We’ve already taken a look at “The Rake: Remastered”, the “original” game that helped to kickstart Roblox’s horror genre. Up next, we have “The Rake: Whispering Pines,” an obvious spin-off of The Rake that at least attempts to offer up its own unique take. Well, by “unique” I mean it takes bits and pieces from other games, and combines them into one.
The basics are the same as any other such game: You find yourself stranded in a wooded area while being hunted by a humanoid creature hellbent on your demise. You simply must “survive the night” against said creature. Over and over again. (It’s always funny to picture Roblox games in real life. Like, why would you stay here night after night instead of just leaving during the day?)
It should be noted that the game is currently in development, with a 4-phase plan in place before it’s considered “done”. This update, released October, 2022, brings it up to version 1.75. A planned update for tomorrow (Halloween) will bring it up to 2.5, effectively marking a little over halfway through its development cycle. I’ve been keeping an eye on this one since its public beta a couple of months ago, and have been able to track its progress since. And let me tell you, it has been quite an interesting journey.
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| Update 1.73 brings new Halloween decor, along with other gameplay changes. |
For the past three months, I fucking hated this game. I hated it. So much so that I had a full, scathing review written. The public beta showed so much promise, but that was replaced by a Rake that was too difficult to escape. Add in a border made almost entirely of invisible walls (one of my ultimate pet peeves) and we were left with a maddening exercise in futility. What was once a promising take on the creature quickly became one of the most consistently frustrating experiences I’d ever come across. Every time I played it, I ended up rage-quitting almost immediately, vowing out loud to never play it again. Eventually, my curiosity would get the best of me. I still followed their Discord and eagerly awaited new updates (secretly) as they were released, hoping it got better. I’m not kidding when I say I wanted to like this game. With the planned update for “Rake: Remastered” put off indefinitely, I needed some Rake games to satisfy my cravings in the meantime. But I was still ready to write this one off.
Somewhat thankfully, I must say this update has staved off my hatred, and turned it into relative indifference. It’s no longer a scourge of my existence, but rather an experience that I could either take or leave. As underwhelming as it may sound, it once again proves there’s potential in the material. It’s all a matter of harnessing it and turning it into something polished and more coherent.
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| The second tower, which contains a shop. |
The latest update gives the game quite a revamp. Most notably, it adds a second tower containing a shop; some new survival items; weapons, and with it, a clunky combat system; lockers and corpses to forage from; Halloween decorations on the cabin and towers; fall foliage; and probably a lot more minor things that I’m forgetting. Overall, the game looks very good after the update, which is no surprise, considering it also looked very good before.
That’s one thing that virtually every iteration of “Whispering Pines” has done so well. No matter how much I hated the game, I’ve always had to give credit to the visual design. My wife - who somehow despises the game even more than me - also agrees. This time around, the changes are even more eye-grabbing. The graphics have always been a high point, but the day-night cycles are much, much smoother. It’s brilliant watching the sunset shine through the fall trees, casting an orange hue on everything. It's little things like this that, visually at least, really elevate the game above most of its peers. (Another cool touch: Nighttime lasts a bit longer, emulating the shorter days and loooong nights of real-life winter.)
The Rake’s AI has also been partially overhauled. I can’t say for sure what has changed, but he ends up looking like a doofus half the time. I’ve seen people run around him in circles while he frantically chases them; fall off the observation tower because he couldn’t get to the top; and on more than one occasion, I’ve seen him get stuck. Like, completely stuck. The first time he froze next to the shop tower for 5 minutes, until night ended. Just, out in the open, with nothing causing it. The second time probably would have had a similar outcome had someone not run toward him to (intentionally) free him. And the third time my wife and I watched as he got stuck to the side of a rock wall for a solid two minutes. (At least that time he managed to break free.) It is worth noting that the AI is a work in progress at this point, so bugs are naturally to be expected. The next update is expected to see the complete AI revamp make its debut.
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| The violence quotient has been upped. |
The main reason why I despised this game so much: No one else ever played it. If they did, they were in and out within the span of a night. Surviving alone was stupidly impossible. I would always die within 30 seconds of nightfall, no exaggeration. Rake would spawn to a nearby location (something I still think he does, rather than exiting its cave), go straight for me, and no matter what I did, I ended up dying. Once, I hid inside the cabin, which has three different escape options. I stood by the closed back door, fully expecting Rake to bust in the front (which is already open). If it started to come in the back, I would just run out the open door up front. I figured this would be a great idea that would buy me some time to find safety.
Ten seconds into night, that prick just opens the door next to me and kills me. Literally. No build-up, no fidgeting with the door handle, no attempts to break it down…he just turned the knob like it was nothing and opened it up. Despite having nails three times the length of Cardi B’s. That moment, and the time he teleported to my location just to kill me right before the end of night, were just two (of many) moments that left a bad taste in my mouth.
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| The tower at night with its lights on. |
But the greatest thing this new update has done technically doesn’t have anything direct to do with the game itself: It brought players. It has brought forth more interest. Not a ton, but consistent players nonetheless. Now surviving is actually possible! And that’s something I never thought I’d say about “Whispering Pines”. Once you get the hang of the map, all you have to do is hang out at one of the two towers, stay there until he comes, and then run toward the other tower. That seems to be the closest thing to a “foolproof” survival method I’ve found. (Also, just crouch to regenerate stamina without turning around if he's onto you, and just keep running as soon as your stamina regens.) Once again, it’s worth noting that his AI is still in the process of being reworked. And from the sounds of things it’s going to get infinitely tougher, so these tips won't apply for much longer.
Despite being almost halfway through its development cycle, the game is clearly still in its infancy. Well, maybe not infancy, but whatever it is, it’s not quite a teenager. The combat mechanics are clunky and underdone; the Rake tracker is the worst one ever made; the use of invisible walls, though reduced, is still frustrating; and the time between rounds is very boring. Opening lockers and going through corpses just isn’t nearly enough to justify the two or so minutes of daytime. (It probably only feels that way to me because I'm so used to "Rake: ZRK", which has a whole plethora of things to do to while you wait for night to fall.)
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| The default lantern gives off very little light. |
Thankfully, these issues have been addressed by the developer. In my previous (unpublished) review, I excoriated him for not listening to his fanbase. They would mention something about the game (usually Rake’s speed being too quick, leading to survival difficulties) and he would come back with a cold answer. It was always something along the lines of how he could beat any night without powerups, so why couldn’t we? (“Skill issue,” was the frequent response.) Now, he seems more open to new ideas. When people suggested surviving solo is too hard, he mentioned plans for upping the difficulty based on number of people in the server. Other ideas, which were once subject to resistance, are being met with similar understanding.
However, at the same time, he has stated that future updates are only going to get harder. The Rake's AI rewrite, for starters, will allow him to hide and ambush players. Staples of other Rake games (power generators and stun sticks, for example) are being quashed in favor of more "realistic" features. The combat system is being reworked to make it much more difficult to kill him. From the sounds of things, he's going for more of a "Rake Simulator" type of game, rather than a casual one. As someone who's generally uninterested in combat (much to the chagrin of fellow players), I can respect that. I've always felt the focus in Rake games should be on survival, rather than defeating the creature. If someone found themselves stranded in a forest with a murderous creature hellbent on their demise, fighting it would be the last thing on their minds.
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| It's visually arresting, if nothing else. |
As it stands now, there's just something missing, and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. It's nowhere near as fun as "ZRK", and nowhere near as scary as "Rake: Remastered". The latest batch of updates have certainly pushed it in a much better direction, but it can still go either way from here. Will it have that missing spark? Or will it be too much of a "simulation" to be entertaining?
Hopefully, he'll find the right compromise between his own vision, and those of his players. After all, if you create a game only for yourself, you can't get upset when no one else wants to play it.
OVERALL: 5/10 (+3 from previous update)
NOTE: Update 2.5 is scheduled for release tomorrow (10/31). I'll be sure to update this review once I get a chance to spend some quality time with it.
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