A survival horror reminiscent of Silent Hill 2.
Hollowbody is a survival horror that brings back an old nostalgic feeling. It was developed as a solo project by Nathan Hamley from Headware Games. Hamely has previously released two other games: Guard Duty, a 2D comedy adventure, and Chasing Static, a Psychological Horror.
The survival horror genre was born in the late 1980s with titles such as Sweet Home, developed for the NES in 1989, which merged horror fiction with resource management and suspense. It wasn’t until Resident Evil in 1996 that this genre started to become popular when a title such as this set the standard with creepy environments and limited resources.
This was followed by Silent Hill in 1999, which introduced psychological horror. The genre has continued to evolve with new technologies. More recently, titles like Sons of the Forest and Alan Wake 2 have worked to adapt classic survival tropes with new gameplay styles.
Aside from the upcoming Bloober Team remake, Hollowbody is the closest thing to Silent Hill 2. Everything feels like a remnant of the PS2 classic survival horror, from how you explore the world and solve tricky puzzles to open up new paths to how you fight enemies and unlock multiple endings.
Early sections of the third-person survival horror game felt a little like déjà vu, as they take place in hallways that are very similar to the hospital section of Silent Hill 2. The monsters lurk within reach of your flashlight, stumbling out and attacking much like the Nurses of Silent Hill did. Luckily, you have some firepower to deal with them.
A part of the way that makes the game similar to Silent Hill 2 and makes Hollowbody more appealing than many other games is that it does things differently. Hawley does a great job of capturing the essence of the time of a PS2-era Survival Horror. The worst aspects of that time remain intact a little bit.
For example, tank controls are present in the game, but they are not used by default, and if you’re feeling a little masochistic, you can turn them on manually in the settings. Similarly, you save periodically, usually with a landline instead of a red book like what is seen in Silent Hills 2. However, the game also has an autosave, usually before a more difficult section of the Hollowbody.
These modern conveniences help to reduce the frustration that some like-minded studios mistakenly classify as precious. However, the old problem of wandering along walls, couches, beds, and closets in search of items, loot, and intractables still exists, as it is easy to walk straight past what you need. Hollowbody, therefore, does not reject any questionable design quirks in its genre.
Combat in Hollowbody is very similar to the games it was modeled after. This means avoiding enemies if possible or using melee weapons to conserve whatever precious ammo you have. Whatever method of defense you use, you’ll often find yourself in tight spaces, either hallways or rooms, that make it difficult to escape, even if you’re determined to book it in the opposite direction as quickly as possible.
The game has a reliable auto-aiming system with a green reticle. If you really want to aim, you can easily move from enemy to enemy, allowing you to easily take them out rather than saving your bullets for a more critical moment.
This makes survival easier than relying on players’ guessing, as in some horror games from the early 2000s. I was relieved to see that combat still evokes a welcome sense of dread despite this convenient mechanic.
This is partly because the audiovisual cues when taking damage are so jarring that it feels like monsters are coming out of the jump screen. Enemies close in surprisingly quickly, and the game’s various melee weapons offer a variety of animations that vary in range, attack speed, and effectiveness, allowing for a range of playstyles.
The game’s greatest feature is its atmosphere. A familiar, quiet hum plays throughout much of the story. Like all great horror developers to date, Hamley knows when to use the game’s eerie, dark music and when to let silence dominate the scene.
The imagery in the game captures the spirit of PS2-era horror games so accurately that if you didn’t know anything about it, you might wonder if it was made in 2001 and not in 2024.
The game is shorter than most games modeled after, so the genre’s staples are sped up in some way or form. For example, the puzzles can be difficult, but they’re no more demanding than the piano puzzles in Silent Hill 2, which took time to get right.
The time between finding a puzzle item and using it is often short. Rather than holding onto something for hours on end, you’d be able to use it relatively quickly because sometimes further obstacles were expected.
Like the best Silent Hill games, Hollowbody isn’t just scary or there for the gore; it’s steeped in tragedy, and the world you explore reminds you of that at every turn and step you make. While the story tells a similar tale of searching for a missing loved one in a creepy city filled with monsters and untold deaths, the themes and cinematic elements help Hollowbody stand out from just looking like another Silent Hills 2 knockoff, something dark corridors and aggressive monsters can’t do.
While the story is set in the future, the city you explore was abandoned after an apparent bioterrorist attack many years ago. That means you’ll leave the cyberpunk world early on and soon enter a ruined British city, ravaged not only by attacks decades ago but by years of gentrification and neglect.
Documents scattered around the city tell the backstory of how the city promised residents stimulus checks, only to have the rug pulled out from under them in the months and years that followed when it deceived investors. You can also hear what happened on the radio, eerily similar to the echoes of memories picked up by ghost radios.
It’s a famous story, but in this case, it’s not thanks to Silent Hill. Instead, it’s lifted from real-world headlines, and it’s most impressive how Hamley creatively weaves themes of economic inequality around an abandoned monster-infested city where our protagonist’s search for their missing loved one happens.
Hollowbody’s sound engineering is excellent, and it plays a key role in creating a truly immersive and terrifying experience throughout the gameplay. Ambient sounds and eerie music enhance the game’s atmosphere, keeping players on the edge of their seats throughout their journey.
Damage signals are particularly loud, heightening the sense of fear during combat. Well-timed and strategic use of the game’s audio elements enhances the overall impact of the old-school survival horror experience, effectively transporting players back to classic early 2000s horror games.
Hollowbody’s graphics are both nostalgic and impressive. The game captures the essence of PS2-era horror games with its dark, eerie environments and detailed character designs. Atmospheric lighting and shadow effects increase the overall sense of dread and tension, making the experience truly immersive. The graphics pay homage to classic horror games yet are sleek and modern, providing the perfect combination of nostalgia and contemporary visual quality.
Overall, Hollowbody is a survival horror game that takes players back to the nostalgic era of classic PS2 horror games. Inspired by titles like Silent Hill 2, the game offers psychological horror, challenging puzzles, and intense combat, all accompanied by atmospheric audiovisual cues. It captures the essence of survival horror while introducing modern conveniences that’ll have veteran players coming back for more.
