to that end. For what you get it is worth the price for entry as it is a budget priced indie. If anything it's interesting enough to play through a few times until you've seen it all. There are definitely some creative anomalies worth observing.