In Hollowbody, an early 2000s-style third-person survival horror recreation by Nathan Hamley (the solo developer behind Headware Video games), the true terror comes not from its hideous monsters, however from inhabiting a world the place common individuals are failed by the system and left to die.
Hollowbody is an homage to the PlayStation 2-era classics that helped outline the style. It additionally provides a “tech-noir” spin; assume the primary few Silent Hill video games, particularly Silent Hill 2, and a contact of Blade Runner. It goes heavy on ambiance, relying nearly totally on tension-building reasonably than motion to create a way of palpable unease. And whereas the sport resurrects PS2 graphics, it does not topic you to tank controls (until you need them, then there’s a toggle for that, sickos).
It’s set within the not-too-distant future in a ruined metropolis someplace within the British Isles, many years after the area was struck by a supposed organic assault and later bombed whereas underneath quarantine. A short introduction alludes to corruption and conspiracy across the true occasions of the disaster. The preliminary assaults focused cities “tormented by financial hardship and depravity,” and the affected areas have been walled off to comprise the unfold of any contagions — however not earlier than individuals deemed to be “excessive worth” residents have been allowed to flee to a synthetic island with a suspiciously utopic title (Aeonis).
The sport opens with a gaggle of researcher-activists who’ve convened at an entry web site to one of many exclusion zones, the place they plan to go looking for solutions. After certainly one of them, Sasha, goes lacking, her accomplice Mica units out in a hover automobile to seek out her at any price.
It’s on this early sequence that we actually see the tech-noir a part of Hollowbody’s description come by way of: Mica staring out the massive glass window of an house overlooking a densely packed metropolis à la Blade Runner 2049; zipping between skyscrapers in a flying passenger automobile; having a cheeky dialog with an clever navigation system. Naturally, Mica crashes on the trip in, loses contact with the one one who may also help her and has to make her means towards Sasha on foot.
From then on, the tech-noir bit slips largely out of focus till it swings again round on the finish of the sport, and Hollowbody takes on the extra conventional survival horror mould of ‘science experiment turned native extinction occasion.’ There are some touches of that distinct tech-infused imaginative and prescient — at one level, Mica passes a broken-down mech the scale of an house constructing, and there’s a glowing kids’s toy in a single room that appears vaguely robotic — but it surely’s not precisely pervasive. Mica’s private gadgetry and the styling of the stock menu function the one actual reminders of that angle for a lot of the recreation.
There are a selection of puzzles to unravel as you discover derelict buildings and town’s parks making an attempt to determine the best way to get the hell out of there. The options to most of those are pretty apparent when you’ve come throughout the clues sprinkled round every location, so the enjoyable is extra within the exploration.
There was an occasional head-scratcher that may ship me in circles although. It didn’t assist that the surfaces I used to be capable of work together with would generally proceed to show indicators like “Choose up” or “Search” even after I took every part that may very well be used from them. In cluttered rooms, I discovered myself rechecking some spots time and again considering I’d missed one thing. These prompts will even seem in some locations only for the sake of getting Mica make inconsequential observations, like commenting on the soiled dishes or sheets which have gone years unwashed, and she or he’ll say the identical remarks repeatedly as she encounters the identical setups in numerous flats.
Fortunately, that doesn’t detract a lot from how unnerving the setting is. The music is haunting, and it combines with heightened environmental noises like rain, radio static and Mica’s echoing footsteps to create a extremely visceral soundscape. If ever Mica’s inside a constructing or underground construction, you might be positive it’ll be darkish and labyrinthine. It all the time felt like a monster was going to leap out at any second, regardless of that not often being the case. (It was generally, although.) Outdoors, Mica is uncovered, and it doesn’t take lengthy for monsters to note her and begin congregating round her.
The monsters themselves are splendidly disgusting. There are bipedal abominations, some emaciated whereas others are top-heavy and headless, with gross tendrils flailing out from their higher halves. Hollowbody has some demon canines, too, plus a number of scuttling insectoid creatures that seemingly pose no risk past creeping you out. Cat-sized worm critters will slither proper previous you, and their hilariously clunky animation simply may be essentially the most PS2 factor about your complete recreation.
It’s not very combat-oriented — typically, you possibly can simply run previous the enemies — however there are weapons to come back by, and some makeshift melee weapons. Utilizing the latter felt considerably stiff and sluggish at instances, significantly when going through a gaggle of beasts, however I used to be nonetheless capable of make do favoring bludgeoning instruments to preserve ammunition. And I delighted within the gushy thwack of my road signal ax connecting with monster flesh. I additionally liked that Mica can seize an electrical guitar off the wall and use it as a weapon. It will not be essentially the most pragmatic method contemplating the heaviness, however the clang when it makes contact with its goal may be very satisfying.
There are our bodies in varied states of decay at each flip, and Mica’s scanner will provide you with an instantaneous learn on the deceased to get a way of who they have been and the way they died. In lots of situations, the trigger is nothing paranormal: dehydration, hunger, homicide, and so on. A backstory varieties by way of paperwork and audio flashbacks which can be activated at sure websites, telling of economic struggles and gentrification within the metropolis lengthy earlier than the organic catastrophe, and the eventual desolation endured by the individuals within the quarantined space afterward, who might solely survive so long as their dwindling sources allowed.
Mica finds a discover of impending lease hikes, a letter that mentions the disruption of building happening in any respect hours of the night time and a late discover for unpaid utilities payments displaying month-to-month costs had quadrupled. She comes throughout a be aware left behind by a dying man, wishing for a greater future for his household and humanity. In a single post-quarantine recording, ravenous civilians pleading to go away town are gunned down by armed forces. It’s all extremely bleak, and I didn’t should droop my disbelief very a lot to ascertain a actuality through which issues would pan out like this.
However an evidence as to why there are horrid, fleshy humanoid monsters roaming the streets by no means totally reveals itself in a simple means. (No less than, not with the ending I reached and all of the supplies I collected.) Essentially the most substantial trace on that entrance got here from a single newspaper clipping, the contents of which I’d reasonably not spoil right here. The article crops the seed of an concept, but it surely’s largely as much as the participant to fill within the blanks past that.
There are touching snippets of Mica and Sasha’s story as nicely, however the duo’s connection to this place and obvious significance inside its current goings-on by no means fairly acquired the neat wrap-up I hoped for. Whereas the ending was a ravishing, emotional scene that felt prefer it introduced the story full circle thematically, it additionally left me with the sensation of, Wait, what simply occurred? It looks like there are different endings, although, which can show extra conclusive on subsequent playthroughs. Beating the sport additionally unlocks a tougher issue possibility and a first-person dungeon crawler mode, which instantly made every part really feel scarier after I switched it on.
Even with its shortcomings, Hollowbody is a stable survival horror title that feels particularly spectacular once you consider the truth that it was made by a solo indie developer. Vibes are a part of what made its predecessors unforgettable, and Hollowbody’s oppressive temper hits all the suitable notes.
Trending Merchandise
