ALERT: CONTAINMENT BREACH (SCP game review)

You approach the opening interface for SCP: Containment Breach. Should you decline to enter, you will remain among the placidity of the normal world. But should you inquire within, the horrors of Site 19 will be waiting.

You don’t really know how you got here – wherever “here” is. The pencil-pushers at the SCP Foundation aren’t too keen on explaining themselves, least of all to a D-Class nobody. You're an unwanted; one of society's expendable plenty. It’s a sordid, squalid experience, but it’s about to take a turn for the worse -- and everything you thought you knew will be crushed to bits -- much like the bones of your fellow personnel.

Per usual, something goes horribly, inexplicably wrong, and the resulting fiasco is a primally-terrifying fight for survival against supernatural, almost Lovecraftian entities out for blood and gore. Like the clandestine personnel that hold them prisoner, they aren’t too keen on explaining their evil plans -- not that it’d matter to a corpse. After all, how exactly do you articulate the innate horror of a mysterious statue?

A gameplay screenshot of SCP-173, a Euclid-Class entity that manifests as a humanoid statue that can transport itself instantly through space and time when nobody is directly observing it. It is essential that Foundation personnel keep SCP-173 in check, as it has an inclination to kill any humanoid not observing it directly by strangulation or snapping the neck at the base of the skull.

SCP: Containment Breach is an indie horror game released in 2012 by Joonas Rikkonen. Based on the collaborative writing project known as the SCP Foundation, Containment Breach follows the exploits of a D-Class worker stationed at Site 19, one of many facilities run by the Foundation, a secluded and shadowy organization dedicated to holding a concrete veil over life's strangest mysteries. This organization, which encompasses several major world governments, is privy to mysterious, malignant, and downright malicious entities, both animate and inanimate – from SCP-914, a Safe-Class entity consisting of several thousand gears and bolts to SCP-682, a virtually-indestructible reptilian bent on wiping out the human race. The focal point of the game is known as a Containment Breach, a rather obvious namesake. During one of these events, one or more entities imprisoned by the Foundation breaks out of their holding cell(s), throwing Site 19 into discord. Your job, should you wish to survive to see daybreak, is to evade and escape these SCPs – in all their eldritch glory.

A gameplay screenshot of SCP-096, nicknamed the "Shy Guy." SCP-096 is a pale humanoid entity that lunges at and attempts to kill anyone that observes its face, resisting any obstructions in its path, such as doors, walls, et cetera.

The game itself has decent graphics for its time, and the story nestled between its gore and fearsomeness is alright. However, what I believe makes this game truly special – aside from being the only proper SCP video game adaptation – is that it emulates and brings to life one of the Internet's most prized creations. It has reinvented the SCP franchise and brought it to a larger audience, arofessional YouTubers and even major gaming corporations have turned an attentive eye to the game's long-standing reputation as a modern classic.

My overall score for SCP: Containment Breach is 11/10 – but then again, I may just be biased in favor of the SCP community.

The concept for the opening screen for SCP: Fragmented Minds, a new addition to the SCP community.

As of recent months, HST Studios has taken to crafting the SCP franchise's latest monstrosity – a game of epic proportions and fragmented minds (surprise, surprise, that's the name of the game!). In SCP: Fragmented Minds, you take on the role of a new officer, stationed within the cryptic depths of Site-113. In a new Containment Breach event, you will be tasked with not only escaping the horrid place, but with uncovering what HST Studios describes as "the mystery of what happened to the Foundation during the largest containment failure ever." While limited information has been released to the public, what we do know is that SCP:FM will be released on Steam on April 15, 2021 – and a free demo is currently available to the public.

Quiet your breathing, grab a weapon, and don't make a sound – they're coming down the hallway now.