I Hate This Place Review

A Search for Truth in the Supernatural

I Hate This Place is an isometric survival horror game with an emphasis on the survival part. The game centers around Elena who is looking for her newly missing friend Lou. There also are questions about not only the world but Elena's missing mother. There are cults ghosts and monsters all sprinkled in to add to the horror aspect.

Stealth and Clunky Controls

The gameplay is pretty simplistic. You craft weapons you can choose from and have the ability to sneak around by crouching and using items for distraction. I learned the hard way that stealth needed to be my first and second choice when it came to enemies. Actually fighting monsters was always the last option. The controls are a bit clunky though. I switched between using a mouse and keyboard and a controller just to see how each reacted. The mouse and keyboard combo responds better but still had delays at times and was not reliable. Personally they were small enough delays that they could be resolved with a simple patch.

The Blueprint for Survival

Survival is a huge aspect to the game. You have to find materials to craft things at your home base. Resources are scarce out in the world so having a water pump is important to use in the garden you build. The garden is necessary to grow food you have to cook on your stove and so on and so forth. Everything really builds on each other and you need this to survive the game. You also have to find blueprints to build all of these things. Weapons, decorations, bandages, and ammo all need blueprints in order for you to make them on your own.

Ghost Stories and Glitchy Progress

There are many side quests to go on that will assist you in building the base and progressing the story. I personally enjoyed the Ghost Stories. There is a day and night cycle that is relevant to these stories and you have to pay attention to what time you should do certain quests. They were fun to do and helped break up the game a bit so it didn't feel monotonous. Some of the side quests never triggered completely and I did have to restart my game more than once. This can be inconvenient as you only have particular areas in which you can save the game. If you do not save at the specific locations then you will not keep any of your progress from the last area. My game kept glitching out and not allowing me to move in any direction became very frustrating knowing I would lose all my progress.

Eighty Style Horror Vibes

The art style is really fun for this genre. There is a comic book feel to it with an 80s style horror theme. It feels fresh and helps to balance out some brightness to the darkness of the frightening vibes of the game. They add the thud and crunch when you are walking to signal that you are making sounds to alert the creature. This was such a fun dynamic that also added some intensity. I would start to get nervous when a monster was close and I saw the little scrunch come up. The enemies themselves are creepy and never feel out of place during the game. The team nailed the artwork for me. The voice acting doesn't always feel like it fits. It seems to be off rhythm occasionally but the dialogue itself between characters flows well. I had no issues with graphics and really enjoyed what I was playing from a visual aspect.

The Verdict

Overall there is a lot of potential here. There are a large amount of pros and I think the cons are fixable with some more time dedicated to the game. If you're looking for nostalgic art combined with having to survive the supernatural then this game is for you. Just remember to save your progress or you really will hate this place. My final score would be a 7.5/10.

Life is a Game Magazine was supplied a copy of I Hate This Place for this review