Them and Us Old-school survival horror, every bullet counted

This is survival horror the way it was in the 90s, and it lets you pick how strictly you want it. The fixed camera mode pairs classic angles with tank controls for the hard, traditional experience. Over-the-shoulder play keeps the classic bones but gives you modern aiming and a slightly gentler ride. Flashbacks and memories shift into first person, and a retro mode drops the graphics back to first-generation console look while forcing the fixed camera on you. Either way, the game never holds your hand: it tells you nothing about what to do next, and expects you to work it out with your own wits.

Resources are scarce and the inventory is tight, so survival becomes arithmetic. A knife kills quietly but puts you dangerously close; a shotgun shell spent on a shambler is a shell you will miss later. The damage system is realistic, with dismemberment and gore, so a well-placed shot can end a fight before it starts. Early on, the inventory is so small you will drop items on the floor and come back for them, until you find the storage box. You weigh health against ammo, route against risk, and every trip back through a corridor full of the dead asks the same question: was that detour worth it?

The year is 1978. A bus crashes on a winding dirt road in the American wilderness, and Alicia, a young woman already scarred by tragedy, wakes up injured and alone as something called the "change" takes hold of the world. What it is, and what it has to do with her past, is the mystery you unpick through notes, ciphers and in-world puzzles as she pushes deeper into the night. The story is told at a deliberate, cinematic pace, and it does not hand you answers. When it ends, it is not fixed: there are several endings, and Alicia's fate is yours to decide.