Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle

***Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle*** is a third-person survival horror action game and the second installment in the *Daymare* series.

The game features updated graphics and combat mechanics, more intuitive inventory system, new enemies and weapons, and focuses on the events of the Groom Lake incident mentioned in the previous game.

## Official description

*Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle* is a third-person story-driven survival horror prequel to the critically acclaimed *Daymare: 1998*.

Step into the shoes of special agent Dalila Reyes, a former government spy now in the service of a unit called H.A.D.E.S. (Hexacore Advanced Division for Extraction and Search), and get ready to enter the most advanced experimental research center in the United States of America.

A perfect mix of fierce and deadly enemies, hardcore action game mechanics, environmental puzzles, a chilling soundtrack, plenty of exploration and massive doses of concentrated horror wait for you in *Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle*.

No place is safe, especially when you’re being hunted by your nightmares.

### Features:

* **New characters and big comebacks** – take part in the top secret "Sandcastle" mission as the game's main protagonist, Special Agent H.A.D.E.S. Dalila Reyes, and reconstruct the past of some of Daymare: 1998's most beloved characters.
* **Lethal and terrifying enemies** – fight, kill and dismember the new enemies that stand between you and the resolution of your mission, so frighteningly intelligent, aggressive and realistic in every detail.
* **Revamped interface** – the D.I.D. is back, though in a completely redesigned way. Manage your inventory, ammo and health items directly from the new game interface, which has never been so simple and intuitive.
* **Eye to the Scanner** – thanks to the innovative device installed on Reyes’s arm, you can analyze portions of the environment and reveal new puzzles to solve, pick up secret documents and detect hidden items!
* **Environmental puzzles** – the solution is often right in front of your eyes! Search for all the clues and overcome the environmental obstacles to obtain resources and collectibles.
* **Are you sure it’s dead?** – in *Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle*, prepare to confront the toughest and most aggressive enemies you have ever seen. Moreover, even if you’re sure you’ve killed one, you’ll find out it can come back in a completely new form and even deadlier than before!
* **Breathtaking and immersive graphics, sound effects and soundtrack** – thanks to the power of Unreal Engine 4, you will live the most terrifying of experiences!
* **Back to the 90s… again!** – if you loved the nostalgia of *Daymare: 1998*, in *Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle* will feel like you’re living and playing a typical action horror/film of the 90s. Expect to be transported back in time to many familiar references and a frightfully authentic atmosphere with a retro flavor.
* **Freeze!** – there will certainly be no shortage of guns, but prepare to equip one of the most innovative and powerful weapons ever created: the Frost Grip! WARNING: it may contain liquid nitrogen.
* **Veteran or rookie** – choose the most appropriate game difficulty based on your ability in combat and your experience with survival horror. Either way, it will be a serious challenge for the faint-hearted!

## Summary

1994. Following a disastrous accident that fatally involved numerous civilians in the surrounding areas, the most advanced experimental research facility on American soil ceased all communication with the outside world. Its internal security system has sealed off any way in and out of the secret base.

While public opinion and the media turn on the US President for his inability to provide an explanation for what happened, special agent Dalila Reyes and her squad mates from H.A.D.E.S – Hexacore Advanced Division for Extraction and Search – are clandestinely sent in by the Secretary of Defense with the order of infiltrating the facility on foot and recovering precious data about the covert, futuristic research performed there.

All of this is kept hidden from the highest levels of government, including POTUS himself. Just a few hours into what could turn into the biggest internal crisis in US history, the “Sandcastle” mission kicks off. Once inside the doors of the previous inaccessible building, Reyes will find herself in a fight for her life within an immense underground maze, now home to horrible and deadly creatures.

The H.A.D.E.S. agent is determined to pick up the pieces of the puzzle to a truth much larger than her, but an escalation of shocking events and revelations will cause her to question her closest teammates… and even herself. Because the horror doesn’t come from the present alone. Nightmares from the past will also become, step by step, increasingly real during her long descent to the source of a primordial evil. No place is safe anymore. Not even her own mind…

## Characters

*Main article:* Characters
* Dalila Reyes

Special Agent and communications and electronics expert at H.A.D.E.S. She is a veteran of Gulf War and struggles with the nightmares of her past.

* Ivan Radek

The leader of the H.A.D.E.S. unit who reports directly to Commander Foster. He follows orders with no care about consequences and doesn’t let any emotion shine through except when agent Reyes is by his side.

* Mark C. Foster

Commander and founder of H.A.D.E.S. acting as a supervisor during Operation Sandcastle who is pursuing his own ulterior motives.

* Alexander Gora

A soldier of Section 8 and Commander Foster's former subordinate.

* Helen Reyes

Dalila Reyes' sister and the head researcher of the OGRE Project.

* Aptom

Agent of the secret H.A.D.E.S. unit in charge of the Castle's security.

* Hayden Volken

Captain of H.A.F. who pilots the helicopter during the mission.

## Plot

March 11, 1994. A series of earthquakes occures in the town of Rachel, Nevada, in close proximity to Area 51, where the Groom Lake military base  is located. Following a distress signal, H.A.D.E.S. sents an infiltration team to recover the briefcase containing an important research material before Section 8, a unit reporting directly to the President, could get to it. Operation under the codename "Sandcastle" is led by Commander Marc Foster, the founder of H.A.D.E.S., with Major Ivan Radek and engineer Dalila Reyes under his command. Before leaving, Reyes gives Radek a tracking device prototype of her own invention, the D.I.D.

Arriving at the facility, Reyes finds herself separated from her comrades and has to navigate the base alone using her hacking skills. She arrives at an undisclosed laboratory where she finds pieces of RAM77, an alloy recovered from a meteorite, that is capable of teleporting matter. She also discovers the evidence of a mass teleportarion experiment, known as T-3 (Troop Transfer Test), that was performed with the help of RAM77 on human test subjects. She witnesses an electromagnetic phenomenon that reanimates the corpses of Section 8 soldiers transformating them into twisted zombie-like creatures that emit electricity and are able to teleport. She eventually reunites with a wounded Radek, who warns her of a soldier recognized by Foster as "Gora". Reyes chooses to pursue Foster alone, leaving the Major locked in a warehouse.

Reyes finds a way to fight the creatures using the Frost Grip, a cutting-edge freezing equipment, and tracks down the briefcase in the hands of an H.C.O. scientist. An ominous sound is heard, leaving Reyes with no choice but to kill the scientist who turned hostile under the sound's influence. Her journey towards the surface is cut short when she gets trapped in a pressurized room by a cryptic agent Aptom, who worships a mysterious entity he refers to as "Him" and exposes Reyes to Daymare Toxin, a hallucinogenic gas designed for mind control, the same toxin that has been tested on the population on Keen Sight for years.

Reyes finally makes her way outside and reestablishes the contact with Volken, the helicopter pilot, but he is unable to land due to a raging sandstorm. Reyes manages to track down Foster, who is shot dead before revealing that  the real objective of Operation Sandcastle was to prevent Section 8 from discovering the Castle, a  secret research facility that was built in the depth beneath the Groom Lake. The contents of the briefcase is revealed to be a sample of blood.

Reyes is haunted by the vision of her sister Helen, who has been presumed dead for years. She encounters Aptom again, who saves her life but strikes her as soon as he hears the same unearthly sound from before and shatters the vial with the blood sample.

Reyes find her way into an underground city, where the Castle personnel were forced to live with their families. She finally confronts Gora, the last surviving member of Section 8, and the two manage to reach the entrance gate before they are ambushed by the surviving Radek, who drags Gora into the Castle. Shocked by Radek's betrayal, Reyes is losing hope when her device picks up a signal, which is revealed to be from an old D.I.D. prototype she made for Helen, who was living in the Castle for years and was personally involved with the experiments carried out in the underground laboratories, including  admistrating the Daymare Toxin to the Groom Lake researchers to make them compliant with using human test subjects.

The truth behind the occurrences at the facility is slowly revealed to Reyes. She learns of a prehistoric creature, named by the researchers Ogre, that ended up trapped beneath the Castle during one of the teleportation experiments, whose  blood and body fluids were used on the T-3 subjects, one of whom was Brian, Helen's lover and member of the H.A.D.ES. unit in charge of the Castle security established by Foster himself. The former Commander, however, was pursuing his own interests as he was planning to sell Ogre's blood sample to Kuronosu.

Following her sister's trail, Reyes makes it to the Sarcophagus, Ogre's resting place, where she confronts Aptom, revealed to be Brian suffering from a dissociative identity disorder, who fell under the creature's influence and became obsessed with freeing it. Just before shooting himself, Brian confesses he had killed Helen. Despite her death, Helen's consciousness remains connected to Ogre and she is able to communicate with Reyes due to the strong bond they share. Reyes is urged by her sister to put Ogre to rest but she is stopped by the sudden appearance of Gora who, under the influence of D-Toxin, attempts to salvage the research data. Reyes shoots Gora but is too late to stop Helen's body from being reanimated by Ogre's life energy, turning her into one of the mutated creatures.

Radek arrives with Volken on a helicopter but fails to rescue Reyes, as Volken is unable to land despite Radek's plea.  Reyes is left behind in the middle of a sandstorm, where she sees Helen once again and the sisters reconcile.

In the epilogue, Volken is commended for his heroic actions in saving his superior,  earning him a codename "Sandman". To avoid his ordered execution, Radek reluctantly accepts Hexacore's offer to take up a new identity, and he is transfered to unit Delta under the name agent Liev, hoping to avenge Reyes one day.

Reyes is revealed to have survived the sandstorm as she awakens in a nearly destroyed facility, where she activates a working teleporting device. Led by Helen's voice in her head, she contemplates injecting herself with the last sample of Ogre's blood that would allow her to pass through the portal, leaving her fate unknown.

## Development

The game is the second entry of the planned *Daymare* trilogy.It was officially revealed in May, 2021. The first playable demo for the game was availabe during Steam Next Fest from February 22-28, 2022. The final demo was released on May 11, 2023. The game was released on August 30, 2023.

## Gameplay

*Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle* does not feature the *Classic 90s* mode with the realistic reloading system of its predecessor. Instead, the player has to rely on the Frost Grip, a new type of weapon that utilizes liquid nitrogen, which becomes an essential tool for survival and puzzle solving. The D.I.D. inventory system has been redesigned to be more intuitive for the modern gamers familiar with the RE Engine *Resident Evil* games and the *Dead Space* series. Additionally, the healing system has been simplified with the healing fluids having been replaced with traditional medipacks. The collectible encrypted files feature has been modified, allowing the files to be read inside the game with the help of a scanner. The unlockables system includes additional bonuses such as gallery arts and infinte ammo being unlocked for completing challenges.

### Difficulty

* *Story*
* *Normal* - standard difficulty
* *Hardcore -* Features stronger enemies, less resources and disabled aim assist
* *H.A.D.E.S.* - unlocked for completing the game with an A rank. Features stronger enemies than on the Hardcore difficulty and all available upgrades from the previous playthrough. This difficulty cannot be lowered on death screen.

### Ranking

* **S rank** - complete the game on *Hardcore* difficulty under 6 hours with no death
* **A rank** - complete the game on any difficulty under 10 hours
* **B rank** - any result below the A rank requirements

## Trivia

* The game features a cameo by Charlie Kraslavsky, the actor who portrayed Chris Redfield in the original *Resident Evil.* He voices a H.A.D.E.S. agent who makes a sarcastic remark about Reyes needing an umbrella. This is the second case of a *Resident Evil* actor appearing in the series, following Paul Haddad as the Cleaner.
* Early build of the game featured an alternative Lair Dam prologue, where Reyes visits a shooting range and greets agent West.
* Limited SEA physical edition by the publisher 4Divinity contains the additional physical goodies:
	+ Lab report from the facility
	+ QR code with a message from an anonymous person
	+ H.A.D.E.S.’s original notebook
	+ Polaroid photo
	+ Secret Message 80’s Cassette Tape (includes hints for finding weapon skins hidden in the game)

## Links

* Official website - *daymarethegame.com*
* Steam Store page

## References

1. ↑ Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle Interview with Michele Giannone - *gamingbolt.com*
2. ↑ Announcement trailer
3. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/daymare-1994-sandcastle-playable-demo-next-week-steam-next-fest
4. ↑ Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle - Charlie Kraslavsky cameo reveal
5. ↑ Charlie Kraslavsky's cameo
6. ↑ Pre-released playthrough
7. ↑ Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle launches on August 31 in SEA