What will be the third part of the horror anthology The Dark Pictures? What kind of horrors lurk in the caves under the Iraqi village? We learned all this and a little more by visiting the presentation of the House of Ashes game. We share with you our impressions of what we saw.
The first gameplay of House of Ashes was presented to us by Will Doyle, Director of Game Development at Friv2Online Studio. The Dark Pictures anthology is very dear to the developers, and they are constantly looking for new ways to surprise, interest and, of course, scare the players. The authors are sure that the new project in this regard will please us very much.
After going through the history of the series - an anthology of unrelated horrors based on legends and myths from the real world, where the fate of the characters depends on the decisions of the players, Will moved on to the "main course".
So, House of Ashes is dedicated to a new mystery, much more ancient than anything that has been considered before. Players will visit a giant underground temple from the era of the kingdom of Akkad. It was built by a real historical figure: Naram-Sin, the god-king of Akkad, who ruled in 2250. BC, and it seems that the action will partially unfold during his reign, and we will be shown episodes during which the ruler angered the gods and brought a curse on the country when he plundered the temple of Enlil, the god of the earth, wind and storms. He erected a new temple to appease the gods and remove the curse, but in vain. During the game, the characters will uncover the secrets of the ancient place, find artifacts and secret records.
The game takes place in 2003 in the Middle East, where a combined squad of special forces, the US Air Force and the CIA, looking for weapons of mass destruction in an underground ammunition depot discovered from a satellite, will face a deadly threat.
Upon arrival at the site where the warehouse is supposed to be, the fighters came under fire from the Iraqis, and both sides fell into an underground cave that hides a giant underground temple - with majestic statues and monstrous columns, as well as a nest of bloodthirsty monsters that personify ancient evil. So the heroes will find themselves between two groups of opponents - people and monsters. And in order to survive, they will have to unite with former enemies.
As in the previous parts of the anthology, there are five main characters. CIA officer Rachel King was played by Ashley Tisdale, known for High School Musical and Sons of Anarchy. She is accompanied by two Marines - Jason Kolchek and Nick Kay. Rachel's husband, Eric King, is also involved in the plot, and later a fifth character will appear - Iraqi officer Salim Othman.
Surely the confrontation of implacable enemies forced to work together will be reflected in the script, increasing tension. The developers promise a story about loyalty, duty and trust, and the heroes will have to choose - to save themselves or give a chance to others.
Unlike the previous parts of the anthology, this time the fighters are prepared: they are armed military men, not ordinary civilians, so they will face danger more boldly. However, traveling through underground caves will not be a cakewalk. The authors placed the characters in closed, cramped and uncomfortable spaces, and the players will constantly feel like they are being watched.
When developing House of Ashes, Friv2Online Studio draws inspiration from a variety of sources. Here, players will surely see motifs from the films The Descent, Predator, Aliens, as well as the works of Lovecraft, in particular, The Ridges of Madness.
According to Will, the creatures in this part are the most complex that friv game developers have had to work with. They combined hand-drawn animation and motion capture technology to create a dangerous, sinister and realistic monster - not just one, but a whole nest. However, they were not shown as part of the presentation of the game, they only outlined some features, such as powerful clawed paws.
Players familiar with previous installments of The Dark Pictures Anthology will quickly get comfortable with the new game. The interface has not changed, and in the dialogues, as always, you can choose one or another option with a different emotional coloring, or simply remain silent.
The mechanics are familiar, but at the same time, the authors rely on community feedback and constantly improve the gameplay to make it as comfortable as possible. For example, the controls will be improved: the camera can be rotated 360 degrees, instead of the previously used fixed angles. The flashlight is turned on with a separate button: it can be used to open new routes, but it also slows down the character.
A choice of difficulty levels has been added to the friv game - low, medium or ruthlessly high. This will affect the pace of QTE, which will allow you to adjust the gameplay for yourself - to make it simpler or, on the contrary, not forgiving mistakes.
Players are waiting for four modes:
single Curator's Cut (available for pre-order) - here you can look at events through the eyes of other characters and see new scenes, which will increase replay value.
Will went on to touch on the version for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X nextgen consoles. Their owners are waiting for prettier graphics. And this is noticeable: the detailing of faces and the work of lighting create a cinematic picture.
Finally, in the last part of the presentation, we were able to get acquainted with the gameplay of House of Ashes. The heroes are underground after the earthquake, they need to get together and find out where they are.
The friv game starts as Nick, a marine, who is exploring the tunnels in search of partners. Attention is drawn to the free camera and "cine" angles; in some places we are shown a first-person view, in other episodes the virtual operator moves away from the character, revealing the majestic statues and vaults of an ancient temple. The authors do not hesitate to show terrible scenes with bleeding soldiers. It will not do without screamers : in one of the scenes, Rachel is suddenly dragged into the darkness by an invisible enemy.
However, the gameplay still feels slow, very measured. And QTEs have an important impact on the consequences: in the part shown to us, the player controlling Nick failed the test, which led to the death of the NPC.
In Curator's Cut, we play as Jason, who follows his own path in parallel. As a senior in rank, he can put pressure on Nick or listen to his words. This will affect the relationship of the characters and will certainly be reflected in their future actions.
During the presentation, we saw enough to believe in House of Ashes. However, it was easy, given that we are already familiar with the previous games in the anthology.
However, much remains unknown. For example, will the monsters be real or are they the products of the inflamed mind of the heroes? Is it possible to save all the characters (and lose them all)? Finally, what will be the role of the Narrator and will we learn something new about him? But it is already clear that if you liked the previous parts, it is worth waiting for House of Ashes: the new friv game looks even better. The project will be released in 2021 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
