Ever driven past a run-down house and found yourself daydreaming about the sinister horrors lurking inside? Pretty sure that shifty-eyed fellow down the block has something ghastly stashed away in his attic? That’s the premise behind Hello Neighbor, a stealth horror game with Pixar-esque visuals featured in the Xbox E3 showcase. While we loved the game’s distinctive aesthetics and creepy vibe, the game’s fiddly controls left us frustrated.
Developed by the indie Russian studio Dynamic Pixels and published by tinyBuild Games, Hello Neighbor sees you trying to sneak into your mustachioed neighbor’s basement to uncover the “horrible secret” hidden within. The game’s A.I. modifies the neighbor’s behavior based on your past actions, including paths followed and actions attempted.
On the surface, the demo’s parameters couldn’t have been simpler; the objectives are literally written on the wall. Find a suitcase, find a key, put the key in the suitcase, etc. Then it’s off to Mr. Creepy’s house for a little stealth spelunking. Easy peasy, right?
Not so fast. Accomplishing these straightforward tasks was nowhere near as easy as it sounded, because the reticule used to interact with objects in the room demands laser-ninja levels of precision. Opening the door of a wardrobe to discover the suitcase took numerous button presses and adjustments to the camera angle. As did finding the key. As did pretty much everything else I attempted to interact with in my brief time with Hello Neighbor. Like a lousy boyfriend, the game refused to acknowledge I was doing exactly what it claimed it wanted. The person running the demo had to intervene several times, mostly making the same repetitive adjustments I did until stumbling upon the right trigger point. At present, this definitely feels like a game meant to be played with a mouse, not a controller.
We hope they can work out the control kinks for Xbox One; Hello Neighbor has such a fun premise, and I would love to actually get the chance to try outfoxing Creepy McGee’s AI.
Hello Neighbor comes to Windows, macOS and Xbox One Aug. 29.
