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 persons 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; suppose the primary few Silent Hill video games, particularly Silent Hill 2, and a contact of Blade Runner. It goes heavy on environment, relying nearly solely 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 (except 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 quick introduction alludes to corruption and conspiracy across the true occasions of the disaster. The preliminary assaults focused cities “plagued by economic hardship and depravity,” and the affected areas have been walled off to include the unfold of any contagions — however not earlier than folks deemed to be “high value” residents have been allowed to flee to a synthetic island with a suspiciously utopic identify (Aeonis).
The sport opens with a bunch of researcher-activists who’ve convened at an entry website to one of many exclusion zones, the place they plan to go in quest of solutions. After certainly one of them, Sasha, goes lacking, her companion 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 means of: Mica staring out the massive glass window of an condominium overlooking a densely packed metropolis à la Blade Runner 2049; zipping between skyscrapers in a flying passenger car; having a cheeky dialog with an clever navigation system. Naturally, Mica crashes on the journey in, loses contact with the one one that may help her and has to make her method towards Sasha on foot.
From then on, the tech-noir bit slips principally 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 local extinction event.’ There are some touches of that distinct tech-infused imaginative and prescient — at one level, Mica passes a broken-down mech the dimensions of an condominium constructing, and there’s a glowing youngsters’s toy in a single room that appears vaguely robotic — nevertheless it’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 variety of puzzles to unravel as you discover derelict buildings and town’s parks attempting to determine tips on how 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 might ship me in circles although. It didn’t assist that the surfaces I used to be capable of work together with would typically proceed to show indicators like “Pick up” or “Seek” even after I took every part that might be used from them. In cluttered rooms, I discovered myself rechecking some spots time and again pondering I’d missed one thing. These prompts may 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 several residences.
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 very visceral soundscape. If ever Mica’s inside a constructing or underground construction, you could be positive it’ll be darkish and labyrinthine. It at all times felt like a monster was going to leap out at any second, regardless of that not normally being the case. (It was typically, 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 canine, too, plus a number of scuttling insectoid creatures that seemingly pose no menace past creeping you out. Cat-sized worm critters will slither proper previous you, and their hilariously clunky animation simply is perhaps probably the most PS2 factor about the complete recreation.
It’s not very combat-oriented — usually, you possibly can simply run previous the enemies — however there are weapons to return by, and some makeshift melee weapons. Utilizing the latter felt considerably stiff and gradual at occasions, notably when going through a bunch 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 avenue 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 might not be probably the most pragmatic strategy contemplating the heaviness, however the clang when it makes contact with its goal could be very satisfying.
There are our bodies in varied states of decay at each flip, and Mica’s scanner offers you an prompt learn on the deceased to get a way of who they have been and the way they died. In lots of cases, the trigger is nothing paranormal: dehydration, hunger, homicide, and so forth. A backstory kinds by means 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 folks within the quarantined space afterward, who may solely survive so long as their dwindling assets allowed.
Mica finds a discover of impending lease hikes, a letter that mentions the disruption of development 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 word 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 check a actuality wherein 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 an easy method. (At the very least, not with the ending I reached and all of the supplies I collected.) Probably 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, nevertheless it’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 effectively, 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 stupendous, 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 problem 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 strong survival horror title that feels particularly spectacular whenever you bear in mind 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 proper notes.
