The Crimson Hunt Review

A vampire-filled mansion, scarce ammunition, and a fight for survival make The Crimson Hunt a gothic nightmare where every corridor hides another reason to be afraid.

Survival horror has always been particularly effective at making you anxious about the most mundane of decisions. A dark corridor, a locked door, or a monster around the corner can turn a routine trip into a dangerous situation when you have limited ammo and just enough healing items to survive another fight.

The Crimson Hunt is an indie survival horror game by Farelas that expands on these familiar concepts, dropping you into a remote Victorian mansion filled with vampires, ghouls, traps, and other monsters. The Crimson Hunt doesn’t reinvent the wheel; instead, it takes classic survival horror mechanics and adds third-person combat, environmental puzzles, and resource management, all set in a gothic environment.

If you have played Resident Evil, particularly the older entries or the castle sections of Resident Evil Village, you will probably recognize the structure immediately.

You explore an interconnected environment, search for supplies, solve puzzles, and deal with enemies that can quickly become a problem if you waste your resources. But The Crimson Hunt replaces Resident Evil’s familiar biological horrors with supernatural creatures and a more traditional vampire-hunting premise. Its Victorian mansion feels like Castlevania, especially with a seasoned hunter at its heart.

The Crimson Hunt is about Victoria, a seasoned vampire hunter operating in the shadows to take out the last of the ancient vampire bloodlines. She is assigned a mission to infiltrate a secluded mansion in the woods and rescue a young woman named Eleanor, who an ancient vampire has abducted.

What starts as a simple rescue mission soon turns far more perilous when Victoria realizes the mansion teems with hostile creatures. The building itself is not just where the villain keeps his prisoner. It is a crumbling refuge, filled with lurking perils, forsaken chambers, subterranean corridors, and foes that make each step toward the exit a perilous gamble.

Victoria’s experience gives her a distinct advantage against supernatural threats, but the mansion is still hard to navigate. You must navigate its corridors, scavenge for useful supplies, and prepare for encounters without knowing what lies around the next corner. The atmosphere does a lot of the work.

The mansion's isolated location and gloomy architecture make it feel removed from the outside world. You are constantly reminded that the characters are in a place where the normal rules do not apply. The presence of vampires and other grotesque creatures throughout the adventure drives that home.

Things get even more compelling when Victoria meets Eleanor, who, despite her weakened condition after captivity, breaks out of her cell. Eleanor has little experience with the creatures around her, which sets the two women apart as they view the nightmare in very different ways. Victoria knows the risks and how to handle them, but Eleanor must adapt to a life turned upside down. 

After the rescue, Victoria and Eleanor have to work together to escape the haunted mansion.

Their situation lends itself to a dual-protagonist structure that flips between the seasoned hunter’s perspective and the young woman caught in the middle of the conflict. This setup is similar to games that use multiple characters to show different sides of a survival horror story. Victoria knows the threats better, but Eleanor’s perspective is one of uncertainty and fear. 

But the story itself is rather simple. Ancient vampires, kidnapped victims, haunted mansions, and mysterious pasts are familiar tropes, so the story rarely feels surprising if you’ve spent much time with the genre. However, Victoria and Eleanor's relationship adds enough personality to carry the gameplay.

The voice acting also does a decent job of conveying the emotions that the situation calls for, helping their conversations feel more natural. Nothing in the story is particularly memorable, but it gives you a reason to explore the mansion and follow the two protagonists through their ordeal.

The Crimson Hunt is mostly about exploring the mansion, scavenging for supplies, solving environmental puzzles, and fighting the creatures that stand between you and your objective. If you have played Resident Evil 4 or similar survival horror games, you're familiar with the third-person perspective. 

Exploration is one of The Crimson Hunt’s strengths because the mansion gives you a reason to pay attention to your surroundings. Its rooms and corridors aren't just spaces you pass through on your way to the next fight. They have supplies, mechanisms, secret passages, and other stuff that can help you move forward. Exploring new territory can yield useful rewards, but it also means spending more time in areas where enemy creatures may be lurking. 

The mansion's layout really helps the game's atmosphere.

It’s hard to feel truly safe in tight corridors and dim rooms, especially when you’re running low on ammo or healing items. The crypts and other enclosed spaces add variety, but the isolation feels the same. Even without fighting enemies, you never feel completely free of the danger that surrounds you. 

A key part of managing these environments is resource management. Ammunition and healing items can be valuable, and using them without considering your future needs can make later encounters harder. Be mindful of the supplies you are collecting and when to spend them.

A fight could be possible at first, but it can be a headache if you waste too many bullets. If you go into a dangerous area without enough healing items, you will have fewer options when things go wrong. These choices set a measured tempo that fits the survival horror genre.

The game also makes you balance exploration and caution.

Exploring each room lets you gather useful supplies and learn the mansion’s layout, but rushing through unfamiliar territory can leave you vulnerable to what comes next. The same applies in combat, where chasing every enemy isn’t always the smartest move. You’ve got to assess your resources, understand the threats ahead, and make decisions that let you keep moving.

Combat is a standard third-person action system, and guns are your primary way to deal with the creatures roaming the mansion. While pistols and assault rifles are standard options, the crossbow fits The Crimson Hunt’s vampire-hunting vibe better. In a world where traditional vampire weaknesses apply, it makes sense to include it, giving you a weapon that feels appropriate for the setting. 

The handgun is reliable and offers a simple way to deal with enemies without adding unnecessary complexity to combat. Instead of worrying about an overly complex combat system, you can focus on positioning, aiming, and deciding when to use up your ammunition.

The crossbow is also unique because it ties into vampire lore, helping The Crimson Hunt stand out from simply throwing supernatural enemies into a familiar survival-horror mold. The weapons fit the setting, and the no-nonsense approach makes combat accessible even if you are not particularly experienced with the genre.

Alas, the hand-to-hand combat isn't quite as convincing. The knife's slow attack speed can be frustrating in close-range fights, especially when enemies are already in range. If you attack at the wrong time, you can leave yourself open, and the slow reaction makes it harder to recover when a fight goes wrong.

You’ll also run into enemies, which reminds you to manage your ammunition.

You can’t afford to treat every fight as a chance to clear your inventory, especially when you don’t know what’s coming next. Every engagement makes you think about your ammo, whether you can afford to take damage, and how you want to engage the threat. This approach fits The Crimson Hunt’s atmosphere because it encourages caution rather than charging through the mansion without thinking.

Environmental and mechanical puzzles break up the fighting while giving you another reason to explore. You won’t just go from fight to fight; you’ll have to interact with mechanics and scrounge around to find a way forward. The puzzles fit the mansion's gothic architecture, hidden passages, and ancient mechanisms. 

The puzzles don't change the genre fundamentally, but they do what they are supposed to do: add variety. They make you notice environmental things, not only enemies and supplies. Exploring the mansion is much more interesting when you have to figure out how the areas connect and what you need to do to progress. 

But the general experience isn’t without its mechanical issues. Occasionally, the controls aren’t intuitive, and the slow movement can make some encounters feel harder than they should. These problems are especially noticeable when you need to turn quickly or react to close-range enemies.

The opening hour also moves at a blistering pace, introducing the characters and dangers before you have much time to settle into the controls. Although the basic systems are familiar, a smoother introduction and more responsive movement would make The Crimson Hunt easier to appreciate.

The Crimson Hunt doesn't seem to rely on an elaborate experience-point grinding system or character-building progression as its main attraction.

Instead, gameplay involves exploring, gathering supplies, managing your inventory, and surviving the encounters ahead. It keeps the focus on quick decisions rather than fighting the same enemies over and over to improve your character. It’s less about grinding for levels and more about how thoroughly you explore and utilize available resources. 

The graphics help with that design, giving the mansion a consistent gothic look. Its decaying interiors, shadowy corridors, and enclosed spaces create a hostile environment without requiring a dramatic event in every room. The visual design establishes isolation, while the mansion’s room layout makes exploration feel like a necessary part of survival. You are not simply walking through a collection of attractive backgrounds. 

The Crimson Hunt’s atmosphere is arguably more successful than its technical execution. As an independent project, The Crimson Hunt has some rough edges. The controls and movement can sometimes detract from the experience. But the visuals suit the supernatural premise.

The mansion feels like a fitting home for ancient vampires and other grotesque creatures, and the crypts and hidden areas extend that gloomy mood beyond the main rooms. The familiar setting gives The Crimson Hunt a clear visual identity that reinforces its survival horror mechanics.

Sound and voice acting help keep the mood as you explore. Environmental audio reinforces the sense that dangerous creatures live in the mansion, and the characters’ conversations offer brief respite from the ever-present tension. Victoria and Eleanor’s banter is particularly useful because it gives their relationship room to develop between encounters. 

The game’s most distinctive feature, however, is its local cooperative multiplayer.

You can play through the adventure with a friend in shared-screen or split-screen co-op, so survival is a team effort, not a lonely battle. Co-op mode also supports Remote Play Together, providing another way to experience the adventure with a friend. The Crimson Hunt makes cooperation a core part of its appeal, not something tacked on as a distraction from the main game.

There is something particularly engaging about playing with a friend. It's more fun to go through a dark corridor with a buddy, especially when an unexpected enemy ambushes you. You can share actions, discuss what to do in danger, and work together to beat threats. The Crimson Hunt is also more accessible in co-op, so you can share it with someone who might not normally opt for a survival horror adventure.

The 2-player mode works well because it's simple. You don't have to learn complex multiplayer mechanics to enjoy the experience, and the cooperative adventure makes it easy to work through the mansion together. It also recalls the cooperative spirit of older Resident Evil games, giving players something to enjoy while waiting for other major survival horror releases. 

That said, co-op play doesn't solve every problem. Slow movement and sometimes unintuitive controls can make it tricky to maneuver in frantic encounters, especially when both players react to the same threat. These issues can break the rhythm of combat, making some scenarios feel more frustrating than tense. 

The Crimson Hunt has its flaws, but it’s a no-frills experience that doesn’t rely on intrusive menus or predatory monetization to keep you coming back.

It's about exploring the mansion, solving puzzles, managing supplies, and surviving encounters with supernatural creatures. The Crimson Hunt knows what it wants to be, and its best elements support it. The controls and combat are a little rough around the edges, but the atmosphere and co-op mode make it easier to enjoy what Farelas has done.

If you’re into old-school survival horror and want an adventure to share with a buddy, The Crimson Hunt is an interesting option for around twelve bucks. Its story is conventional, its melee combat is underwhelming, and its controls can be frustrating, but gothic exploration, vampire hunting, and split-screen co-op give it a clear identity. 

In the end, The Crimson Hunt wins by returning to survival horror basics. It gives you a dangerous place to explore, limited resources to manage, enemies you have to handle carefully, and puzzles that make progress feel earned. The influences are clear and familiar, but the vampire-hunting premise and cooperative multiplayer distinguish it from a simple copy.