The recent trend in PS1 and PS2-style survival horror titles has had me very excited for the future of the genre. A number of titles to come out from this trend have instantly become some of my favorite games ever. It’s thanks to this indie survival horror movement that titles like Hollowbody have been piquing my interest for a while now. And while this new survival horror game tries very earnestly to replicate the feeling of mystery and tension of classics such as Silent Hill, Rule of Rose, or Haunting Ground, it unfortunately left me feeling disappointed.
My first impression of Hollowbody was very positive. The game starts with a moody opening in which a mysterious duo wearing hazmat suits walks towards a beach while talking vaguely about their lives and the state of the world. After the brief introduction to the world, players take control of protagonist Mica, a black market shipper who is looking for her partner Sasha, the playable character from the intro. After 12 agonizing days without news, their friend Tax sends them a way into the exclusion zone, a walled off part of the city that suffered some sort of unspecified disaster years back.
While the tone and mood of the intro is very promising, I quickly discovered that the game relies solely on these vibes and barely features a narrative framework. There isn’t a lot when it comes to storytelling or themes going on in Hollowbody. The whole game takes Mica from point A to point B without much fanfare. The gameplay exists not in service to the story or narrative, but as a cool thing to experience in between the intro and the conclusion of the game. This would be fine if either of those elements met expectations. However, the story isn’t elaborated on in any significant way and the ending is also vague, even if the vibes are cool. There’s just not a lot of substance there.
The game world is littered with files and notes from the inhabitants of the exclusion zone talking about the catastrophe that took place years in the past. However, these feel disconnected and barely relevant to Mica and Sasha’s situation. Similarly, the three characters featured in the game barely qualify as such. They have dialogue, but after playing the game through I still couldn’t tell you who they are, what they do, or why they are important to each other. Hollowbody relies too much on the player filling in wide gaps in basic storytelling and suspending their disbelief a great deal.
When it comes to its gameplay loop, Hollowbody doesn’t feel very inspired. Combat is clunky and better avoided, especially melee. Guns feel a bit better and they can take care of enemies effectively but, for the most part, it’s better to run away from enemies and ignore them. The puzzles littered throughout the environments aren’t too challenging and break up the pace of the game between exploration and combat. Combat being deemphasized could be a good thing if the level design was interesting. Unfortunately, the structure of the game is too close to that of Silent Hill 2, with its city map feeling like a downgrade of the iconic town. The more focused levels like the apartment building or underground metro station feel much better, with the second one having a visually interesting and trippy section that felt quite memorable.
Other than that, the maps feel too empty to be that big, again relying too much on its atmosphere to carry the game. Likewise, there is no reason for the city levels to be so long and filled with empty space and bland combat encounters. I understand that this was part of the allure of the streets of Silent Hill 2 back when that game released in 2001. However, mimicking elements from a 23-year-old video game to match the atmosphere only contributed to make Hollowbody feel dated and cumbersome. Especially when the game is constantly reminding me of games with such a pedigree as Silent Hill 2.
The best thing about Hollowbody is arguably its presentation. The game looks great and the atmosphere of this alternate universe UK is brimming with a foreboding feeling. The combination of noir and cyberpunk elements is a match made in heaven and the menus and UI elements are great. I found particularly interesting the HUD that appears when you find remains of a human body, telling a brief story of who they were and what happened to them. Even though I said that the game is mostly vibes, fortunately these are pretty strong. I also need to point out that Hollowbody was developed by a single person in its entirety, which is absolutely impressive.
Hollowbody has a pretty fascinating atmosphere and really strong vibes, but fails to deliver a fleshed-out survival horror experience. The game is clearly inspired by classic PS2 titles in the genre, but this comes at the expense of the game offering unique mechanics or a thoughtful narrative. And while I have pretty strong feelings about Hollowbody, I still want to jump back into New Game+ and try to get other endings and find answers to the mystery, no matter how vague they might be.
Hollowbody is available on PC via Steam.
A tech-noir survival horror short story, set in the urban decay of a long abandoned British city. Solve environmental puzzles, manage limited resources and fight for a way to escape beyond the wall.
Hollowbody is a striking and moody survival horror game inspired by classic PS2 titles, but offers little in terms of mechanics or narrative.
- The fixed camera angles are a huge plus in regards to the presentation, and I genuinely believe more games could benefit from such impeccable bespoke camera direction.
- I'm not sure if this affects the requirements for other endings, but I suspect that avoiding killing enemies could be important.
- The collectable C.O.T.A.C radio transmisions are an interesting way of doing worldbuilding.
Published: Sep 12, 2024 04:00 pm