Pray and spray
By Paul Hunter
Crisol: Theater of Idols was made for horror fans like me who grew up on games like Resident Evil and BioShock and love their horror dripping in style and lore. Vermila Studios and Blumhouse Games team up for a first-person horror shooter that focuses heavily on Spanish religious imagery and local legends. The whole game takes place on Tormentosa, a cursed island that somehow fits cathedrals, street processions, and a nightmarish fair into one tight package.
From the start, Crisol sets out to be more than just another spooky corridor shooter. You explore a delectable mix of semi-open areas filled with intricate buildings oozing with rich histories. You also quickly get introduced to the unique gun-shooting gameplay mechanic where your own blood is used to create the bullets. Draining blood lowers your health, so your offense and survival are inexorably linked.
It is a roughly 12-hour campaign that focuses on keeping the experience tight and replayable. If you're looking for a focused horror experience that wears its BioShock inspiration on its sleeve, there is a lot to get excited about here. Let’s dive in to find out more!
Tormentosa itself feels like a main character. The island is shaped by Spanish faith and ritual, with holy statues and shrines frozen in mid-ceremony, and blood red ghost visions that retell past events from the island before it collapsed. The story turns these religious symbols against you, one of the best examples is Dolores, a towering figure based on the Holy Week statue who steps into the role of stalker enemy, much like Nemesis from Resident Evil 3. When the story brings her back, you know it's time to run and hide.
What helps the story work is how often it reinforces the island’s past through environmental clues. Another highlight are Gabriel’s chats with Mediodia, a blunt, talkative ally who communicates to him via radio, as she gives context on the gods, the cults, and the history of Tormentosa, plus she's quite funny. Between major chapters, sketch-like animated scenes show the higher-level conflict between the Sun God and the Sea God, giving you glimpses into this longstanding conflict. Taken together, it feels like a complete horror story that ties each area together in a satisfying way.
The way you recover health is either by injecting yourself with syringes or more often than not you'll end up draining the blood of dead humans or animals lying around the environments. You have to be smart with what gun to use and when, since your pistol is weak but drains the least amount of blood, while your shotgun or sniper rifle can one-shot most enemies but require significant blood to refill ammo.
Exploration and progression involves making your way around twisty zones to unlock shortcuts or figure out how to access secret rooms you can spot on the map. Those side paths usually reward you with Raven Skulls used for skill upgrades or Silver Bulls that can be cashed in for permanent weapon upgrades. There are also a fair number of interesting puzzles to solve, like one revolving around mixing the proper amount of alcoholic drinks and another that has you chasing a blue pipe around the map to unlock the water flow.
The Tormentosa Fair is your main hub stop between chapters. There you can visit La Planidera, a merchant who turns valuables into better guns, increased number of syringes, and a more durable knife. You can also have fun on fair attractions to earn tickets that trade for special items. Together, the combat and upgrade systems make Crisol feel like a horror game where you are always nudging your build forward. The whole gameplay setup comes together quite nicely, offering a strong survival horror shooter rhythm.
It also helps that each area has several key landmarks that are easy to spot due to their distinctive architecture. You also have a detailed map to consult in case you need direction, and zones are coloured red if they still contain items you can nab, similar to the Resident Evil games. I also loved the blood effects when you load ammo, they look painful and really help sell the risk of using your health as ammo.
Audio-wise, the game has helpful directional sound, letting you hear dolls and other threats shifting around nearby before you spot them. The soundtrack uses hymns, processional beats, and choirs to make the cathedrals and streets come to life, and it works well. Voice acting is solid across the main cast, with Mediodia’s radio dialogue and La Planidera’s shop talk being standouts. In terms of performance, my time on PS5 was smooth, with stable frame rates and quick loading between the Tormentosa Fair hub and main areas.
Final Score: 8/10 - Great
Developer: Vermila Studios
Publisher: Blumhouse Games
Genre: Action Adventure, First-Person Shooter
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
Crisol: Theater of Idols was made for horror fans like me who grew up on games like Resident Evil and BioShock and love their horror dripping in style and lore. Vermila Studios and Blumhouse Games team up for a first-person horror shooter that focuses heavily on Spanish religious imagery and local legends. The whole game takes place on Tormentosa, a cursed island that somehow fits cathedrals, street processions, and a nightmarish fair into one tight package.
From the start, Crisol sets out to be more than just another spooky corridor shooter. You explore a delectable mix of semi-open areas filled with intricate buildings oozing with rich histories. You also quickly get introduced to the unique gun-shooting gameplay mechanic where your own blood is used to create the bullets. Draining blood lowers your health, so your offense and survival are inexorably linked.
It is a roughly 12-hour campaign that focuses on keeping the experience tight and replayable. If you're looking for a focused horror experience that wears its BioShock inspiration on its sleeve, there is a lot to get excited about here. Let’s dive in to find out more!
Story and Narrative
Story-wise, Crisol: Theater of Idols goes all in on religious horror, and I really enjoyed that. You play as Gabriel Escudero, a captain of the Order of the Sun who is sent to Tormentosa by the Sun God. The mission is tied to a seal that keeps the Sea God locked away, as well as a cathedral that has been haunting Gabriel in his sleep. That mix of duty and obsession gives the whole plot a solid backbone right from the opening act.Tormentosa itself feels like a main character. The island is shaped by Spanish faith and ritual, with holy statues and shrines frozen in mid-ceremony, and blood red ghost visions that retell past events from the island before it collapsed. The story turns these religious symbols against you, one of the best examples is Dolores, a towering figure based on the Holy Week statue who steps into the role of stalker enemy, much like Nemesis from Resident Evil 3. When the story brings her back, you know it's time to run and hide.
What helps the story work is how often it reinforces the island’s past through environmental clues. Another highlight are Gabriel’s chats with Mediodia, a blunt, talkative ally who communicates to him via radio, as she gives context on the gods, the cults, and the history of Tormentosa, plus she's quite funny. Between major chapters, sketch-like animated scenes show the higher-level conflict between the Sun God and the Sea God, giving you glimpses into this longstanding conflict. Taken together, it feels like a complete horror story that ties each area together in a satisfying way.
Gameplay and Mechanics
If you like survival horror that makes you think about every bullet, Crisol: Theater of Idols really delivers. All your weapons are blood powered, so your health bar gets drained every time you refill ammo. Pulling the trigger on the pistol costs health, and switching to the shotgun, submachine gun, or sniper rifle ramps the blood cost up even further. The knife is also a key part of your loadout, letting you block, parry, and finish off staggered enemies without draining extra blood if you time things right.The way you recover health is either by injecting yourself with syringes or more often than not you'll end up draining the blood of dead humans or animals lying around the environments. You have to be smart with what gun to use and when, since your pistol is weak but drains the least amount of blood, while your shotgun or sniper rifle can one-shot most enemies but require significant blood to refill ammo.
Exploration and progression involves making your way around twisty zones to unlock shortcuts or figure out how to access secret rooms you can spot on the map. Those side paths usually reward you with Raven Skulls used for skill upgrades or Silver Bulls that can be cashed in for permanent weapon upgrades. There are also a fair number of interesting puzzles to solve, like one revolving around mixing the proper amount of alcoholic drinks and another that has you chasing a blue pipe around the map to unlock the water flow.
The Tormentosa Fair is your main hub stop between chapters. There you can visit La Planidera, a merchant who turns valuables into better guns, increased number of syringes, and a more durable knife. You can also have fun on fair attractions to earn tickets that trade for special items. Together, the combat and upgrade systems make Crisol feel like a horror game where you are always nudging your build forward. The whole gameplay setup comes together quite nicely, offering a strong survival horror shooter rhythm.
Presentation and Audio
Visually, Crisol: Theater of Idols does a strong job of selling its Spanish horror aesthetic. Tormentosa is filled with detailed church interiors, busy streets lined with religious posters, weird dolls that intrigue as much as terrify, and a charming fairground hub full of booths and rides. The lighting in particular is excellent, with dark hallways, wet cobblestones, and candlelit chapels giving each area its own flavour. Textures also hold up nicely up close or at distance, whether you are lining up shots on enemy cherubs or checking out intricate details on church artifacts.It also helps that each area has several key landmarks that are easy to spot due to their distinctive architecture. You also have a detailed map to consult in case you need direction, and zones are coloured red if they still contain items you can nab, similar to the Resident Evil games. I also loved the blood effects when you load ammo, they look painful and really help sell the risk of using your health as ammo.
Audio-wise, the game has helpful directional sound, letting you hear dolls and other threats shifting around nearby before you spot them. The soundtrack uses hymns, processional beats, and choirs to make the cathedrals and streets come to life, and it works well. Voice acting is solid across the main cast, with Mediodia’s radio dialogue and La Planidera’s shop talk being standouts. In terms of performance, my time on PS5 was smooth, with stable frame rates and quick loading between the Tormentosa Fair hub and main areas.
The Verdict
For me, Crisol: Theater of Idols on PS5 is a horror game I can happily recommend to long-time genre fans. The Spanish religious horror angle and cursed island setup give it a flavour you do not see often, and the blood-as-ammo combat keeps every fight intense. Roaming Tormentosa, dipping back into the fair hub, and slowly powering up your guns and health never stopped being satisfying. Strong audio and visuals pull it all together into a campaign I was happy to finish, and immediately dive back in for another run.Final Score: 8/10 - Great
Crisol: Theater of Idols details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PCDeveloper: Vermila Studios
Publisher: Blumhouse Games
Genre: Action Adventure, First-Person Shooter
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.