The survival horror genre may be a touch overused in recent years, but In Fear I Trust knows how to take the psychologically unstable angle and leverage it into something interesting. You wake up in a prison cell with one thought on your mind: get out! But then you start seeing things, and soon you question what happened here as well as your part in the whole thing.
In Fear I Trust uses swipes to control movement, item use, puzzles and everything in-between. Swipe to look around the screen, and double tap to move to a new location. You can opt for virtual joystick controls if you want something a bit more hands-on. You'll pick up items and use them to solve simple environmental puzzles one at a time. Nothing too complex, just a handful of logical riddles that make sure you explore your environment to its fullest.
For the all great ideas and masterful set pieces, In Fear I Trust does come with a few flaws. Most of these are technical in nature and can (and should) be fixed in future updates. During the course of playing, we managed to get stuck on solid objects, watched tutorial text repeat itself for no reason, played for stretches without sound, had the main menu refuse to show up, and several other non-trivial snafus. Most of these were easily remedied and didn't really cause any lost progress, but it makes the whole game feel unstable. And not in the atmosphere-enhancing psychological way.
In Fear I Trust is episodic, and this first installment includes two episodes, each with about 35 items to find in separate small environments. Good for a few hours of entertainment, and suitably horror-filled for moody late-night sessions. The bugs make it a little shaky at times, but it's still an impressive game worth checking out.
Note: In Fear I Trust is not compatible with iPad mini, iPhone 4 and iPod touch devices.
NOTE: This game was played and reviewed on the iPad 3. Game was available in the North American market at the time of publication, but may not be available in other territories. Please see individual app market pages for purchasing info.
You might want to add that this game is not compatible with iPod Touch. Something I discovered after I bought it. Note to self, read the fine print in iTunes...
We didn't list it in the devices next to the download link. But you're right, it's an unusual exclusion, so I added a note in the review!
Update