I have a sort of interesting relationship with Rake. I bought it during the Summer of 2016 and never really gave it much thought. It wasn't until January of 2019 that I really got into the game, learning the ropes, the ins and outs of it. And, unfortunately, in a way I couldn't have picked a worse time, because full disclosure, this game is, for all intents and purposes, dead and abandoned by the developer who lost the files to the game some time ago. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't land a single decent multiplayer lobby. A letdown to be sure, but in a way, I kind of don't really mind having to fly solo, and hopefully this review will explain why.
Rake is an indie horror game released in 2015 based off the popular internet creepypasta of the same name. In this game, it's a monster that roams the woods and has been terrorizing the local wildlife and hunters, and you make it your goal to catch it on film and kill it. How accurately this follows the established lore of the internet creepypasta, I'm not entirely sure, being someone that doesn't usually keep up with such things.
However, I don't think a lack of context on the monster really hinders the experience in any sense. Being dropped in the middle of nowhere with no one to help you, the the cover of darkness and forest and something out to kill you is almost in of itself an inherently terrifying idea. And to many degrees, Rake utilizes it exceptionally well. In other regards, not so much.
Rake is, at its core, a very simple game. You move about like any other first person action game, pick up cameras, set them on specific key locations, explore, pick up your weapon, and wait for nightfall when the Rake comes out. From there it more or less becomes a game of hide and seek. You must track the Rake and shoot it, and this can be a rather tedious process depending on how you go about it. If you just run out and bum rush it, you won't have much luck and in worse case scenario, will find yourself on the bad end of the Rake's killer claws. Much like life, take too many razor-sharp stabs to the body, and it's game over.
When enough days pass, the Rake will begin to taunt you, leaving decapitated pig heads on pikes around the forest. As days pass, the creature will also become increasingly more aggressive, leaving you with fewer and fewer places to run and with fewer options than to either confront the Rake directly, (which is almost never a good idea), or to hide and hope it doesn't find you. That's not to say you're limited to just a shotgun, however! You also get bear traps and a hunting rifle that make the task of hunting down and killing the monster significantly easier.
The Rake is an incredibly fast creature that will often sneak up on you when you least expect it. Tracking it and getting your shots off is a matter of wits and keeping your will stone solid.
But that's sort of the issue: Where and when he attacks feels sort of randomized and up to chance, leading it to feel kinda unfair in some instances. Often times, his attacks will often disorient you, leaving you on the ground and forcing you to look away from the Rake as it makes a break for it off into the darkness.
The shotgun's sights also aren't so great. It's more realistic than something like say, Call of Duty to be sure, but getting a shot off on anything can be kind of cumbersome after getting so used to shooters like Left 4 Dead.
Rake is a pretty fun game! It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but for $4.99, it's a pretty good bargain for what you get.
