Now that it is after Halloween, I have decided to play a spooky game. I have wanted to play this game since it was released, but there were other games that needed to be played before this one. I am a fan of homages to older spooky games, so I went in with my head held high and came out feeling a little wonky. I’m happy overall that I got to experience a game like this.

This week is Hollowbody

Hollowbody is a survival horror game from Headware Games. The game was released on Steam in September and retails for $17.

Players take control of Mica, a black market shipper attempting to locate her missing partner, Sasha. She has been gone for twelve days, and Mica takes it upon herself to hitch a ride with a border security agent who needs some extra funds to look for her in the exclusion zone. Typical horror movie things happen, the navigation systems give out, and the hover car crash lands just short of the intended target, and now Mica has to make her way to find her partner and then call for a way out.

Hollowbody’s narrative is quite refreshing as it paints the exclusion zone as any typical war-torn area, but there is something more going on. As you pick up notes, analyze bodies, and just glance around these decrepit areas, you learn of the atrocities of what happened to both the area and the people that were stuck there. The same old story of promised government intervention that leads to nothing but death and destruction.

When I think of horror games from times past, I really only ever think about the mechanics or inconveniences that really made me dislike them, and Hollowbody remedies a lot of the things. Firstly, I noticed that tank controls were an option that were not on as default but can be toggled if you hate yourself. I never really understood why people liked tank controls to be with, for it just makes movement so much worse, but I like the add-in.

I like that Hollowbody both autosaves and has that good ‘ol phone save system that horror games like to have, though the save points in this game lend a hand to the psychological horror aspect of the game, so saving is pertinent to the story while harking back to old systems.

I still hate the dynamic (fixed) camera or whatever it is called.

Hollowbody‘s gameplay is just that of its inspiration. The player moves around really tight corridors a majority of the time. It has gross-looking creatures, self-reflective story beats, an inventory system that requires ten button presses to get anything done, etc. It is all very similar, maybe to similar for my liking.

The combat is one place where Hollowbody shines. Once you acquire your first weapon, you will notice that when enemies are in proximity, which they will be A LOT of the time, the auto-aim will take over so that you are not constantly fidgeting to get a line of sight of the baddie. Mica is also given melee weapons to fend off the undead, and though a little bit wonky in the execution, melee weapons provide another avenue of fighting that is much more dangerous but is effective in dispatching bad guys.

These fungus-like corpses that march towards you are pretty unaffected by the wide array of melee and long-ranged weapons, which keeps the dread of occupying a small space with them. When the player was hit, I felt like I was actually being harmed as the screen abruptly shook, and a flash of red and a warning sign popped up to reinforce that something bad was happening.

Atmosphere is the second section where Hollowbody shines through. The game is quiet until there is some horror around attempting to scratch you to death. Each area has its own little horror moments, and I feel like I am playing a PS2 game in almost every scene. There are moments that truly encapsulate the psychological horror like the phone calls that Mica has when the game saves. These calls never once comfort the player; they always harp on the actions that the player has taken up until this point.

Hollowbody‘s puzzles are a nice break from survival horror. There are some that are more obscure than others, but I never felt like I totally missed the object that I needed to solve the puzzle. In the essence of time, I did not complete the optional disk puzzle that I entered really late, but I did end up going back on a second playthrough to see what all the hubbub was about.

I like Hollowbody, though I had some hang-ups. I like the tragic story of one woman’s search, through bioterror-ridden areas, for her partner. I really like the atmosphere, from the close quarters that remind me of predecessors to the open areas towards the end of the game. It takes a lot from the games that made the genre what it is today, but it still has enough to remain a unique adventure. Sure, the fixed cameras and shooting can get a bit lackluster when two enemies are standing next to each other, but Hollowbody stands on its own as a truly spooky game.

Hollowbody is a homage to PS2-era horror games that introduce unique and welcomed quality-of-life updates and allow itself to be an enjoyable experience.

7/10