House On The Hill Game Review [A MUST FOR HORROR FANS!]
Youkoso! And Arigato Assistant Director Shelley-San for the starting footage! 1nteger-San here, with another early access review, so be kind, but with this one, I think we'll be fine.
Steppe Hare Studio Early Access Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1239050/House_on_the_Hill
What is it and how'd you play?
House on the Hill is a first-person story driven horror game. You play as a thief trapped in a totally-not-scary-at-all, completely-normal-completely-empty-mansion. Each choice can open a new mystery of the house and lead to a unique walkthrough and ending. Uncover the final secret of the house. Uncover, your own secrets!
In this review, we take a full look around the House on the Hill, created and published by Russian outfit Steppe Hare Studio. (I think I remember J saying they're Russian right, so I hope I haven't nationalised them incorrectly, otherwise we'll just blame JK).
It's available on Windows via Steam for £5.19 and released in early access on the 29th July 2020. We completed it in just under or over 3hrs give or take a toilet break or 2, with only 1 achievement still locked of the 11 available.
Scary, concise and memorable
We played it 4K maxed and used our trusted keyboard and mouse (controller support didn't seem ready to me) and you can watch the entire blind playthrough in the link in the description or top right of the screen if I've added it. Although, play it first man, you own it to yourself that much!
Ok, review scoring format, so 5 is average, 0 is a game manifested as an STD and 10 is like this review, 99.73% spoiler-free, 76.2% informative and 100% opinionated facts! The footage playing throughout is purposefully early & tame as I want you to experience the scares and secrets for yourself.
Also because you're super-smart people watching this right now, I don't need to tell you subscribe, set the bell to fully uncut mode and like video now or after you've decided my factual review opinions match you're own, as is typically with us humans.
So, Arigatō gozaimasu! Let's begin...
The Good
• Great story with a good story twist and some room to think about it after the fact.
• Great atmosphere, nice visuals and use of sound.
• Easy to play (in terms of flow and pacing).
• Frustration-free puzzles.
• Multiple perspectives in core location and how it's both presented and executed is done well.
• Good performance and stability.
• Price point to content ratio is perfect in my opinion.
• Has and uses good influences of games like Layers of Fear and material such as Cthulhu, worth mentioning if you like such things.
The Bad
• Puzzles might be considered to be a little too easy for most.
• Not really much replay value despite what the advertising says as all of the scenarios and secrets (judging by achievements unlocked in one sitting) can be experienced in one playthrough.
• Doesn't seem to be as open in exploration as advertised as many areas are cordoned off until natural progression is made with some order choice only.
• This game does rely a lot on jump-scares and loud sound effect / voice jumps (due to increased volume or the assets original volume left unmastered at its original high volume, might be an issue for some).
• I think I remember 1 instance or 3 of subtitle grammatically errors, but nothing internet would notice these days judging by grammar these days.
The Ugly
• Well, I have nothing ugly to say about it...
The Score
10/10
...so, you can probably guess what my score for this gem of an indie game is gonna be, considering I have nothing really bad or ugly to say about it, this is officially, despite being in early access form, our first: 10 out of 10 game.
It's a blast to experience and with the price point and the easy play flow and constant upping of the ante al the way to its conclusion, I can't do anything else but highly recommend this indie horror game! Audience reaction was good and it was one of the most highlight-filled games we've ever played.
It's an excellent choice if none of it's minor bad points bother you and you're a fan of horror. And it's price is nothing to grumble about.
Well done Steppe Hare Studio, you're the 1nteger TVs first recorded 10 out of 10 review, and we play a lot of horror here, so we tip our Russian hats to you, keep making more experiences. (also, get a website, twitch category and wikipedia etc going, this isn't your first game and people need to know about your pleasures of the flesh on offer, assuming all these things not indeed present, I couldn't find them).