FAITH: The Unholy Trinity – Review

FAITH: The Unholy Trinity is the complete collection of Faith titles, developed by Airdorf and published by the modern throwback factory New Blood Interactive. Originally possessing PC gaming in 2017, it’s time to grab your crucifix, load up on holy water and say your prayers as the power of Christ compels this review.

Atari Excorsist Simulator 

Faith: The Unholy Trinity puts you behind the clerical collar of John Ward, with Chapter 1 starting in 1986 on the anniversary of an Exorcism gone wrong. The following chapters also follow the exploits of John Ward and Father Garcia, as they expand on the world and events that truly shake the pair’s faith in the lord and have you questioning what is going on.

Chapter 2 initially puts you in the shoes of Father Garica as he is trying to exorcize a demon from a child before you switch over to John and almost storm a cultist church to take them down with the power of the lord.

Chapter 3 finishes the narrative and sees John trying to stop the scheme that has been brewing in the previous two chapters in which a cult wishes to summon a rather powerful demon.

Each chapter has multiple endings and plenty of files to pick up. These give you further enlightenment and allow you to draw your conclusions as to how the chapters end. Each one has wildly different conclusions and almost half the fun is trying to piece together a story that may or may not be real.

The writing within the notes is absolutely essential to the narrative and helps paint the very grim picture that is Faith: The Unholy Trinity. You’ll find out who the characters are, the lead-up to the events of the game, and how it’s taking its toll on the world of mortals. Heck, there is even the odd scare here and there within the notes!

The Power Of Christ Compels You To Play! 

The gameplay in Faith: The Unholy Trinity is minimalistic but effective due to it emulating games from the Atari 2600 days. Controllers back then only had a D-Pad and 2 Buttons which I can imagine brings horror to modern gamers!

Part of the charm of the title is how little guidance it gives you and just how easy it is to die. You’ll rapidly become familiar with the game presenting you with the “MORTIS” screen, as you try to stave off the demons.

John is equipped with the only weapon that matters in the situation he’s put in, a crucifix that can be used infinitely. At the press of a button, this affects whatever is in front of it within a small distance. 

You’ll use this, not only to ward off evil but interact with items. This drops notes and images that further the narrative and also build tension. For a game with such a “limited” graphical range, this is phenomenal.

The Book Can Manifest In Many Ways

Faith: The Unholy Trinity is just as much of a puzzle game as it is a “survival horror” title. As I mentioned the game doesn’t hold your hand. This extends to your objective in each chapter, which is vague and requires you to figure out how to progress. 

Every encounter with a demon can and will lead to death. There are no health bars, just instant death leading to the MORTIS screen. This ramps the tension tenfold as you’re creeping around dark areas praying for respite, while not being fully sure what you’re doing is working. Yes, it sounds infuriating, but it works so well, dragging me kicking and screaming to the days when survival horror left you to work everything out and die over and over again.

Each chapter has multiple endings which adds to the replay factor. This is a godsend as none of the games’ chapters are the longest. The first chapter took me only 40 minutes to get all of the endings and most of the notes. Luckily, chapters 2 and 3 are longer with chapter 3 being the longest at around 2 and a half hours.

There are unlockable modes such as Turbo speed and secret bosses to fight. This gives you more incentive to dive back into the world of Faith. There is even a Marathon Mode for those feeling a particular need for Satanic Panic which combines all 3 chapters into one run.

Satanic Panic In 8-Bit

The visual style in Faith: The Unholy Trinity is going to be the most divisive aspect for most, emulating the visual style of the Atari 2600/Apple II days of gaming.

The in-game graphics feature a minimalistic color pallet and blocky basic sprites, which while seeming a little “ancient” by today’s Unreal-5 engines standards, manage to add to the atmosphere of not quite knowing what is going on. It leans into the whole “imagination can be worse than reality” which some of the best horrors employ.

The cutscenes in the game show some brilliant mastery of the limitations and some truly grotesque scenes. Demonic entities and exorcisms have never looked so unsettling yet nostalgia-inducing. It looks like the Exorcist game we could have only had nightmares about.

The sound is eerily unsettling and this is only exacerbated by the digitized voice acting. The sound of a demon creeping up on me while exploring an empty house where a failed exorcism had taken place will eternally be etched into my brain.

The soundtrack is genuinely brilliant and managed to capture a true horror score within chiptune. I was very thankful that the songs were good as I heard them a lot with the amount of “MORTIS” I saw throughout my tenure as a soldier of the Lord.

Verdict

After my initial confusion on the first couple of screens on Faith: Chapter One, I buckled down and embraced the game for all its tension and world-building and found that I couldn’t get enough of it.

Even while writing this review I’m itching to go back and go through the trinity again to pick at its bones and just get more from it. I want to challenge myself and uncover everything Faith: The Unholy Trinity has to offer.

Be it the spooky season or the resurgence of the horror genre but something about Faith: The Unholy Trinity just clicked. If you have a passion for the macabre, you need to play this game. Just have a Bible and a priest handy.

FAITH: THE UNHOLY TRINITY IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

If you would like to see more horror games, you may be interested in our review of The Persistence.

Many thanks go to New Blood Interactive for a PC review code for this title.