Hollowbody overview – An exhilarating PSX-style expertise that remixes the traditional survival horror method

Neglect all in regards to the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake, for now at the very least. Hollowbody is the newest survival horror recreation on the scene, and when VG247 beforehand described it as one in all our most anticipated horror video games, we had good motive to take action. Hollowbody is an distinctive expertise that pays homage to many cult classics, whereas forging a singular legacy of its very personal.

Enjoying as Mica, you might be an unlicensed black market shipper in a dystopian British metropolis. And whereas Mica’s dwelling in Hollowbody’s world seems futuristic, with flying vehicles and neon hues, it’s the exclusion zone the place you’ll be spending most of your time as she strives to search out her lacking companion, Sasha. As newspaper clippings, posters, and the array of corpses slowly reveal, this exclusion zone was one struck with catastrophe; a catastrophe that killed off many civilians and stripped them of their properties, and this catastrophe was removed from pure. The truth is, it seems to have been manufactured in a lab, so earlier than you realize it, Hollowbody is already offering you with a stark reminder of Resident Evil’s organic terrors.

This isn’t all that there’s to Hollowbody’s story, nonetheless. The intricate and provocative world-building out there permits you, as Mica, to actually sink your tooth into these crumbling residences and desolate streets, and the tales of the individuals who as soon as walked them. The discoveries you make and radio alerts you tune into are so transferring at instances that it’s onerous to not evaluate the experiences of those characters to the very actual experiences of actual individuals in 2024. Hollowbody could appear dystopian and futuristic, however in the end, it tells an extremely pertinent story.

Hollowbody rewards essentially the most attentive of gamers, however is in the end a strong starter dish for any horror fan awaiting the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake. From the environments, to the enemies, to the music; Hollowbody manages to nail the Silent Hill environment and aesthetic tastefully, whereas offering gamers with an entirely distinct expertise. Enemies that resemble Mendacity Figures lurk, with a few of them having tentacles protruding from their heads which can be paying homage to these contaminated with Las Plagas in Resident Evil 4.

The soundtrack is redolent of Akira Yamaoka’s work on Silent Hill; it’s eerie, industrial, and builds stress like nothing else. Even the sport’s UI jogs my memory of Signalis, one other Silent Hill-inspired indie endeavor that I can’t advocate sufficient. To place it merely, Hollowbody is a survival horror feast that harkens again to the nice ol’ PSX-horror days, and it does this with the utmost ardour.

Those that derive as a lot pleasure — amongst different feelings — from Hollowbody as I did will likely be happy to know that there’s extra in retailer for the sport. Not solely is it a brief endeavor that lasted me round 5-6 hours (though, you may positively end this a lot faster than I did), however there’s secret endings and easter eggs to be present in extra playthroughs. Notably, a secret ending involving the developer’s canine… which sounds very Silent Hill 2 if you happen to ask me. There’s a first-person mode to expertise in later runs, in addition to extra difficulties, and even a Ghost within the Shell-inspired outfit for Mica for many who end the sport.

As you progress by means of the ruined British streets in Hollowbody and piece collectively the tales of people who as soon as lived there, you’ll additionally discover that there’s extra to Hollowbody than meets the attention. No, I’m not speaking about secret endings and Easter eggs.

Suppose unending corridors and eco-systems that harken again to Scorn and even The Borderlands (the 2013 movie from Elliot Goldner, not that one), or ‘blink and also you’ll miss it’ moments that remind me of Sam Barlow’s Immortality. These would possibly offer you an thought of what I’m getting at, but when not, it’s greatest you expertise how Hollowbody toys with you and your sanity first-hand; maintain a really cautious eye in your atmosphere. That’s all I’ll say.

Solo developer, Nathan Hamley of Headware Video games, funded Hollowbody by way of Kickstarter and there are nonetheless extra targets to succeed in, with the following and ultimate stretch purpose being an added mall setting impressed by Silent Hill 3. The newest function to be funded, however not but added, is the flexibility to set enemy corpses alight, impressed by The Evil Inside.

Hollowbody is a testomony to the work of Hamley, and is phenomenal inside its personal proper, however the dedication to varied cult traditional horror and sci-fi video games solely provides to how enamored I used to be with the sport; that is the way you make a recreation closely impressed by different media whereas making an entire new expertise totally, in a nutshell. However don’t get me incorrect, Hollowbody is a lot greater than its inspirations, made up of a number of transferring elements that present followers of the survival horror style with one thing new and refreshing.

Hollowbody was reviewed on PC with a code supplied by the writer.