Crisol: Theater of Idols [REVIEW] – You’ve Got to Bleed to Succeed 

I’ve enjoyed Blumhouse’s venture into video games so far, with Fear the Spotlight, Sleep Awake, and Eyes of Hellfire each offering a uniquely entertaining horror experience. Their latest offering is Crisol: Theater of Idols, which gives players a bloody (literally) shooting experience within an eerie, Spanish world. And you know what? It’s another exciting release that shows that their video games are just as horrific as their movies (and I mean that in the best possible way). 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

The premise of Crisol: Theater of Idols is really intriguing, with players taking on the role of Gabriel, who works for the Order of the Sun and is sent to the island of Tormentosa where things have gone pear-shaped due to a massive squabble between the Sun God and a sea deity. Yeah, it sounds a little wacky, but it’s easy to find yourself absorbed in the nightmarish world. 

What sets it apart is its vibe, with the twisted, gothic reflection of Spain immediately giving the game a sinister atmosphere that horror fans are sure to love. Your surroundings are filled with religious iconography and creepy architecture that do a brilliant job of unsettling you before you even fire a shot, whilst the environmental storytelling adds a real sense of creepy depth of the world. It just felt like a really unique locale, and with plenty of cool sights to see and interesting areas to scavenge through, exploration is always enjoyable. 

However, whilst it has plenty of strengths in its world design, it’s the shooting of Crisol: Theater of Idols that really stands out. Combat revolves around a Blood Bullet mechanic… essentially, your ammunition is your own life force. Every time you reload your weapon, Gabriel has to physically extract blood to refill the magazine – yeah, it’s as cool as it sounds (even if it comes at the expense of your own health). It turns every encounter into a gamble: do you take the shot and lower your health, or do you try to sprint past foes to save your blood for later? It’s a clever twist on resource management that keeps the tension high, even IF the game can sometimes be a bit too generous with health pickups. 

“Crisol: Theater of Idols is an engrossing, if slightly unpolished, horror experience that offers a world that is dripping in atmosphere and a combat loop that keeps you on your toes.“

However, whilst the concept is clever and the shooting satisfying, the enemies you’re pumping this blood into are a mixed bag. Seeing things like living statues and porcelain dolls is genuinely creepy and they fit the grotesque tone of the horror perfectly (even if it is a common fodder for the genre). However, a bit more variety in your adversaries wouldn’t have gone amiss, and you do start to feel like you’re fighting the same few foes over and over again by the time you reach the later sections of the game. 

Then there’s the matter of the ‘stalker’ enemy, because come on, every horror game needs one. You’re hunted by Dolores, a massive mechanical entity designed to look like a float from a Holy Week procession, and visually, she is absolutely terrifying. Mechanically? Not so much. If you’ve played through modern Resident Evil titles, you know the dread of being hunted, but unfortunately, Dolores is a bit of a pushover compared to the likes of Mr X or Nemesis. She’s easy to cheese by ducking into small spaces or running out of sight, and she feels more like a nuisance than a genuine threat. It’s a shame, because the design work on her is top tier… she just doesn’t pose much of a threat. 

Between the bouts of violence, you’ll be doing a fair bit of exploring, with the level design having some lovely touches – specifically the inclusion of a fairground that acts as a central hub. It’s here you can play mini-games to earn tickets for upgrades, which is a fun, if slightly surreal, distraction from the gloom. You also have a merchant character, La Plañidera, who helps you upgrade your gear in exchange for collectables, which gives the game a nice sense of progression, making you feel a bit more capable as the game rolls on. There’s nothing too deep, sure, but it shows that Crisol: Theater of Idols has a fair few layers to its gameplay to keep things interesting. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

That said, the pacing can be a bit all over the place at times. The game loves to slow you down, sometimes literally – there are radio segments where you chat with a character called Mediodía, and while the story context is definitely appreciated, these moments often force your walking speed to a crawl… it’s just a little bit frustrating when you just want to get to the next puzzle or combat arena. Speaking of puzzles, they range from logic problems to slightly obtuse fetch quests, though it does feel like things were designed for combat to take centre stage. 

We also have to address the jank of the game. This is a lower budget indie release, and it shows, with a few technical issues popping up during my playthrough, ranging from clipping through the environment, not being able to progress through a puzzle, and, on one weird occasion, my gun just… not working. There’s nothing game-breaking (and nothing that a simple reload can’t typically fix), but it could do with a patch to have things running more smoothly.  

Despite these rough edges, Crisol: Theater of Idols is still very easy to recommend. Coming in at under £15, you’re getting a solid 10-hour adventure that’ll certainly keep horror fans hooked in. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel and there are plenty of familiar horror tropes, but its unique Blood Bullet mechanic and engrossing world ensure that it stands out in the crowded genre as another entertaining release. 

Developer: Vermila Studios 
Publisher: Blumhouse Games 
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, PC 
Website: https://www.blumhouse.com/games/crisol-theater-of-idols