The biggest issue with Hello Neighbor, that really becomes apparent in the third act, is how fiddly the controls are. Where this should serve to reinstate the first act’s creative sandbox, however, works only to frustrate further. It’s surreal, multi-tiered, serviced by a miniature railway. Punitive stealth is the worst kind of gameplay, and it’s infinitely worse if you can’t bludgeon your way out of an error (like in Metal Gear Solid V, or The Last of Us).Īct three returns the player to the neighbour’s house, above ground, but things have changed. What Hello Neighbor doesn’t have, however, is the ability to fight back if you screw up. The improvisation and creativity of the above ground segments are replaced with a tense, more traditional first-person stealth motif, like Thief, or the stealth sections of Metro 2033. Gone are the bright colours and playful sounds. There are monsters, too, in addition to the monstrous figure of the neighbour. Reverse Home Alone becomes that bit in the basement from Silence of the Lambs in the blink of an eye. When you get down into the basement – complete with unsettling hints to what the neighbour may be hiding – gears shift from light-hearted caper to psychological horror. One key unlocks a room, which contains a car key the car boot contains a magnet the magnet can be used to retrieve a tool to access another key and so on, until you eventually unlock the basement to progress to act two. You’ll need to change your approach to get in and out several times to get various coloured keys, for example. The fact the neighbour learns your favourite tricks keeps you on your toes. While not exactly ground-breaking, emergent artificial intelligence, it’s a neat idea that necessitates variety, and one that works well in the above-ground sections of the game. If you keep sneaking in the front door, he might position a security camera there. If you keep breaking in through the same window, he might leave a bear trap under it. The elevator pitch for Hello Neighbor is that the titular neighbour learns from how you play. By breaking into the house and finding his way into the basement. And channelling the spirit of McCauley Culkin – not that he’s dead, but he’s sure as hell not Kevin McCallister anymore – the child endeavours to uncover the neighbour’s secret. Upon retrieving the ball, the child notices the neighbour is behaving suspiciously, hiding something. The first act, all Pixar visuals and chirpy sounds, sees our protagonist, a small boy, lose his ball down the hill in front of the titular neighbour’s house. It’s like the trailer spoiling all the best bits of the movie. It was a solid plan, except the early alpha builds – effectively the game’s first act – were the most enjoyable part of the experience. That drives me up the wall every time I write about it.)īut back to the issue at hand: tinyBuild released a number of alpha builds for Hello Neighbor, to get people excited and invested in the idea. (Well, that and the fact Hello Neighbor is spelled the American way, without a ‘u’ in neighbour. Did you ever see a trailer for a comedy that you thought looked hilarious, but when you watched it, you realised you’d already seen all of the genuinely funny moments in the trailer? That is, in essence, the problem with Hello Neighbor.
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