With the constant availability of technology and access to the internet there begin to be more and more indie video games. Home is one such game. It is a survival horror game created by one man. Benjamin Rivers is the creator and pops up at the beginning asking the player to play the game in one sitting. So, already we know this is a very short game. It can be completed in about an hour to an hour and a half. In some part I applaud it for keeping to Poe's literary belief in brevity. Horror--he believed--was to be experienced in a single sitting. If the reader (or in this case the player) had to take a break in the middle then it ruined the overall effect of the storytelling experience.
And so it is with Home. The game begins with your unnamed character waking up inside of a strange house with no memory of how he got there. It is dark outside and the house seems to be deserted. You only have a flashlight with you to find your way around the dark house. Things quickly become more frightening as you remnants of gore, bloody walls, and even bodies among the walls of the house. There also doesn't seem to be a sage way out of the house. The front door is blocked off by a pile of broken furniture. So instead you take the ladder down into the cellar to hopefully find a way out. You soon find out that the cellar connects with a cave/mining system and it is up to you to navigate the dark corridors and caverns to find a way out.
The main character finds clues along the way that sometimes remind him of the past. You almost always have a choice to pick up items or indulge in activities. It is your choices in the game that determine the ending.
And so it is with Home. The game begins with your unnamed character waking up inside of a strange house with no memory of how he got there. It is dark outside and the house seems to be deserted. You only have a flashlight with you to find your way around the dark house. Things quickly become more frightening as you remnants of gore, bloody walls, and even bodies among the walls of the house. There also doesn't seem to be a sage way out of the house. The front door is blocked off by a pile of broken furniture. So instead you take the ladder down into the cellar to hopefully find a way out. You soon find out that the cellar connects with a cave/mining system and it is up to you to navigate the dark corridors and caverns to find a way out.
The main character finds clues along the way that sometimes remind him of the past. You almost always have a choice to pick up items or indulge in activities. It is your choices in the game that determine the ending.
Home may not seem scary at first due to its simple pixel style graphics and 2D world. But it in fact manages to rummage up some good creepy scares and some great tension. The atmosphere of isolated solitude is an element that gives chills in and of itself. Also, its simpler graphics may make the game more accessible to players who have a hard time with the realistic and graphic style of other modern horror games.
Home is a very mature game with its narrative and themes. In some ways it appears more grown up than many of its gun toting triple A competitors. Its simplicity is what makes it so. The main character can be considered akin to the unreliable narrator of literature. His memory is too foggy to truly remember the events the precede the games events. He interrupts clues as he finds them but we--as a player--have no way of knowing if his memory or interpretation is 100% accurate.
This makes it so the build up to the ending--and there are multiple--is more mystifying and unnerving. This game feels akin to many of the themes and moods form Silent Hill 2. And yet it still manages to have an atmosphere similar to Amnesia, where the character is a simple explorer, a man with an unstable and unreliable mind. There is no combat and no apparent enemies. Which makes the game more frightening because the true evil may be something much more sinister.
Home is a very mature game with its narrative and themes. In some ways it appears more grown up than many of its gun toting triple A competitors. Its simplicity is what makes it so. The main character can be considered akin to the unreliable narrator of literature. His memory is too foggy to truly remember the events the precede the games events. He interrupts clues as he finds them but we--as a player--have no way of knowing if his memory or interpretation is 100% accurate.
This makes it so the build up to the ending--and there are multiple--is more mystifying and unnerving. This game feels akin to many of the themes and moods form Silent Hill 2. And yet it still manages to have an atmosphere similar to Amnesia, where the character is a simple explorer, a man with an unstable and unreliable mind. There is no combat and no apparent enemies. Which makes the game more frightening because the true evil may be something much more sinister.
Although this game is creepy and enjoyable it does have its faults. It feels like there are moments that drag on unnecessarily. Some of the puzzles, although not necessarily difficult, take a bit of time--and some walking back and forth--to complete. I found myself broken from the immersion of the experience in a few spots. But it wasn't enough to ruin the game overall.
Also, the game seems to have very little replay value. Even with the multiple endings I felt satisfied with only a singular play-through. So, for the $2.99 list price you are getting about an hour to and hour and a half of game time. That isn't bad considering Amazon.com often charges more than that for a one time rental of a feature length movie. And, I did go back and play the game today--probably a year since I originally bought the game--in order to do this review. And it was still fairly enjoyable.
Also, the game seems to have very little replay value. Even with the multiple endings I felt satisfied with only a singular play-through. So, for the $2.99 list price you are getting about an hour to and hour and a half of game time. That isn't bad considering Amazon.com often charges more than that for a one time rental of a feature length movie. And, I did go back and play the game today--probably a year since I originally bought the game--in order to do this review. And it was still fairly enjoyable.
Summing it Up
Home is a fun and creepy--albeit short--horror game. It is inexpensive and very accessible to video game fans, even those who may not play horror games regularly. It has a dark atmosphere, some spine tingling jump scares, and a mysterious story of death and murder. The feeling of being isolated and alone really make this game great. There are a few slow moments but nothing so bad that it takes away from the game as a whole. For a short indie game it is a good survival horror experience.
Language: 1
Gore Factor: 3
Sex Factor: 0
Scare Factor: 3
Fun Factor: 4
Overall Rating: 3
Language: 1
Gore Factor: 3
Sex Factor: 0
Scare Factor: 3
Fun Factor: 4
Overall Rating: 3